Visma | Lease a Bike surprises children and reveals inspiring Tour de France Femmes jersey

Visma | Lease a Bike made a surprise announcement on Tuesday evening, unveiling a jersey that the women will wear in August during the Tour de France Femmes. The women will not be wearing the men’s jersey that was previously unveiled, but will instead receive their own version.

Since Visma | Lease a Bike usually wears yellow, special kits have to be designed every year for the Tour de France. The leader’s jersey in the Tour de France and the Tour de France Femmes is also yellow, so the organization requires a variation on the team’s original colors.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen many different jerseys come and go, some very dark and others with different designs. For the men’s team, fans were allowed to vote, and a black jersey was chosen, even though team riders such as Victor Campenaerts were very vocal in their preference for the soft yellow version.

No poll was held for the women’s team, but fans were also put to work—especially the young supporters. In a press release on Tuesday evening, Visma | Lease a Bike revealed that it had given the women’s team’s youngest fans a big surprise with the Tour kit.

A campaign was launched under the slogan "Dream Like a Champion," which included a drawing contest for children. "Children could use a downloadable template to put their cycling dreams on paper."

"What the participants didn't know: the best drawings would not only win prizes, but would also literally be featured in the world's biggest women's cycling race," it was announced on Tuesday. That's because no fewer than fifteen children's drawings are featured on the jersey for the Tour de France Femmes.

The campaign and drawing contest were launched because Visma | Lease a Bike wants to inspire children to “pursue their cycling dreams.” The fifteen drawings on the women’s team’s black-and-yellow jerseys will showcase this ambition during the Tour, which takes place from August 1 through 9.

"The idea behind it is simple: every champion once started out as a child with a dream. This jersey is for every child who dares to dream, and for everyone who dares to believe in them," the team said. Riders from the team even visited the children to present them with the jersey, featuring their drawings on it.

A video released by Visma beautifully captures two of those moments. “The reaction of children when they see their drawing on our riders’ jerseys says it all,” says Commercial Manager Jasper Saeijs. “At that moment, they realize that their dream really matters. That is exactly what we want to achieve with this campaign.”

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]