Grischa Niermann makes shock Visma exit to replace Guercilena at Lidl-Trek

Grischa Niermann is set to swap Visma | Lease a Bike for Lidl-Trek as part of a managerial overhaul that will see Luca Guercilena depart the team. The news was reported by Daniel Benson on Monday evening.

Niermann has served as head of racing at Visma in recent years, taking over from Merijn Zeeman. According to Wielerflits, Marc Reef will be promoted to the role of head of racing. Reef was the lead sports director at the Giro d’Italia, where he guided Jonas Vingegaard to Visma’s third overall title in four years.

Niermann’s departure from Visma comes as a particular surprise given his longstanding links to the team. The German spent his entire professional career with the team, then known as Rabobank, and he segued into the management set-up shortly after hanging up his wheels at the end of 2012. He worked with the development squad for three years before moving into a role with the WorldTour team in 2017.

Guercilena’s exit from Lidl-Trek also marks a significant break. Although Guercilena was essential in securing the signings of Juan Ayuso and Derek Gee-West for Lidl-Trek last winter, the Italian had become increasingly marginalised in the months since Lidl acquired a majority stake in the team.

Andy Schleck, who was surprisingly appointed deputy general manager of Lidl-Trek last December, is now set to be named as the team’s CEO. His brother Fränk Schleck was already appointed manager of the Lidl-Trek women’s team in April, taking over from Michael Rodgers. 

Domestique understands that Guercilena is high on RCS Sport’s shortlist of candidates to take over the vacant position of Giro race director, though the Italian would likely spark interest from other WorldTour teams when his departure from Lidl-Trek is formally confirmed.

Guercilena was a coach and sports director at Mapei, QuickStep and Leopard Trek before he was appointed general manager of the revamped Trek Factory Racing squad ahead of the 2013 season. He took over from Johan Bruyneel to oversee a transformation of the team and its image, and he remained at the helm when Lidl first came on board as title sponsor in 2023.