Jonas Vingegaard's coach leaves Visma with immediate effect
Tim Heemskerk has confirmed that his time at Visma | Lease a Bike has come to an end after eight years with the team. His departure means that Jonas Vingegaard will have a new coach as he builds towards the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.
Jonas Vingegaard’s preparations for his tilt at the Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double have received another blow with the news that his coach Tim Heemskerk is to leave Visma | Lease a Bike with immediate effect.
Heemskerk has served as a performance coach with Visma for the past eight years, and he has been Vingegaard’s coach since he joined the team in 2019, including for his back-to-back Tour wins in 2022 and 2023 and as his Vuelta a España victory last season.
“Over the past period, I have noticed that I was struggling to continue applying my creativity and passion, which are important to me in my work as a coach,” Heemskerk said in a statement released by Visma on Monday.
“That was the moment for me to be honest with myself and with the team. I look back with pride on the growth of the team, myself, and the riders, including of course Jonas. In the coming period, I will take some time for myself and reflect on my future.”
Visma head of performance Mathieu Heijboer described Heemskerk’s departure as the “best outcome” in the statement released by the team.
“He has played a major role in the development of the training philosophy we apply within the team and in achieving our sporting results,” Heijboer said. “Over the past period, I have had many conversations with Tim, and I believe this is the best outcome. I wish him all the best in the next stage of his career.”
Heemskerk’s departure means that Vingegaard and Matteo Jorgenson will both need to be assigned a new coach as they prepare for the 2026 season. According to WielerFlits, Mathieu Heijboer will replace Heemskerk as Vingegaard’s coach.
Visma announced last week that Vinegaard would delay the start of his season after suffering a training crash and an unspecified illness in recent days. Vingegaard had been due to compete against Remco Evenepoel at next week’s UAE Tour, but it is instead expected that his lone outing before the Giro will come at the Volta a Catalunya next month.
Visma have endured a troubled start to 2026, with Simon Yates surprisingly announcing his retirement in January and Wout van Aert suffering a fractured ankle at the Zilvermeercross on January 2.
On Monday, Sepp Kuss abandoned the Tour of Oman after suffering with illness over the weekend.
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