Double Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard has signed a contract extension with his team Visma-Lease a Bike, previously known as Jumbo-Visma.

Dane Vingegaard, 27, will remain at the Dutch outfit until 2028.

"I feel very much at home with this team," Vingegaard said in a Visma-Lease a Bike statement on Thursday.

"And we are very successful with our approach.

"That's why I'm happy to extend my contract again. My future is here, and I'm proud of it."

The team's American rider Sepp Kuss, who won last year's Vuelta a España, has also extended his deal to 2027.

Visma-Lease a Bike also announced Belgian Wout Van Aert will miss next year's Tour to feature at the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta before September's world championships.

𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚 | 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐚 𝐁𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 ✨

In Dutch we say: ‘Dat is een goed stel’ 😉
Ready to shine! 😎 pic.twitter.com/2D13lFL4nE

— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) December 21, 2023

Following his contract extension, Jonas Vingegaard, the celebrated double Tour de France champion, is now committed to Visma-Lease a Bike until the end of 2028. This agreement, confirmed at the team's launch event in the Netherlands, marks a significant step for the Danish cyclist in his professional journey.

The event also served as a stage for Vingegaard to express his ambitions of securing a third consecutive Tour de France title in 2024. Alongside him in this quest will be Sepp Kuss, the Vuelta a España champion, who has extended his tenure with the team until the end of 2027.

Visma-Lease a Bike's sports director, Merijn Zeeman, shared his enthusiasm about the extensions, stating, "This is excellent news for us. We like to enter into long-term partnerships, and we are happy that Fem [van Empel], Sepp and Jonas feel the same way. We will continue to make sports history in the years to come."

Further restructuring within the team sees Belgian all-rounder Wout Van Aert focusing on the Giro d'Italia in May, alongside Grand Tour debutant Olav Kooij and Cian Uijtdebroeks. Van Aert, skipping the Milano-Sanremo and Strade Bianche, will aim for victories in the Giro rather than vying for the general classification.

"It’s a super exciting race for me to explore. I hope to win a stage, or more if that’s possible," Van Aert expressed, signaling a shift in his racing strategy for the upcoming season.

Visma-Lease a Bike's provisional team for the 2024 Tour de France includes Jonas Vingegaard, Sepp Kuss, Christophe Laporte, Dylan van Baarle, Matteo Jorgenson, Tiesj Benoot, and Jan Tratnik. This strong lineup underlines the team's commitment to support Vingegaard's goal of a Tour de France treble.

Vingegaard, aware of the challenges ahead, remains optimistic. "The Tour de France will once again be my main objective for 2024. I won it two times and I’ll try and win it a third time in a row," he stated during the team presentation.

With high-profile competitors like Primož Roglič, Remco Evenepoel, and Tadej Pogačar expected at the Tour, Vingegaard acknowledges the fierce competition but remains confident in his team's strength. 

"We always have a super strong team for the Tour de France, so I’m super happy with that. We’ll have to try and do what we always do, which is prepare as well as possible and make a good plan for the race, and we can only do the best we can. If that’s not enough then the other guys deserve to win," he said.