The chief financial officer of supermarket chain Jumbo has revealed that contract negotiations with Wout Van Art are "going very well" as the Jumbo-Visma team tries to dismiss interest from rival teams, including Ineos Grenadiers, to acquire the team leader. The company revealed that.

Van Art's contract with Jumbo-Visma expires this year, but the team is eager to renew his contract early and is eager to significantly increase Van Art's annual salary to secure his services at the peak of his career. Considering the salaries of other riders, Van Art could demand an annual salary of at least €3 million per season, making him one of the highest-paid riders in the peloton.

In 2020, Van Aert was one of the best riders of the year: the 26-year-old Belgian rider won two stages of the Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, and Tour de France, and finished second in both the road race and time trial at the world championships.

He also finished a close second in the Tour de Flanders, losing in a sprint to cyclocross rival Mathieu Van der Pol (Alpecin Phoenix). Van Aert, a member of the Primorsch Roglic team, impressed in the mountains of the Tour de France and is expected to target the classics and shorter stage races, but also to win the green points jersey in the future.

Unlike some team sponsors, supermarket chain Jumbo grew significantly during the COVID-19 craze, increasing its sales by 15% to €9.68 billion in 2020. The company opened 10 stores in Belgium and will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2021. According to [Wielerflits (opens in new tab)], Ton van Veen, CFO of Jumbo Supermarket, said, "We have an important ambassador in Belgium. Wout van Aert is very important to us in building brand awareness in Belgium. And also for the promotion of the Jumbo brand in Belgium.

"I can reveal that we are in negotiations with the Jumbo-Visma cycling team to extend his contract. He still has this year left on his contract, but we would like to keep him longer. Those negotiations seem to be going very well. We are very pleased about this."

Earlier this week, Juan Art became a father when his partner Sarah de Bie gave birth to a baby boy. He is now concentrating on cyclocross racing and is favored to win the Belgian national title this weekend.

He has not commented on his future, but is reportedly content to stay with Jumbo Visma and is seeking assurances of his place within the team hierarchy. His agent, Jeff van den Bosch, is said to be investigating other possible teams, including the Ineos Grenadiers.

Van Aert may help Dave Brailsford's plan to shed his robotic image and develop a more aggressive and open race after winning seven stages and the overall at the Giro d'Italia. VanArt will lead a new Classics team that includes his cyclocross rivals Tom Pidcock, Michel Kwiatkowski, Filippo Ganna, Luke Rowe, and Dylan van Baarle.

Ineos has 11 factories in Belgium and employs thousands of people. Protesters recently targeted Ineos Grenadiers vehicles on Belgian service courses, reportedly protesting a new chemical plant that Ineos is building in the port of Antwerp, which aims to make durable plastics from recycled raw materials.

Ineos is one of Europe's largest plastic manufacturers, and the petrochemical company has had to fend off accusations of "sport-washing" since it was announced as the team's sponsor.

Jumbo Visma, which has also signed contracts with Roglic, Tom Dumoulin, Steven Kruijswijk, and Dylan Groenewegen, is aware of Juan Art's value to current and future sponsors and is willing to invest part of its budget to keep him with the team They are prepared to invest part of their budget to keep him in the team.

The Jumbo Visma team told Cyclingnews that they would not respond to rumors and therefore would not comment. Juan Art's agent refused to comment to Het Laatste Nieuws when the possibility of his transfer to Ineos surfaced: "We have not communicated anything about ongoing discussions."