Another coach departs Visma | Lease a Bike to join a rival team

Grischa Niermann will leave Visma | Lease a Bike for Lidl-Trek, according to Raymond Kerckhoffs of WielerFlits. The German became the sporting manager for the Dutch team after the departure of Merijn Zeeman, a role he would also take on at his new team. According to WielerFlits, Marc Reef would become the new sporting manager.

Niermann has a long history with Visma | Lease a Bike and all its predecessors. He joined the team as an active rider in 1998 and ended his career there in 2012, after which he immediately moved into team management. He went on to make his name as first sports director in, among other things, Jonas Vingegaard’s two Tour de France victories.

When Zeeman announced his departure as sporting director in 2024, it was no surprise that Niermann took over the sporting side of things. That included transfers, selections and tactical responsibilities, from which the team has benefited over the past six months.

Lidl-Trek, which has been undergoing a transformation for several years after the supermarket chain came on board, clearly sees that too and wants to take the next step with Niermann. The team brought in Derek Gee and Juan Ayuso last winter as GC riders and, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, is also working on Felix Gall, the runner-up in the Giro d’Italia.

According to the usually well-informed Daniel Benson, Niermann would take on the same role at his possible new team as he did at Visma | Lease a Bike: sporting manager. Andy Schleck would then become the team’s CEO and, in that way, take over the reins from Luca Guercilena.

Visma | Lease a Bike, meanwhile, would like Reef — who on Sunday won the Giro d’Italia with Vingegaard — to fill Niermann’s role. Reef spent years as a sports director at Sunweb with Tom Dumoulin and moved to Visma | Lease a Bike a few years ago.

The news of Niermann's departure comes on the heels of the announcement that Jonas Vingegaard's ex personal coach would join rivals Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe.

Tim Heemskerk, who abruptly left Visma | Lease a Bike in early February 2026, announced he would join the staff of the German team on May 13. After years of working with Vingegaard, Heemskerk will work with a number of WorldTour riders at Red Bull, potentially including Remco Evenepoel.