Jumbo-Visma put Dutch Neopro and former Air Force officer Bart Lemmen on Human Powered Health for the 2024 season, perhaps the least anticipated signing of the season 6.

The 28-year-old joined Matteo Jorgenson and Ben Tulett on Jumbo-Visma's incoming list, along with development team graduates Johannes Staune-Mittet, Loe van Belle and Per Strand Hagenes, and signed up for a two-year contract from the U.S. team.

The 2024 season has confirmed 27 riders and Jumbo-Visma, which includes 3 Neopros, still has 3 roster spots to potentially fill during the winter. He has expanded his team with a number of riders, including Tour de France 2 winner Jonas Vingegor (2027), classic star Christophe Laporte (2026) and sprinter Olaf Kooy (2025).

GC leader Primos Roglic led the team's outgoing list when the Slovenians switched to Bora Hansgrohe, with Nathan van Hooydonk, Rojandenis and Jos van Emden retiring. Sam Oomen (Lidl-Trek), and the DSM-Firmenich bound pair Gijs Leemreize and Timo Roosen have also left the Dutch team.

Lemmen is fairly new to top-level cycling, and this season he worked as an officer in the Dutch Air Force before becoming a professional in the health of human power. Previously, he competed in the Volker Wessel of the Continental team. But Jumbo-Visma was impressed by what she saw in the races and lab tests.

"I'm really looking forward to this new chapter in my atypical cycling career," Lemmen said.

"At the beginning of this year, it was quite a change from an Air Force officer to a full-time professional cyclist.

"Over the past few months, I have made great strides in physically adapting to life as a professional athlete. It's great that it's paying off, and that team Jumbo-Visma sees my potential.

The final stage victory of the 2022Kreiz Breizh Elites is Lemmen's solo pro win so far, but this season's standout results include 4th place in the Dutch National Championship road race, the time trial finale at O Gran Camiño and 8th place in the Circuito de Getxo.

Recently, Lemmen finished in 5th overall on a tour of Slovakia before ending his season in a series of 1-day races in Belgium. He may not have much experience at the professional level, but Jumbo-Visma says that in tests and interviews he assured Lemmen that he belonged to Worldtourpeloton.

"I'm very excited to see how he grows as he gets to know our training program," said team directeur sportif Merijn Zeeman.

"Bart recently started cycling as an elite sport. Before that, he conducted intensive military training, combining the tough work of cycling and defense. That was the trigger for us. Despite having little training or coaching, he has shown some interesting things in the race, and his physical value shows tremendous potential.

Jumbo-Visma said Lemmen has shown promise in time trials and hilly courses. The Rider himself said he is looking forward to "an excellent voyage of discovery" with his new team.

"The development process with the team will show where I value the most," he said. "I expect it to be an excellent voyage of discovery. I look forward to working with the team in preparation and racing."