Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women welcomes new sports director De Heij
From this season, Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women will be strengthened with a new sports director: Joppe de Heij. The 24-year-old Dutchman joins from Unibet Tietema Rockets and started at the yellow-and-black squad in January.
De Heij began his career as a sports director with at a Dutch junior team, before quickly moving to Unibet Tietema Rockets. He was also active as a rider with a club team in The Netherlands before stepping into his role as sports director.
The young Dutchman deliberately chose to work with the women's team. “Women’s cycling is on the rise. That really appealed to me. In addition, Team Visma | Lease a Bike is one of the biggest teams in the world, which makes it very special to work here,” De Heij says. He took the initiative to reach out to Head of Coaching Jacco Verhaeren: “I know Jacco from the UCI sports director course. Everything happened much faster than I expected. In January, I attended my first training camp in Spain, where I was warmly welcomed by both riders and staff. It’s a great group, and I felt at home very quickly.”
"My goal is to learn and gain as much experience as possible"
De Heij is still young and relatively new as a sports director, and he’s eager to learn as much as possible. “This is only my third year as a sports director. My goal is to gain as much experience as possible and learn from Rutger, Jan, Jos and Maarten,” he explains. De Heij is looking forward to the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, his first race as a sports director: “Of course, it’s a bit nerve-wracking, but I’m really excited. Valencia is a great race to start with.”
"I’m convinced he will be a great addition to our existing team"
Rutger Tijssen, team manager of Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women, emphasizes that De Heij is a valuable addition to the team: “Joppe is a young, ambitious sports director who wants to learn a lot, but he already brings some experience.” Initially, De Heij will act as an assistant at the major races while also leading smaller races independently: “We will give him the time and space to develop into a fully-fledged sports director. I’m convinced he will be a great addition to our existing team.”
