In a shock managerial change, Visma-Lease a Bike's head of racing, Grischa Niermann, is reportedly set to depart the Dutch team and join Lidl-Trek, where he would replace longstanding general manager, Luca Guercilena. This is according to news broken on Monday evening by Daniel Benson's Substack, Dutch publication Wielerflits and Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
It would mark a significant shake-up for two of cycling's big-budget super teams, with Niermann having only been in his managerial position at Visma since September 30 2024, when Grand Tour mastermind Merijn Zeeman left the team for a job in football.
Niermann has overseen a very successful stint, having worked as head coach at Visma for several years prior, and as a directeur sportif for the team since 2017. The German retired as a pro rider in 2012 after 15 years with Rabobank, then worked for their women's team and development squad, before joining what was LottoNL Jumbo at the time.
Having just steered Visma to their second Giro d'Italia title in two years with Jonas Vingegaard, Wielerflits reported that DS Marc Reef is expected to step up into Niermann's management role. The Dutchman has been part of the performance team since 2022, after making his way as a DS on a long stint at DSM (now Picnic PostNL).
Guercilena's Lidl-Trek departure would mark the end of an era for the Italian, who oversaw much of Trek's development to now being one of the top teams in the sport, as a men's squad, women's squad, and as a development programme. He joined the team in 2011 as a DS when it was formed as Leopard Trek.
Lidl-Trek switched from being a US-licensed team to riding under a German flag for 2026, and would have one of the most experienced operators in the WorldTour steering the ship with Niermann, who is a proven Grand Tour expert. Aside from his successes with the likes of Wout van Aert in the Classics, the German contributed heavily to 10 Grand Tour wins during his time with Visma for Vingegaard, Primož Roglič, Simon Yates, and Sepp Kuss.
They have gone through several management changes already in the past 18 months, with the supermarket chain Lidl first taking a majority ownership stake last July. After this, Andy Schleck was appointed as Deputy General Manager in December, before brother Fränk Schleck took over from Mick Rogers as the director of the women's team, and Bernie Eisel moved up from sports director to head of racing in April.
Accoriding to Daniel Benson's report, Andy Schleck would become CEO of Lidl-Trek amid the changes, but their are various different reports about the exact nature of the shake-ups at both teams, with no changes officially announced yet.
Cyclingnews contacted both Visma-Lease a Bike and Lidl-Trek for reaction, but both teams declined to comment on speculation at the time of writing.
