Technology is indispensable in top sports. Visma is not only the main sponsor of the cycling team Team Visma | Lease a Bike, but also the preferred technology partner.
The cycling sport is gearing up for its annual highlight. No matter how much we love our spring classics in Flanders, the Tour de France remains the trophy every rider and team leader dreams of. Whoever gets to wear the yellow jersey on the Champs-Élysées on July 27 will forever be etched in cycling history.
No, ITdaily has not transformed into a sports news website. Cycling today is much more than just riding a bike fast (although that remains an important skill). Using the latest technology can make the difference between winning and losing at the end of the race. No collaboration highlights this better than that between Visma and the cycling team Team Visma | Lease a Bike.
Jet Bouwman, Head of Sponsorship at Visma, and Richard Plugge, director of the cycling team, tell ITdaily how the collaboration goes far beyond just a name on a jersey. Visma is also the reliable IT partner that gives Wout Van Aert, Jonas Vingegaard, and the other Visma stars a push from behind the scenes.
More than a Sponsor
“A cycling team like Team Visma | Lease a Bike is not much different from an ‘average’ company in terms of IT. Things like ERP, security, payroll, etc., are also important to us”, says Plugge. To meet those needs, Plugge doesn’t have to look far. “We use many solutions that Visma offers off the shelf“.
That makes Team Visma | Lease a Bike anything but an average customer for Visma. Plugge: “Through our FoodCoach app, we can calculate and recalculate exactly what riders need to eat with the help of AI. Since last year, we have a Control Room to collect data during training and races and make decisions based on it. Everything Visma can help us with, they do”.
“We want to be more than just a name and a logo, but also truly help with technological innovations. The conditions are sometimes challenging: think of a race in the middle of the mountains. It makes it difficult to get the right data in the right way at the right time. We also look for solutions for those invisible issues”, Bouwman adds.
To measure is to know
Cycling has evolved significantly in recent years. A team leader today also needs to be somewhat of a data analyst, says Plugge. “We have been working intensively on this for years. I dare say that the top teams are ahead of other sports in this regard. Recently, we were guests at a McKinsey event, and even the major IT players were hanging on our every word. The advantage of cycling is that it is actually quite measurable. There is so much data you can collect”.
Data makes a difference before, during, and after the race. The riders are also receptive to it. “As a ‘modern’ rider, you need to know exactly when and how much to eat and how to optimize this. Athletes often make wrong choices because you can’t feel hunger when you need to eat or vice versa. Technology removes that uncertainty for the riders”, explains Plugge.
“Because we can bring the data to the level of the individual rider, it becomes very tangible for them”, Bouwman adds. “Look at Vingegaard, for example: thanks to the nutrition prediction model, he learned that he was actually eating too little. Decisions are now made based on data, not gut feeling”.
The modern race is therefore no longer just run on the road. Plugge: “The top teams try to outsmart each other in every way. You can perform well yourself, but the more you know about your opponents, the better you will perform yourself”.
“We have so many data points, from nutrition to chain friction and the impact of wind, but sometimes we are looking for a needle without knowing if it’s in the haystack. Then it helps to collaborate with one of the smartest companies to be better both on and off the road”.
The advantage of cycling is that it is actually quite measurable.
Richard Plugge, director Team Visma | Lease a Bike
Security
The cycling team can also rest assured in terms of security with a partner like Visma. “We have so much data on our riders, which is very personal. We must avoid at all costs that it ends up elsewhere. But the bad guys are also getting smarter. I think no company has its security as well organized as Visma. We are secured with the highest standards available now”, says Plugge.
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The traditional security pitfalls are also relevant for a cycling team. Plugge: “We are all over the world during the season. Our employees sometimes log into hotel networks that are not always secure. We must constantly stay sharp and think carefully about what to do and what not to do”.
Visibility
The collaboration not only benefits the cycling team. Associating its name and logo with a successful sports team also offers advantages for Visma. Bouwman explains: “As a B2B software provider, you want to create visibility. We are active in 33 countries. Cycling is not equally big in every country, but where it is, companies know us thanks to the collaboration. We don’t just sponsor a team, but one of the best teams in the world”.
According to Bouwman, the effect trickles down to the entire Visma group, which now includes more than 200 companies. “Visma is a federation of companies that develop software. The subsidiaries operate under their own name and not Visma’s. Yet they also feel the positive effects of the link between sports and business software. Internally, we also see that employee motivation and engagement increase. Employees are proud to work for an organization that dares to connect with top sports”.
“Where Merete (Hverven, CEO Visma, ed.) and I find common ground is in our vision of how to build and maintain a company’s culture. We can have good conversations about this”, adds Plugge. “In terms of culture, our organizations fit well together, despite the different objectives. The success of the collaboration is built on that shared culture”.
“We may come from two completely different worlds, but the ambition is the same: to win and excel”, states Bouwman.
We come from two different worlds, but our ambition is the same: to win
Jet Bouwman, Head of Sponsorship Visma
Three Percent
Bouwman and Plugge look positively towards the continuation of the partnership. “Our focus is on further supporting and optimizing products, such as the control room and the nutrition model. Last year we worked with a physical van, now we have put it into an app that the team leader can follow live from the support car”.
Our task is to ensure that the team only has to focus on what they are good at: winning races. For our customers, we look at how we can bring them as close to the race as possible,” Bouwman looks ahead.
Plugge is eager to start the Tour. “Thanks to Visma, we can compete at the highest level. Not only through their sponsorship but also thanks to their IT expertise. I often say that cycling is about 97 percent talent and training, but in top sports, it’s about fighting for that last three percent”. Whether Vingegaard will end up in the yellow jersey or Van Aert in the green jersey in Paris, we will know on July 27.
This editorial contribution was created in collaboration with our partner Visma.