'We have already taken some incredible steps, but we are far from finished' – Unibet Rose Rockets add new head of racing as invite to Tour de France targeted

Unibet Rose Rockets have welcomed on board a new head of racing as Aike Visbeek joins for the 2027 season. The team will aim for a Tour de France wildcard invite next year, after making their Grand Tour debut at this year’s Giro d’Italia.

The 50-year-old Dutchman previously worked at Sunweb, SEG Racing Academy, Intermarché-Wanty, and, for half of the 2026 season, Lotto-Intermarché.

He surprisingly departed Lotto at the end of June, wanting to spend time with his family after the death of his father-in-law. Now, he’s heading for a new start next season with the Dutch ProTeam.

“What attracted me to the Rockets is that this is a team that is still building and has a clear ambition to keep moving forward,” Visbeek said upon signing with his new team.

“I have been fortunate to work on similar projects before, where you really have the opportunity to develop something together.”

Visbeek has more than a decade of experience in various roles across several teams, with his longest stint coming at Sunweb between 2013 and 2019. At Lotto, he worked as chief performance officer.

Unibet Rose Rockets chief sports officer Eelco Meenhorst said that Visbeek has “an impressive track record of developing teams and improving performance at the highest level.

"His knowledge, strategic insight, and experience will be extremely valuable as we continue to strengthen our performance," he added.

Unibet will field a largely similar squad for 2027, with only Axel Mariault (CIC Pro Cycling Academy) confirmed on the incoming list to date. Major names including Dylan Groenewegen, Wout Poels, and Lukáš Kubiš stay on board, while several other riders – including Clément Venturini, Odd Christian Eiking, and Victor Lafay – are departing.

Visbeek's addition isn't the team's only behind-the-scenes change this offseason. Bas Tietema, Unibet co-founder and main 'face', is stepping away from the sporting side to focus "even more on positioning the team as well as possible", including media and business duties, reported WielerFlits.

"The fact that [Visbeek] has chosen to join us says a lot about how far we have come as an organisation, but even more about where we believe we can go," said Tietema.

"We have already taken some incredible steps, but we are far from finished."

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