OFFICIAL: Victor Campenaerts returns to Visma for 2025 - "We can really use that experience"

It's official. The long rumoured return of Victor Campenaerts to Team Visma | Lease a Bike will take place in 2025 as the Belgian returns to the team he rode for between 2016 and 2017.

"We still know Victor well from his previous time with the team and have kept in good contact since then," says team director Grischa Niermann to Team Visma | Lease a Bike's official website. "He is a very strong rider, with a good time trial, as he proved again in this Tour de France. By now, he is also a very experienced rider known for his pursuit of innovations. We can really use that experience."

Having proven a very loyal and hard working domestique and mentor for the likes of Arnaud De Lie at Lotto Dstny over recent seasons, Niermann and Visma are keen for Campenaerts to adopt a similar role from 2025 onwards. "We see him as a very valuable asset for the team in that regard," says Niermann. "Due to his experience and physical capabilities."

"Throughout my career, I have always set ambitious but realistic goals. I have often achieved them, like in this past Tour de France," adds Campenaerts himself. "My ultimate goal is to one day win the Tour de France. I am not capable of doing so myself, but I can be a successful part of the team that achieves that victory. And with that goal, you naturally look to Team Visma | Lease a Bike. I hope I can make the Tour squad next year. This team is the benchmark when it comes to stage racing, so I’m very happy to return."

Having signed a three-year deal lasting until the end of the 2027 season, Campenaerts will now have three campaign to prove himself worthy of joining the likes of Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France and fight for that fabled Maillot Jaune.