Report: Time trial world champion Tobias Foss set to leave Jumbo-Visma in 2024
25-year-old Norwegian has multiple offers, Wielerflits reports
Current Time Trial World Champion Tobias Foss is set to leave Jumbo-Visma at the end of the season, Wielerflits reported on Saturday, citing multiple unnamed sources.
Foss, 25, has been part of the Dutch powerhouse squad for the last four seasons. A former Tour de L’Avenir winner, capturing the World Time Trial Championships last autumn in Australia is the highlight of his career to date.
The Norwegian is set to form part of the Jumbo-Visma squad in the Giro d’Italia, where his talents against the clock make him a favourite for all three time trials in the race. But he is out of contract at the end of the season.
Wielerflits names four different teams as interested in the Norwegian, claiming the most likely destination was currently either Bahrain Victorious or Israel-Premier Tech.
Another potential option, Uno-X Pro Cycling, has apparently been ruled out despite the team and rider sharing the same nationality and Uno-X looking for a higher profile in the peloton as part of their long-term campaign to join the WorldTour.
Foss himself joined Jumbo-Visma in 2020, having formed part of the Uno-X Norwegian Development Team with one highlight in his rookie year being fifth place in the Giro’s opening TT in Palermo.
This year he will be racing the Giro for a fourth time for Jumbo-Visma, after claiming a notable ninth in the Italian Grand Tour's overall rankings in 2021, his second season as a pro. This was then followed up with Foss capturing both the Norwegian road and time trial titles.
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He was involved in a bad crash in the 2022 Coppi e Bartali and a head injury had a knock-on effect in the Giro, but Foss bounced back in style with the Norwegian time trial title and then surprising the favourites at the Worlds.
His combination of time trialling and GC talents have made him an attractive proposition for squads, and if Wielerflits report is confirmed, Foss will be racing in different team colours in 2024.
Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters.