Tim Rex has extended his contract with Team Visma | Lease a Bike through to the end of 2029 after making a rapid transition from the team’s development programme to Grand Tour racing.
The 22-year-old Belgian joined Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development in 2025 and earned promotion to the WorldTeam after a single season. His original professional contract covered 2026 and 2027, but Visma have already added another two years after being impressed by his first months at the highest level.
Rex made his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d’Italia this spring and became part of the climbing support around Jonas Vingegaard as the Dane completed the Grand Tour set with his first maglia rosa.
“It’s a great feeling to have the trust and appreciation from the team. It gives me a sense of calm, confidence and motivation because I also feel at home in this team and it is the ideal environment for my own development.”
Rex has moved quickly through the Visma pathway
Rex arrived in Visma’s development squad at the start of 2025 after showing himself as a versatile climber in the under-23 ranks.
The Belgian, from the country’s German-speaking East Cantons, had finished third on a stage of the 2024 Tour de l’Avenir and was already viewed as a rider capable of handling difficult terrain without fitting neatly into the mould of a pure climber.
Visma quickly began using him alongside the WorldTeam during 2025.
By July that year the team had seen enough to offer him a two-year professional contract, promoting Rex alongside fellow development rider Pietro Mattio for the 2026 season.
There was little easing into his first full WorldTour campaign. Rex was selected for Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège during the spring before receiving a place in Visma’s Giro d’Italia squad.
First Grand Tour ended with Vingegaard in pink
The Giro provided the clearest indication of how quickly Visma were prepared to trust Rex.
Rather than simply being selected to gain three-week experience, he was given substantial work within the team supporting Vingegaard’s general classification campaign.
Rex was particularly visible during the final week.
On Stage 19, he spent long periods controlling the peloton as a dangerous breakaway containing riders with GC ambitions moved up the road. That work allowed Visma to remain calm while Vingegaard defended the maglia rosa, before Sepp Kuss eventually won the queen stage.
The following afternoon Rex was again used to set the pace before Vingegaard’s final attack on Piancavallo.
ProCyclingUK’s Giro d’Italia 2026 final classification recap covers how Vingegaard completed his first Giro victory in Rome after three weeks in which Visma repeatedly controlled the mountain stages around him.
For Rex, completing that race in his first WorldTour season provided a considerable amount of experience in a very short period.
Visma see more than a climbing domestique
Head of Racing Marc Reef believes Rex already has the physical level required to influence WorldTour races, while stressing that the Belgian’s response to coaching has been just as important.
“Tim has made impressive progress in a relatively short period of time. He already has the physical qualities to impose himself in WorldTour races, but what stands out just as much is his attitude and his willingness to learn.”
Reef also highlighted how quickly Rex has been able to apply feedback.
“He is very open to feedback and has shown that he can quickly translate what he learns into his performances.”
The team’s use of Rex during 2026 suggests they are still exploring exactly where his long-term role will settle.
At 1.90 metres, he has an unusual build for a rider whose strongest performances have often come on climbing terrain, while his programme has extended well beyond stage-race domestique work.
He has also raced the Ardennes, Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa, Vuelta a Burgos, ADAC Cyclassics and Bretagne Classic during his first WorldTour season.
At the 2026 ADAC Cyclassics, Rex followed an attack from Benoît Cosnefroy on the Waseberg alongside Brandon Rivera and Brent Van Moer as the race began to split.
That willingness to become involved in difficult one-day races gives Visma more to work with than simply developing another mountain support rider.
Rex wanted stability after his breakthrough year
The new contract removes any immediate question over where Rex will continue that development.
“I’m very grateful to the team for giving me the opportunity to continue developing and growing here. I’m really looking forward to the years ahead!”
Visma now have the Belgian secured throughout a period when he should move from learning his role at WorldTour level towards being expected to influence races more regularly.
The team can afford to take its time with that process.
Rex is only 22 and has already completed a Grand Tour supporting a winning leader. There is no need to decide immediately whether his future lies predominantly as a high-level climbing domestique, a stage hunter or a rider capable of taking greater responsibility in shorter stage races.
Visma continue securing riders through 2029
Rex’s extension is part of a wider run of long-term renewals by Team Visma | Lease a Bike.
Edoardo Affini has signed through 2029, keeping one of the team’s most dependable Grand Tour and time-trial riders in place.
Bart Lemmen has also extended until 2029 after riding alongside Rex at the Giro and then taking his own stage victory at the Tour de Pologne.
Those deals retain established support around Visma’s leaders. Rex represents the younger side of the same planning.
The team promoted him from its development programme after only one season, gave him a Giro place months later and has now committed to him through 2029 before his first WorldTour campaign has finished.
All confirmed deals and contract extensions for next season and beyond are being tracked in ProCyclingUK’s men’s cycling transfers hub.
