Marc Reef won four of the ten grand tours for Visma | Lease a Bike: "First the Tour, then the rest"
Marc Reef is promoted within Visma | Lease a Bike. As Wielerflits already reported Monday evening, the team director is the successor of Grischa Niermann. The German is leaving on September 1st to join Lidl-Trek and will continue to work behind the scenes for the time being. From now on, Reef is the new Head of Racing. “The focus is first and fully on the Tour de France, just as Grischa would have done,” Reef told Wielerflits, among others.
The surprise and disappointment were clearly felt by general manager Richard Plugge, but the announcement from Niermann also came as a bolt from the blue for Reef. “Grischa was a great colleague to work with. Of course, it’s unfortunate that he is leaving our sports management, but we have a very good structure with multiple people, so we can manage this situation. Looking at myself, I was already involved in many parts of my new role. After fifteen years as a team director in the WorldTour, I see this as a logical step.”
“I am also very happy and grateful for the trust I feel within Visma | Lease a Bike,” Reef continued. “This is really an opportunity for me. After already being the lead team director in the last Giro d’Italia, I can say that I will take on the same role in the upcoming Tour de France. My first priority and focus are there. Tour first, then the rest. We are working with a group toward the Tour de France, as I already said. Grischa didn’t do that alone, just as I’m not going to do it alone in the coming period. Together we will make sure we are prepared.”
Niermann as a role model for Reef
Reef is doing this together with Plugge, Robbert de Groot, Mathieu Heijboer, and Patrick Broe, with Jacco Verhaeren in charge. Within this group, the new Head of Racing does not want to compare his style to Niermann’s. “No, at the moment I don’t think there is anything that will change that. Our main goals this season were to win Paris-Roubaix, the Giro d’Italia, and the Tour de France. I have always had a lot of contact with Grischa. We haven’t done many races together, but we did the Tour last year. You see that he is always part of the group, but also above it when necessary. I admire that about him; he has been a role model for me.”
The 40-year-old Reef sees no problem in being relatively young himself and standing above the riders’ group. Richard Plugge shares that view. “Marc has already been involved in several areas in recent years, so he could grow into this role. Now he is taking over from Grischa. Probably a bit earlier than planned, but that is how it works in top-level sport. I am one hundred percent convinced that Marc is ready for this job. He is jumping on a moving train now, but he has the time to focus on Tour preparation and the race itself in the coming weeks.”
“The strength of our team is that we have now won a total of ten Grand Tours with different riders, but also with different team directors in those races,” Plugge points out. “Marc has just won his fourth Grand Tour as the lead team director. With him on board, our sports management remains strong and united. This situation also gives us the chance to possibly come out even stronger, or to approach things differently and ultimately present ourselves better. That is how we see things. I am convinced that we will continue to build on our success. Our organization is robust and not dependent on just one person.”
