Amid what has been an awful start to the year, Visma-Lease a Bike is reportedly facing challenges behind the scenes too. According to Wielerflits, the Dutch team is on the hunt for a new title sponsor with Visma apparently unwilling to continue taking part in the battle of ever-increasing budgets for the handful of "super-teams" in the pro peloton.
Joe Lindsey
Visma, a software maker headquartered in Norway, is expected to remain part of the team's array of supporters, but Wielerflits reports that the company will "take a step back from the team." With that in mind, team boss Richard Plugge has been busy meeting with other potential backers, and on the bright side, he has apparently attracted interest from "multinationals."
In any case, the sponsor search is just another thing for the squad to worry about after a a month and a half of setback upon setback to start the year. Wout van Aert broke his ankle in a crash on January 2. Simon Yates announced his immediate retirement the following week. Jonas Vingegaard crashed on a training ride at the end of the month, several riders got sick and one crashed badly at the Tour of Oman, and then longtime coach Tim Heemskerk – who was responsible for the team's stage racers, like Vingegaard – decided to leave the team.
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