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Van Hooydonck promoted to sporting director at Visma-Lease a Bike
Visma-Lease a Bike has promoted Nathan van Hooydonck to sporting director, a new leading role effective immediately. He will define and oversee the team's key sporting objectives and safeguard its long-term vision, values and culture. Van Hooydonck spent three years riding for the team, supporting Jonas Vingegaard through both his Tour de France wins, before retiring in 2023 with heart problems.
What this means
The appointment comes amid broader turnover in the team's sport management structure: Jacco Verhaeren is on the outgoing list for 2027, Grischa Niermann departed with his exit announced in June, and Marc Reef stepped up to head of racing on September 1.
Van Hooydonck, who turns 31 next week, joins the Sport Management Team alongside Richard Plugge, Marc Reef, Mathieu Heijboer, Robbert de Groot and Patrick Broe. His last race came at the 2023 Tour of Britain, after which he initially transitioned to work as a VIP guest guide during major races before taking a commercial role with the team's Business Team from October 2024. The appointment follows turnover at the top of the sport management structure: Jacco Verhaeren is on the outgoing list for 2027, Grischa Niermann departed with his exit announced in June, and Marc Reef stepped up to head of racing on September 1. Team boss Richard Plugge said van Hooydonck "also has the credibility to have an opinion on the sport and to express it" as a former rider, and credited his Business Team experience with teaching him "to look beyond the sporting side of things and to see the connection with the rest of our organization". Van Hooydonck himself framed the job plainly: «Ultimately, for me, it comes down to one thing: winning. To achieve that, we need to move in the same direction as an organisation every single day.»
Sources
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