Jumbo-Visma - sorry - Visma-Lease a Bike have had enough of everyone saying their name wrong.
First thing this morning, the Dutch super-team posted a video on their social media, outlining their new 'Name Game'. "Who can say our name right the most?" The team asked. In other words, please stop calling us Jumbo, for crying out loud.
The duty fell on Wout van Aert to star in the video. It opens with the Belgian sitting on his hotel bed, dressed head to toe in branded kit, scoffing at TV commentators who misname his team. Next, he's in the bathroom, coiffing his hair, when he hears another slip-up. He's had enough. He looks down in disgust and then straight into the camera. "It is Visma-Lease a Bike!" he affirms.
Not once is the J word mentioned in the video. But let's cut some slack for those still using it.
After all, change is difficult. I, for one, am still struggling to come to terms with Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale's decision to part with the brown shorts. They were an institution in our sport - just like Jumbo was for the past nine years.
The brand (a Dutch supermarket chain, in case you were wondering) became a title sponsor of the squad in 2015. After four years as LottoNL-Jumbo, the team changed its name to Jumbo-Visma, which it has been known as for the last five seasons. Recently, though, there was a bit of a scandal at Jumbo HQ; the supermarket's former CEO was arrested for suspected money laundering, a new CEO came in, and sponsorship funding was reportedly pulled.
Right, history lesson over.
I understand Visma-Lease a Bike's frustration, too. After all, sponsors make the wheels go round in professional cycling, more so than in other sports. Companies pay for exposure in team names - often a lot of money as well - and if they aren’t being recognised, they'll struggle to see the worth in the investment.
Their frustration, I imagine, is similar to that of Elon Musk, when we continue to call this web franchise Tweets of the Week, despite him rebranding Twitter as X eight months ago.
Anyway, Visma-Lease a Bike it is. That's one point in the Name Game for Cycling Weekly.
Elsewhere on social media this week, the Giro helmet memes keep coming, and Remco Evenepoel dons his best Mark Cavendish costume.
1. No hard feelings for the number of Jumbo mentions in this article, right guys?
A new name, not easy for everyone.Which commentator or podcaster can maintain the highest rate of accuracy during the Spring Classics?This is The Name Game. 📢 #TheNameGamehttps://t.co/yIM7BfvLj7 pic.twitter.com/8n9vKyESXCMarch 15, 2024
2. Do you think Jonas Vingegaard gets Matteo Jorgenson's hand-me-downs?
Sorry for Jonas not bringing the Trident pic.twitter.com/Yi4wtNuutRMarch 12, 2024
3. After years of dreaming (literally in Brandon McNulty's case), the Americans finally found their place on a WorldTour podium
Brandon McNulty and Matteo Jorgenson as 15-year-olds on an early trip racing in Europe, 2014.Ten years later, they're 1-2 in Paris-Nice. pic.twitter.com/tqBdX66KbaMarch 8, 2024
4. Aero will strike again, and next time it will be bigger and uglier
5. Ohhh, so that's why the front part is so big
the rat is doing WHAT ??? 🐀 pic.twitter.com/2OOfyFtQHMMarch 10, 2024
5. Word of the helmets has even reached John Cena. Yes, the former WWE champion John Cena
6. Here's Riejanne Markus with her best Napoleon impression
7. And here's Remco Evenepoel with his best Mark Cavendish impression
“I feel like Mark Cavendish” 😁Quote of the week from @EvenepoelRemco! pic.twitter.com/Ni6cPeX2MQMarch 10, 2024
8. Sorry to be the guy who points out continuity errors, but there's a bit in this Red Bull video where they say Lotte Kopecky and runner Rani Rosius are on the Belgian GP track at the same time, despite the weather being completely different
9. Did you know they call in goats to tidy the grass on the Trouée d'Arenberg before Paris-Roubaix? Well, you do now
Arenberg forest getting ready 🙃 #Roubaix pic.twitter.com/0Z081kmDySMarch 11, 2024
10. Tadej Pogačar is ready to put the Pog in Poggio
11. He may be one of the best cyclists in the world, but that doesn't mean he can't have an Aldi loyalty card (bottom right, for those struggling to spot it)
12. And finally, in a world of tufts and goatees, don't be afraid to choose a mullet
🌈 A world champion is roaming in the streets of Pavia... But the mullet though 👀 #MilanoSanremo presented by @CA_Ita pic.twitter.com/bUp6cuKnV7March 15, 2024
