Grischa Niermann is reportedly leaving Visma for Lidl-Trek

Cor Vos

Wielerflits reports that Grischa Niermann is leaving his role as Head of Racing at Visma-Lease a Bike to join Lidl-Trek. According to Wielerflits , longtime staffer Marc Reef will step into Niermann's role at Visma, while Niermann's move to Lidl-Trek raises questions about that team's new leadership structure.

The report from Wielerflits suggests that Niermann will take on the same role with Lidl-Trek, but Daniel Benson reports on his Substack that Niermann's arrival is part of a shakeup that will see Andy Schleck become team CEO and Niermann take up the role of general manager. That would spell an end to the tenure of Luca Guercilena after more than a decade in that position. A Lidl-Trek representative told Escape Collective that he could not comment on "speculation."

Sweeping shake-up underway at Lidl-Trek as Niermann, Schlecks take overLidl’s takeover of Trek is no longer just a logo on a jersey.Escape CollectiveCaley Fretz

Escape reached out to Guercilena for comment but did not hear back before publication of this story.

For both teams, the organizational changes would be hugely significant. Niermann has been a totemic figure for Visma-Lease a Bike, having raced his entire professional career with the team then called Rabobank and having become a full-time sports director with the squad in 2017. It was in that role that he played a key role in guiding Tour de France squads to victory and earned substantial camera time in the "Tour de France: Unchained" docuseries on Netflix.

This post is for subscribers only

Become a member to get access to all content

Subscribe now