Riding with Anouska Koster from Team Jumbo-Visma

This article was written when Visma was co-sponsor of Team Jumbo-Visma. Today, Visma is first title sponsor of Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

“Dare to share”

The theme for this year’s Company Day was all about diversity and exploring new ways and perspectives on life. With “Dare to share”, Visma e-conomic wanted to create a Company Day where employees would challenge biases, broaden mindsets, experience, test and sense in many different ways. 

The employees were spread across Copenhagen city on several engaging, interesting and challenging workshops and activities. One of these activities was a ride with one of the pro riders of Team Jumbo-Visma: the 28-year-old Anouska Koster from the Netherlands.

Read more sponsorship stories here.

Ride like a pro

Next year, the Tour de France will start in Denmark with a 13 km course through Copenhagen. Together with Anouska Koster, the employees at Visma e-conomic were invited to experience what the pro riders of Team Jumbo-Visma will experience in the first stage of Tour de France 2022. 

The employees completed the first stage on stationary bikes while experiencing the city streets on a huge projector screen. Furthermore, the employees had the full Tour de France experience with cheering crowds and a person dressed as a running red devil pushing them to the limit.

Anouska had the joy of taking 40 employees through the tough and fun challenge. With four weeks until her next race in the Netherlands, being in Denmark and riding with the Visma e-conomic employees, was a fun day of training for her.

Pushing minds

While warming up on the bikes, Anouska shared some stories and tips from her life as a professional cyclist at Team Jumbo-Visma. She encouraged the participants to keep in mind that they can accomplish far more than they actually think. 

Anouska separates her big goals into smaller ones to continually feel accomplishment, happiness and pride when progress happens. Also, she makes sure to celebrate her small successes as these help her to go even further and reach the next subgoal leading to her overall goal.

Done but not done-done

After completing the 13 km, the riders were done, but not done-done, so they had a little extra challenge awaiting. Since Copenhagen is a very flat city, the employees also needed to try some real bike climbing in the mountains. That happened at a rather different pace on the spinning bikes, and let’s just say that no one in the room was freezing at that point. 

As if that was not enough, the super cool employees – now somehow pro riders – also had the joy of finishing off with a little intensity session on the bikes. Then a well-deserved shower, followed by a great party with all of the other Visma e-conomic employees in the evening.

Thanks to Anouska Koster and Team Jumbo-Visma for a great experience!