Visma | Lease a Bike determined to join cycling’s arms race in search of a new title sponsor

Visma’s involvement is not disappearing overnight, but it will enter a new phase. The company is expected to stay on board in the coming years, albeit with a more measured financial commitment as the team looks to fund its next stage of growth elsewhere.

Visma’s story with the team has been central to the modern era of the project. The Norwegian software company joined in 2019 as second title sponsor. In 2024, Visma stepped up following Jumbo’s withdrawal, moving into the lead position alongside Lease a Bike. But the company won't be able to follow the latest wave of budget escalation across the WorldTour.

That shift does not put the project in immediate danger. Long term partners such as Visma, PON and Rabobank continue to provide a stable base. The real issue is competitive rather than existential: how to match the accelerating budgets at the sharp end of the WorldTour, where the financial bar for winning the big races keeps rising.

That pressure is coming from all directions. UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Bahrain Victorious operate with resources linked to state backed structures. At the same time, several European teams have shifted into a new sponsorship model where brands move from backer to owner.

Red Bull’s arrival at Bora-Hansgrohe, Decathlon’s deeper involvement and Lidl’s expanded commitment at Trek reflect a trend that is reshaping the peloton. In these cases, sponsors are not only increasing investment, but anchoring their role through equity and long term control. The result is simple: budgets are climbing faster, and the gap between the best funded projects and the rest is widening.

Against that backdrop, Visma | Lease a Bike see a need for fresh investment to maintain their position in the sport’s front group. According to WielerFlits, team manager Richard Plugge has already held talks with several multinationals about taking over the title role, with the implied expectation that the price of a top level partnership will rise accordingly.

With this move, Visma | Lease a Bike follow the example of EF Education-EasyPost, who recently underlined the need for greater partner investment by putting their naming rights up for sale in a bid to close the gap to the sport’s biggest budgets and, ultimately, win the Tour de France. 

In conversation with Domestique, CEO Jonathan Vaughters was clear about the numbers:

“We don’t need to match them dollar for dollar, or even close, really. To my thinking, with 75, 80% of what their budgets are, we can beat them. But we can’t do it at 50%.”