OFFICIAL: Fabio Jakobsen joins Visma until 2028 as Dutch giants back themselves to unlock ‘a great deal of untapped potential’

Fabio Jakobsen has officially joined Team Visma | Lease a Bike with immediate effect, completing one of the most surprising transfers of the 2026 season after leaving Team Picnic PostNL earlier this week.

The 29-year-old Dutch sprinter has signed a contract through the end of 2028 and will begin working inside Visma’s performance programme straight away. A return to racing will come later, with the coming months focused first on rebuilding his condition.

Jakobsen’s move had gathered pace rapidly after his Picnic contract was terminated by mutual consent on 31 July. He subsequently confirmed that talks with Visma had already been taking place for some time, with the original plan centred on a move for 2027 before his early release created the opportunity to switch teams immediately.

Visma have now made a considerably bigger commitment than a short-term rescue deal, signing through 2028 a rider who has not won since the opening stage of the 2024 Tour of Turkiye.

Jakobsen was one of the leading sprinters in the world at his peak, winning five stages of the Vuelta a Espana, the European road title and a Tour de France stage in 2022.

His fortunes changed dramatically after moving to Picnic ahead of the 2024 season. Restricted blood flow led to surgery on both iliac arteries in 2025, a broken collarbone interrupted his return, and he has struggled to rediscover the condition needed to contest bunch finishes consistently.

That recent record has not put Visma off. “We had been looking for a specialist for the pure flat sprints,” explained Mathieu Heijboer, the team’s Head of Performance. “The more we looked into Fabio's situation, the more convinced we became that there is still a great deal of untapped potential. We believe we can create the right environment to help him unlock it. At the same time, having Fabio join us now allows us to start working with Fabio straight away instead of waiting until next season.”

Olav Kooij’s move to Decathlon CMA CGM Team had left Visma without an established pure bunch-sprint specialist. Matthew Brennan has won repeatedly in 2026, while Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte also bring finishing speed, but all three offer a broader profile than the flat-sprint role Heijboer described.

Only days ago, Jakobsen was speaking about having to convince another team that “there is still something left in me”. He now has a deal through 2028 with one of the strongest teams in the WorldTour.

“I've raced against the team for several years now, and seeing everything they've achieved throughout the years and how consistently they perform at the highest level, it's a dream come true to wear these colours,” he said. “My goal is to get back to the level where I can compete at the highest level again and sprint for victories. As a sprinter, you never win on your own, so being part of a strong team is essential. I believe this is one of the best performance environments in the world."

“I believe we can learn from each other and continue to improve together," added the former European champion. "There's a lot of work ahead, but I'm confident this is the right environment to make progress.”

There is no firm competition date yet. Before the deal was announced, Jakobsen admitted that he did not know whether he would race again in 2026 after what he described as a disappointing previous six months.

Visma will initially focus on his condition, training, nutrition and integration into the team before pushing towards a competitive return. The stated end goal remains sprint victories rather than simply getting Jakobsen back into the peloton.

Jakobsen’s last win came 28 months ago. His new contract now gives Visma more than two seasons to try to turn their belief in his “untapped potential” back into results.