Five years behind the scenes with Team Jumbo-Visma
Documenting the rise of the world’s best cycling team
At the end of 2018, I started working with Team Jumbo-Visma (now Team Visma-Lease a Bike) on an ongoing basis. From covering training camps and shooting portraits of all riders to capturing the biggest races, I embedded with the team and documented their journey to becoming one of the best teams in the world, if not the best.
While my work with the team continues, this page is the culmination of these five years as Team Jumbo-Visma. I aim to show all facets of the team, and all the hard work that goes into it from both riders and staff.
Important note: for the best viewing experience, please open this page on a computer, not on a phone.
Training
Training camps are where the work is put in and where the team is built. It’s also a place not many people get to see. I still remember how excited I was during my first time in a team car circling around the riders, getting my first photos in.
Seeing the riders train has actually inspired me to take up riding myself. The combination of working out but also enjoying the surroundings and nature, and stopping for a coffee with some pastries really resonated with me. It’s amazing how similar the experience is for these world class riders and myself, an extremely average amateur, sharing the same roads, with the tiny difference of speed.
Hotels
Half a rider’s life is spent in hotels throughout Europe. Some good, some not so good (I’m looking at you, France). It’s a home away from home, especially since recurring training camps and races often sees the team stay in the same hotels.
The team has a rhythm at hotels, all focused on riders’ performance: sleep, eat, train/race, eat, have a massage (but only the riders), eat some more, sleep, repeat.
Altitude
Training camps at altitude are a special breed. They often take place at winter sports resorts, fairly deserted in spring and summer. The atmosphere here is different: less staff are present, focus is fully on the goals ahead, and the camps feel more secluded and intimate. Staff often stays in apartments where they cook together instead of hotels with full service restaurants.
I had one of the worst 24 hours in my life during one of these camps in Sierra Nevada, when the mix of food poisoning and the altitude made me as sick as I’d ever been. Somehow I made it through the night and day, capturing some important images for sponsors.
Innovation
Team Jumbo-Visma is an innovative team, constantly improving their hardware and working with riders to improve their performance, spearheaded by Mathieu Heijboer.
Many of the team’s aerodynamics tests took place in my alma mater Eindhoven University of Technology’s wind tunnel.
Youngsters
In 2020, a developement team was added to the Jumbo-Visma family. Working with these youngsters has been a pleasure. They’re excited about the prospect of a career as a professional rider and are always eager to collaborate for photos.
It’s been amazing to see some of these young guys grow and make it into the World Tour team. Some have already gone on to race the biggest races like Paris-Roubaix, and Olav Kooij just won his first Grand Tour stage in the Giro d’Italia this spring.
Staff
While the riders are the ones in the spotlight for the team, its backbone is formed by the staff. They are the ones that take care of everything, so the riders can focus on improving and performing.
The staff are a major determining factor in the culture of the team. In fact, Jumbo-Visma’s staff wrote down their own core values in the Blanco Koers. The spirit resulting from this document has been crucial in the team’s rise to success.
Women’s team
2021 saw the inception of the women’s team. The team was comprised of a mix of young and promising riders, bringing living legend Marianne Vos on board as a star and mentor.
One of my most special memories with the team was during the first edition of women’s Paris-Roubaix, the most legendary one day race in cycling. This had always been a men-only race. During the first women’s edition, after doing the recon, Marianne had her first look at the iconic showers at the Roubaix velodrome. This place breathes history, and from this year on the women would be writing their own stories in this race.
Joy
In my first five years with the team, I’ve been fortunate enough to witness countless victories, and have had to capture a fair few champagne bottles being popped.
These moments after the finish are actually hard to capture: the victorious riders of a race are often surrounded by media, meaning you really have to fight for your place and will be shooting the same moments as many other photographers. I therefore choose to instead focus on the moments of human connection, and do much of my work behind the scenes where press photographers can’t go.
Personalities
Working with the same riders years on end means you get to know their personalities fairly well. I always aim to do justice to the person, shooting genuine moments and displaying them as a three dimensional person, displaying different emotions. It’s also important to me to be respectful of how people appear in my photos: any accidental weird faces or moments that wouldn’t be representative of the person I’ll always delete.
Pain
It’s a cliche, but pain and suffering are a part of cycling. Putting in the endless hours during training, giving it all in the hardest mountain stages and then there’s the inevitable crashes.
I’ve always had a hard time capturing the pain. These riders are my teammates first and foremost, and I’d rather ask them if they’re okay and need any help them, than being in their face with my camera.
When I do have to capture these moments, I try to respectfully keep my distance and do my work quickly and with as little presence as possible.
Pink dreams
This series could easily have been added to the Joy section, but the trophy for the Giro d’Italia is just so pretty it deserves its own section.
La Grande Boucle
From the team’s rise from the ashes as Blanco Cycling Team, the big goal has always been to one day win the Tour de France.
After coming ever so close in 2020, the team managed to complete this goal in 2022 with Jonas Vingegaard. From the moment Jonas finished the race in Paris, I followed him for all celebrations in both Paris, Holland and Denmark, where he got the reception of a superstar.
After the finish in Paris is actually where I shot the photo above, which is by far the most meaningful photo I shot in my career. Jonas shares an intimate moment with his partner Trine, later telling me he wasn’t even aware I was there. What I love about the photo is that it moves people, and everyone sees something else in it.
Trilogy
In cycling’s history, no team had ever won all three Grand Tours in a year. In 2023, after Primoz Roglic won the Giro d’Italia and Jonas Vingegaard won the Tour de France, their trusted domestique Sepp Kuss won La Vuelta a España and the team locked out the full podium, writing sports history. Five years of Team Jumbo-Visma probably couldn’t have ended on a more historic high.
