The talk is big, the grandest it could be, but are Lidl-Trek walking the walk? Are the American team really set on becoming the undisputed best men’s and women’s team in cycling?
Last June, European supermarket giant Lidl invested a significant amount into the team, increasing their annual budget to around €40m - placing them among the richest outfits in the sport.
Revolutions don’t happen overnight, but the plan from the outset was unambiguous: within five years, they would become the men’s and women’s number one ranked UCI team, and win a men’s Grand Tour.
If the task for the men’s team is daunting - not least because of the presence of UAE-Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike, but also because of the team’s current forte being the Classics - then the challenge for the women’s outfit is also complicated, with the all-conquering SD Worx in their way.
2024 has started positively, though, with 19 victories shared between the teams, and Mads Pedersen, new signing Jonathan Milan, Elisa Balsamo and Ellen van Dijk all regularly winning.
So what have been the changes behind the scenes in the nine months since Lidl came on board? “We’ve been able to sign a lot of good riders, leaders like Tao [Geoghegan Hart] and [Jonathan] Milan, as well as other strong guys, so that’s an improvement,” says Bauke Mollema, a rider with the team since 2015.
“There’s also been an investment in more coaches, data analysts, and nutritionists, a desire to try to improve everything because those marginal gains are so important these days.”
Previously, the team’s coaching department did all the data analysis, but now they have specialists in place who have been pivotal in more riders spending more time in the wind tunnel and working on aerodynamic improvements on the track. There has also been a recruitment drive in other departments, including two new chefs, as well as a new 14-rider men’s development team.
“The team’s goals are bigger, and what the team has done really well is to get everybody on board with that goal really quickly,” says Amy Cameron, a team press officer. “You can feel like everyone is wanting and trying to step up.”
Despite the new flow of cash, developing meaningfully but steadily is the plan, according to lead sports director Steven De Jongh. “We have more budget now so it makes things easier,” he says.
“But what’s been good is that we’ve kept our DNA. Ok, we’ve hired a lot of people, but at the winter training camps it still felt like it was us, Trek, and that’s a good sign.
“You can choose to grow explosively, hire people straight away, but it’s better to do it step by step. The culture we have is really good and we should take care of that. We have this sponsorship now and we have time to grow towards the goals in a good way. We’re now in the transition of becoming a GC team - it’s just a matter of time.”
Key to making the partnership work is a close working relationship between Lidl and the team, and Cameron says that “there is a constant back and forth between Lidl, Trek and the team. It’s a real partnership, everyone is fully invested."
She adds: "We did store visits before the team’s launch in Bilbao, and again before the Vuelta last year. At Milan-Sanremo, in La Gazzetta dello Sport, there were Lidl adverts with our riders in their stores, so you can see that we’re part of their marketing as well. We are a tool for them just as much as they are a tool for us.”
The team have high hopes in the current spring Classics, principally through Pedersen, Balsamo and Elisa Longo Borghini, but once full attention turns back to multi-day racing, there is one clear mission. “To fight with the biggest teams in the world,” says Mollema. “Visma and UAE are ahead right now, but our goal is to be the number one team in the coming years.”
