Verhaeren has decided not to extend his contract and will step down at year-end, Visma | Lease a Bike announced on Monday.

“I have consciously taken the time in recent months to reflect on my role within the team and the direction in which the team is developing,” Verhaeren said.

“I came to the conclusion that, for its next phase, this team needs someone else to take the next steps forward.”

The former Dutch national swimming coach, who guided Olympic champions Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruijn before running national swim programmes in Australia and France, first joined Jumbo-Visma in 2023 as an external performance expert. He took over the top sport management role in 2025 after the exit of Merijn Zeeman, who had left the previous December after 13 years at the organisation to become CEO of Dutch football club AZ Alkmaar.

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A second senior exit in weeks

Verhaeren’s departure lands weeks after Head of Racing Grischa Niermann left the team over the summer to become Chief Sporting Officer at Lidl-Trek. Directeur sportif Marc Reef was promoted internally as the new Head of Racing.

When Zeeman went, Visma had built a five-person sport management structure that placed Verhaeren, Niermann, performance director Mathieu Heijboer, Patrick Broe and Robbert de Groot around Jonas Vingegaard and the rest of the roster. Within a year, two of those five have moved on, and coach Tim Heemskerk had already left in February 2026.

Since Verhaeren arrived in 2023, Visma has taken the 2026 Giro d’Italia, Wout van Aert’s Paris-Roubaix triumph and Vuelta a España wins in 2023 and 2025.

No successor named as Verhaeren stays on until 31 December

CEO Richard Plugge paid tribute to Verhaeren in the team’s statement.

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“Jacco is a top coach who has also proven within our team that he is exceptionally capable of connecting with both riders and coaches,” Plugge said.

The team said it will use the coming months to decide the future shape and leadership of the Sport Management Team, with Verhaeren staying on until 31 December to hand over his responsibilities.

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