Former Luxembourg rider Gaëtan Pons retired from cycling in 2019 at age 27 and became a sports director in recent years, making his presence felt at Unibet Rose Rockets where he’s spent the past two seasons. His talents haven’t gone unnoticed and Team Visma | Lease a Bike have gone on to sign the 33-year old sports director, one who is younger than several of its riders.
“Our sports director Gaëtan Pons will leave the team for a new adventure in the WorldTour with Team Visma | Lease a Bike. We’re proud to see him take the next step in his career and grateful for everything he brought to our team,” read a statement from the French team. Unibet has been a topic of conversation over its signings quite a lot over the past few months, but now they have lost an important piece of its staff team.
Visma recognized this, and head of performance Grischa Niermann himself wanted the Luxembourger in his team: “Gaëtan is a young, talented, and ambitious sports director. He already has a lot of experience in the car, and we’re happy to have him on board. We look forward to a great future together”.
This adds to the large team of sports directors and assistants the team has, who carry a great deal of responsibility throughout the season as Visma seeks victories in all terrains and in the biggest races in the world including the Tour de France.
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“I’m really excited to be joining the team. I can’t wait to meet everyone,” Pons said. !It’s a big new challenge, and I have to get used to fighting to win the Tour de France and not just fighting to get a spot there. But I think that suits me really well, as I always want to win. I love the adrenaline that comes with victory, so hopefully I’ve come to the right team”.
“When I met with Grischa Niermann and Jacco Verhaeren, we were quickly aligned. My experience as a rider just below WorldTour level taught me how it feels to be on the bike, which helps when talking with the riders. At the same time, I want to bring a good atmosphere to the team. I always try to bring people together, as I believe they perform better in a safe environment.”