Dutch supermarket group Jumbo is to stop sponsoring cycling and speed skating at the end of 2024, broadcaster NOS has reported.

Sources have told NOS that the company briefed the Jumbo Visma team at the end of last year about the move, to give it enough time to ensure a smooth transition to a new sponsor.

‘At the moment we are looking at our position,’ a spokesman said. ‘We are looking into whether our sponsor strategy still fits our vision and our customers’ needs.’

Jumbo Visma was the most successful professional cycling team in the world last year, and include the Tour de France among its titles. In skating, the team can count several world champions, including Jutta Leerdam.

Sports marketeer Bob van Oosterhout told NOS that Jumbo founder Karel van Eerd, who has since died, was a massive cycling and skating fan. In addition, the money laundering scandal involving motocross and his successor Frits van Eerd has also had a major impact.

‘The term sports sponsoring has become a little dented within the Jumbo group,’ he said. ‘Jumbo’s market share is also under pressure. The people currently deciding the policy are now doing the sums and asking themselves if they want to continue like this.’

The three professional cycling and three skating teams which fall under Jumbo Visma’s  Team Oranje BV label have a combined budget of €36 million, of which one third comes from Jumbo. Jumbo and Norwegian software firm Visma have jointly sponsored the teams since 2019.