Reported financial losses of €6 million for Visma in 2024- Is the Dutch top team in trouble?
CyclingMonday, 01 December 2025 at 11:00
Team Visma | Lease a Bike closed the 2024 financial year with an operating loss of 6.1 million euros, a figure that reflects the cost of sustaining a workforce geared to winning grand tours and classics in an environment of constant wage inflation. Its revenues reached 58.1 million, a very high figure within the peloton, but insufficient to match the spending power of UAE Team Emirates - XRG, whose structure benefits from state resources.
The comparison reveals a deeply asymmetrical competitive scenario. While Visma must balance its budget between victories, technological development and retention of key riders and a huge staff, UAE can reinforce year after year a block that is already the most dominant in the WorldTour. This not only affects signings, but also continuing to spend on cycling that in 2025 goes far beyond having a squad and staff.
The challenge for Visma is not simply sporting: it is structural. Staying in the elite requires taking economic risks that can hardly be sustained over the long term without new external income. The pressure to maintain a winning project, combined with the competition from a team with almost unlimited financial backing, means that the fight for every victory is also a struggle for the survival of the model.
In an analysis published by moneyinsport, the financial situation of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, the main rival of UAE Team Emirates - XRG and current number 2 in the UCI ranking, is revealed in detail. The financial statements show a sporting model that is as ambitious as it is costly.
A new owner and a complex structure
Visma, currently second in the UCI rankings, released its 2024 accounts last month. It is the first financial year since Yellow B Cycling BV - the team's legal entity - separated from Team Oranje BV, the structure with which they previously collaborated together with the Dutch speed skating team, now called Team Essent. The 2 key figures are as follows:
- Robert van der Wallen, Dutch billionaire and major investor.
- Richard Plugge, general manager of the team.
The exact shareholding distribution is not public, although the bylaws suggest a reinforced majority of 71% for key decisions.
Operating losses of 6.1 million in 2024
According to the report, the team generated €52 million in revenue, but still closed 2024 with €6.1 million in operating losses.Personnel costs reached €33 million, 64% of revenue, a high proportion but similar to other WorldTour teams.
The team - with 172 employees, well above the peloton average - supports a huge structure, which also includes 3.7 million in outsourced services.
Revenues dominated by sponsors and commercial barters
72% of revenue comes from sponsorship. Major partners include Visma, Lease a Bike, Škoda, Cervélo, Jumbo, SRAM and Rabobank. Although they do not generate cash, they count as income and expenses, which increases the accounting volume and generates temporary mismatches in depreciation (especially for Cervélo bikes).
The Visma Lease a Bike team, with economic losses
Goodwill and depreciation and amortization weighing down the balance sheet
The acquisition generated 10.7 million in goodwill, amortized over 10 years, which represents an annual charge of 1.1 million unrelated to the sports activity, and total depreciation -bike and other assets- amounted to 4.1 million.
Comparison with other teams: only Visma and Movistar Team lose
The moneyinsport study shows that most of the analyzed teams operated close to break-even in 2024.
Equipment with operating losses
- Visma | Lease a Bike: -6.1 million
- Movistar Team: -0.13 million
Equipment with operational benefits
- UAE Team Emirates: +3.3 million
- Ineos Grenadiers: +3.1 million
- Lidl-Trek: +2.5 million
- Red Bull - Bora-Hansgrohe: +2.2 million
The causes of Visma's losses are: headcount size, external expenses, amortization of goodwill and losses in the Partnership & Events area.
A sustainable model only with more money
These losses are probably intentional: management believes that the current level of investment is essential to compete with UAE Team Emirates XRG. The continuity of this model, according to this study, depends on three avenues:
- more sponsorship
- personnel and cost cuts
- or new capital inflow.
The July 2025 statutory change could anticipate a round of funding.
Can this model survive?
Professional cycling continues to depend on sponsors capable of taking recurring losses. As ASO concentrates record profits (111 million in 2024) and teams struggle to balance the books, the inequality between organizers and teams worsens, with examples such as the disappearance of Arkéa-B&B Hotels and team mergers, the article warns of a system under pressure.
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