Jumbo-Visma announce new development team

Jumbo-Visma have announced the formation of Development Team Jumbo-Visma for 2020, which will be made up of 13 riders from around the world, all under the age of 20.

The WorldTour team manager Richard Plugge said that it was a dream come true to establish such a squad following the closure of the Rabobank Development Team at the end of 2016. 

Rabobank was the original sponsor of the WorldTour outfit that Plugge took the reins of at the end of the 2012 season, becoming Blanco, then Belkin, LottoNL-Jumbo, and now Jumbo-Visma.

"I am very proud that, after the disappearance of the Rabobank Development Team, that we've been able to set up a development team with the help of Jumbo and Visma," Plugge said on the team's website.

"Together with, among other things, a school plan [education programme], we want to create growth for Dutch cycling."

While nine of the riders are from the Netherlands, four others come from further afield, with Ireland's Archie Ryan, German riders Michel Hessmann and Maurice Ballerstedt, and Finn Fisher-Black of New Zealand completing the 13-rider team.

Managing the new squad will be Robbert De Groot, who said: "Nothing is more beautiful than the development of young riders who improve themselves in such a way that they start acting at a professional level. The challenge is to achieve this for the long term. The development team must be the stepping stone to the pros for young, talented riders."

Former LottoNL-Jumbo rider Robert Wagner – currently riding for Arkéa-Samsic but retiring at the end of this season – will be a sports director on the team. A second sports director will be named soon, the team said.

Development Team Jumbo-Visma for 2020: Lars Boven, Owen Geleijn, Olav Kooij, Gijs Leemreize, Rick Pluimers, Mick van Dijke, Tim van Dijke, Axel van der Tuuk, Hidde van Veenendaal (all Netherlands), Archie Ryan (Ireland), Finn Fisher-Black (New Zealand) Michel Hessmann, Maurice Ballerstedt (both Germany).