Fabio Jakobsen joins Visma | Lease a Bike effective immediately: 'A dream come true'

Rumors had already been circulating, but now it’s official: Fabio Jakobsen is making the move to Visma | Lease a Bike effective immediately. Earlier this month, the sprinter terminated his contract with Picnic PostNL, which was set to expire this year.

Jakobsen is over the moon about his move to Visma | Lease a Bike, he says in a press release. “I’ve raced against this team several times over the past few years. When you see what the team has achieved over the years and how consistently it performs at the highest level, it’s a dream come true to be able to wear these colors.”

To put it mildly, the past few seasons have been difficult for Jakobsen. Partly due to physical setbacks, he consistently fell short in the sprints and even struggled to finish races. Jakobsen is convinced, however, that he can once again become the best version of himself with his new team. “My goal is to get back to the level where I can compete at the highest level and sprint for victories.”

Jakobsen points to the expertise of Visma | Lease a Bike. “As a sprinter, you never win on your own, so it’s essential to be part of a strong team. I believe this is one of the best performance environments in the world,” the sprinter says, praising his new employer. “I think we can learn from each other and help each other grow. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I’m confident that this is the right environment to make progress.”

According to Mathieu Heijboer, Head of Performance at Visma, Jakobsen fills an important vacant role on the team. “We’ve been looking for a sprinter specifically for flat sprints for quite some time. The more we looked into Fabio’s situation, the more convinced we became that there is still a lot of untapped potential. We believe we can create the right environment to bring that potential to the surface."

According to Heijboer, the fact that Jakobsen is joining the team immediately is a nice bonus. “At the same time, the fact that Fabio is joining our team now gives us the opportunity to start working with him right away, instead of waiting until next season,” said Heijboer. It is still unclear when Jakobsen will make his debut in Visma’s yellow jersey. For now, the team says its priority is building up his fitness and helping him get familiar with the team’s approach.