Visma | Lease a Bike reinforces its mountain core with a crucial domestique contract extension
CyclingWednesday, 22 July 2026 at 09:00
Visma | Lease a Bike continues to lock in the future of its Grand Tour core. According to WielerFlits, the Dutch squad has extended Bart Lemmen’s contract through the end of 2029.
The 30-year-old Dutch rider was already signed through 2027, but the team led by Richard Plugge has chosen to reward his progress with a two-year extension. Lemmen thus becomes the seventh rider on the team contracted until 2029, underlining the trust Visma places in one of its most valuable domestiques.
The renewal comes after an especially intense spell for the former professional soldier. Lemmen delivered a notable Giro d’Italia, again playing a key role in support of Jonas Vingegaard, before rounding it off with an excellent Tour de Suisse.
In the Swiss race he even came close to a stage win twice, finishing third on both days and closing the event with a creditable tenth place overall, confirming his superb form.
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That level made him one of the favourites for the Dutch National Championships, although he ultimately couldn’t even take the start.
Visma | Lease a Bike withdrew Lemmen from the Nationals for strategic reasons. After Edoardo Affini’s heavy crash at the Italian time trial championships, the team preferred to keep the Dutchman available as a potential Tour de France replacement.
In the end, Affini was cleared to race and started the Grande Boucle, leaving Lemmen out of both the national championships and the Tour.
Bart Lemmen, Visma rider
A reliable domestique for the Grand Tours
Inside the Dutch team, there is a strong sense that Lemmen has become a crucial piece for three-week races.
After riding the 2024 Tour de France and starting two consecutive editions of the Giro d’Italia, he has shown he performs at his best in the third week, when accumulated fatigue starts to bite.
One of his standout moments came at this year’s Giro, on the demanding Passo Giau stage, where he set the pace for the favourites’ group from the foot to the summit, leaving a great impression as a deluxe helper for Vingegaard.
Lemmen’s story is unusual in professional cycling. The Dutchman turned pro after spells with the West-Frisia club, the Continental team VolkerWessels and later Human Powered Health, where he caught Visma’s eye.
He joined the Dutch structure in 2024 and, barely six months later, was already riding the Tour de France as a late replacement for Sepp Kuss. Since then, he has established himself as one of the team’s most dependable riders.
Although his main role will remain to work for the team’s leaders, Lemmen makes no secret of his desire to take a professional win.
"I’m very happy to race in support and I really enjoy having two or three chances a year to ride for myself. I keep showing I’m very close to winning, but it would be fantastic to finally raise my arms."
With this deal through 2029, Visma | Lease a Bike secures the continuity of one of its most solid domestiques, a rider who has earned the team’s trust thanks to his climbing, versatility, and ability to deliver at the highest level when his leaders need him most.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Cool story bro, love your work. 😘
Andrew22-07-2026 - I’ll take my tongue out my cheek for the next few comments.Andrew22-07-2026
- Evanapoel is certainly on a high. Stage 18 is going to be interesting.Cyclingsbestfan22-07-2026
- Or he could go to UAE and develop there, but I am a fan of UAE and Pogi so my view is biased. Pogi would be his good mentor, and Seixas could take over in 2030, when Pogi retires, after winning TdF 9X. :))mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales22-07-2026
- I always know what you're thinkng. I also know what your twin brother, frieder3, is thinking. Oh you poor souls, I pity both of you. You should both eat fatty fish salmon, for omega-3s, and blueberries for antioxidants. They do wonders :))mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales22-07-2026
- I agree with your general complaint but in this case you have no idea, details fail. Could just as well have been a fan who wanted to ask an autograph, got scared when he crashed into them so rode off. Also, a little silly to call everyone scumbags, some are just completely ignorant or absent-minded and other times we riders are actually also at fault or provoking other users into dangerous manoeuvres. The way some road racers ride it’s no wonder people start hating us. That said, when I last visited the Tour, it was. Tudor van that almost got a group of cycling spectators killed with an overtaking manoeuvre on the way home. You should then remember that stories like THAT have almost ZERO chance of media attention so in the end all that happens is we are left with an extreme biais on reality. To compound, much of the driving in the Tour is unnecessarily dangerous towards spectators and much of the spectating is unnecessarily dangerous towards itself. Conclusion, almost the majority of the population could fall under your definition of scumbag.Jumpyjohn22-07-2026
- Pretty sure Ineos fans are confined to a very specific subset of a another subset.Jumpyjohn22-07-2026
- Do you also wonder about Rwanda? When was the last time Pog was TT WC?Jumpyjohn22-07-2026
- Talk about BS spewing from the mouth - the BS yellow jersey goes to you Duchenne Pogi Fan Boy. I love how you know what everyone is thinking, or at least think you know what they are thinking.Andrew22-07-2026
- UAE need not worry, no balls Remco has already given up.abstractengineer22-07-2026
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