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There’s a lot going on at Jumbo-Visma right now, and it’s not just the talk about a possible merger with Soudal Quick-Step.
Over at the women’s team, changes are abundant as its backroom staff undergoes a major overhaul while it also waves goodbye to a string of riders.
This week, Jumbo-Visma confirmed that sport directors Carmen Small and Lieselot Decroix are due to leave at the end of the year, as is performance coach Marieke van Wanroij. Coming in to replace the two sport directors are Jan Boven, who joins from the men’s team, and the recently retired Jos van Emden, while Maarten van Kooij will step in as the performance coach.
The big shake-up come after team manager Esra Tromp left the squad in April and was replaced by Rutger Tijssen — she has since been announced as the new team manager at EF Education-Cannondale. Interestingly, Jumbo-Visma’s latest update says that Tijssen has been in charge for “over a year” despite only confirming Tromp’s departure in the spring of this year.
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With these latest changes, it sees what was a primarily female leadership structure at the Jumbo-Visma women’s team has become entirely male — something that is certain to raise a few eyebrows. However, the team says that the changes have been made to better integrate the various arms of the Jumbo-Visma team.
“We want to create more cohesion and cross-fertilisation between the different teams of Team Jumbo-Visma,” Tijssen said. “Cycling is a team sport. To be successful, you have to build a strong team.”
While Jumbo-Visma has been around since the 1980s under many guises, the women’s team is a lot newer. The women’s squad only started racing in 2021, making this year just its third season of operation.
Former rider Carmen Small was a DS with Jumbo-Visma (Photo: Tim de Waele / Getty Images)
It’s not the first time a women’s team has been connected with the Dutch squad and back in the final year of the sponsorship deal with Rabobank, there was a Rabobank women’s outfit. That really was the only proper connection as they were not linked teams as they are now, they just happened to have the same main sponsor — a little like the Groupama-FDJ and FDJ-Suez teams.
When Rabobank stopped sponsoring the men’s team, it stuck around with the women’s squad for a few more years. That team has since become Liv Racing TeqFind, which is due to merge this winter with the Australian Jayco-AlUla team.
Since its creation three years ago, the Jumbo-Visma women’s team has been largely separated from its men’s team. They have individual social media accounts — a rarity in cycling these days —, their own press teams, and little crossover with any staff in general.
“We are building with our women’s team. It has gone through ups and downs in recent years. By creating a more explicit link between the women’s and men’s teams in all areas, we expect to see further development in the coming years,” men’s lead sport director Merijn Zeeman said. “I am delighted we have brought together experience, talent and a willingness to learn in this coaching team. I am therefore confident that our women’s team will become increasingly dominant.”
A new-look roster
Fem van Empel has been impressive on the road for Jumbo-Visma (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
If the changes within the backroom staff will make a difference or if the issue runs deeper than that remain to be seen.
When compared with the men’s team the Jumbo-Visma women’s squad has been underperforming. However, overall budget is also likely to be a key factor in that with significantly less investment put into the women’s squad compared to the men’s in recent seasons.
It’s hard to keep up with the SD Worx and Lidl-Treks of this world without the budget to back it.
Jumbo-Visma is currently ranked eighth in the UCI’s team standings, while it finished 10th in last year’s rankings. It’s not totally terrible, but the team has plenty of potential for more.
It’s not just the backroom staff that has been changing and several riders have also stepped away to make way for some up-and-coming talent. The new EF Education-Cannondale squad has been the destination for most of the riders leaving the team with Kim Cadzow, Coryn Labecki and Noemi Rüegg going there, while Karlijn Swinkels is off to UAE Team ADQ and Teuntje Beekhuis has signed for Uno-X.
While losing Swinkels will be a particular blow, as will the loss of Rüegg, the team has maintained some of its most important riders. Talismanic rider Marianne Vos, who had a difficult 2023, is still on board, as are Riejanne Markus, Anna Henderson, and Amber Kraak, as well as rising star Fem van Empel.
So far, the team has signed just three new riders in Margaux Vigie, Lieke Nooijen, and Mijntje Geurts. The three riders are fairly inexperienced, but all hold huge promise that could pay dividends for the team.
As it stands, that means the team has 14 riders on its roster. That would be just about big enough to deal with the demands of the bursting calendar of races that face the women’s peloton, but it would make it one of the smallest rosters in the Women’s WorldTour, and the riders will feel the strain.
It remains to be seen if any more riders will be added for 2024 or if the team plans to keep this slimmed-down squad. Nevertheless, Tijssen is confident of the cohort he has at this moment.
“I think we have a well-balanced team for 2024, where we can make the most of the skills of each rider, including the experienced leaders. Everyone has their qualities and should be able to develop and reach their full potential in the coming years,” he said.
“With Marianne (Vos), Riejanne (Markus), and Anna (Henderson), we have three good leaders. The other riders are less experienced, but they all are very talented. The team we will start with in 2024 has become stronger across the board, despite the departure of Karlijn Swinkels, Noemi Rüegg, Coryn Labecki, Teuntje Beekhuis, and Kim Cadzow.”