SafeR (Safe Road Cycling) was initiated a year and a half ago by Team Visma | Lease a Bike to increase safety in cycling. The UCI, riders' union CPA, various race organizers and the men's and women's teams are represented in it. Jaap van Hulten, as CEO of SafeR, will work with a team of experts and other bodies from cycling to increase safety.

Van Hulten: "After five wonderful years I am leaving this team with pain in my heart. And at the same time, I will now continue working on a great thing in the interest of the whole sport of cycling: our safety."

Luuk Schoenmakers will succeed Van Hulten as COO as of May 1. He is a member of the management team of Sport Studies at the Hogeschoool van Amsterdam and teaches Sport and Law, Management and Organization and Entrepreneurship. Before that, Schoenmakers worked as a lawyer for Deloitte and has a past as a competitive skier.

CEO Richard Plugge of Team Visma | Lease a Bike: "We regret Jaap's departure, but at the same time are proud that our expertise is now being deployed at the highest level to enhance the safety of the sport. And with the arrival of Luuk Schoenmakers, we were able to bring in a good replacement. With a past as a top athlete and with a lot of knowledge and experience in the field of management and organization, he fits well as COO."