Merjin Zeeman remembers his 12 years with Visma: “I will never forget winning the Giro, Tour, and Vuelta in the same year—that was the highlight of my career.”

Visma | Lease a Bike has had a lot of recent success, and Merijn Zeeman was a big part of that. Last year, they won a unique Grand Tour hat-trick. After becoming the best cyclist in the world, Zeeman felt it was time to move on to something else. He took a management job at his home football club, AZ Alkmaar.

Zeeman, who is already learning how to work in a totally different sport, says that the choice wasn’t easy but feels right.

“I worked for the team for twelve years,” Zeeman says to his new boss when asked about his time with the Dutch WorldTour team.

When Zeeman joined Belkin, things were pretty much hopeless. After a rough patch, the team was in the process of getting back on track. It wasn’t until that the team seemed to start to get better. Dylan Groenewegen was the only leader on the team, and Slovenian ski jumper Primoz Roglic had not yet reached his full potential. Roglic would later become associated with the Dutch team’s golden age.

In the end, the bank that took over from Rabobank not only came out from the orange shadow, but even surpassed its memory. “Richard Plugge was in charge of the group. In 2017, I became the head of sports. I was a coach for the team before that. A lot of people joined the team during years when things weren’t going well. We had some tough years, especially after Rabobank stopped sponsoring us.

The new general manager says, “But we built a team that has grown into the best team in the world.” “Winning the Giro, the Tour, and the Vuelta all in the same year in 2023 was the best thing that ever happened to me.” I remember that very well. That’s something I’ll never forget. There, I made friends for life. But I’m in Arizona now. So that’s what I think now.”