Visma | Lease a Bike leaves Grischa Niermann out of Tour de France squad

Grischa Niermann will not be going to the 2026 Tour de France with Visma | Lease a Bike next summer. Since Merijn Zeeman’s departure in 2024, the German Head of Racing has held a leading position during the Grand Tours. The Dutch team is leaving him behind because he transfers to Lidl-Trek starting September 1. Marc Reef will take the lead during the upcoming Tour.

As Wielerflits reported Monday evening, Reef has been promoted internally to replace Niermann. He just returned from the Giro d'Italia, where Reef secured his fourth Grand Tour win as a team director thanks to Jonas Vingegaard. From now on, Reef will focus on preparing for the Tour de France, where he has immediately taken over the leadership role. This also means Niermann will not be traveling to France this summer.

"I’m going to the Tour together with Jesper Mørkøv," Reef said during a Visma | Lease a Bike press conference in response to a question from Wielerflits. The Dane (younger brother of former top lead-out man Michael Mørkøv) originally joined from Uno-X Mobility.

"We’ve raced quite a few races together over the past eighteen months. We also did the Giro together in recent weeks and we will continue that partnership next summer in the Tour."

Looking for a new team director?
With Reef promoted internally, it means the Dutch WorldTeam may need to look for a new team director to fill the gap. "That’s for later," Reef emphasized. "First, we fully focus on the Tour, which is our highest priority now. After the Tour, we will discuss other roles. Alongside Jesper, Arthur van Dongen and Frans Maassen will also join me as team directors for the Tour."