“Bike racing isn’t on paper” - Derek Gee and Giulio Ciccone hopeful Giro d’Italia chaos can spark surprise Lidl-Trek GC challenge against Jonas Vingegaard
Cycling
Lidl-Trek arrive at the 2026 Giro d’Italia with one of the most versatile setups in the race. While Jonathan Milan targets the sprint stages and an early Maglia Rosa in Bulgaria, the team’s wider ambitions stretch far beyond bunch finishes.
Between the aggressive stage-hunting instincts of Giulio Ciccone and the growing general classification credentials of Derek Gee, Lidl-Trek head into the Giro believing the race’s traditional chaos and attritional nature could still create opportunities behind overwhelming favourite Jonas Vingegaard.
The Canadian was responding to the growing consensus around Vingegaard’s status as clear favourite following the withdrawals of major rivals including Joao Almeida, Richard Carapaz and Mikel Landa in conversation with Cycling News.
“On paper, you would say no,” Gee admitted when asked whether anyone could realistically match the Dane in the mountains. “But at the same time, bike racing isn’t on paper.”
Gee embracing uncertainty before Giro return
Gee returns to the Giro after finishing fourth overall in 2025, a breakthrough performance that established him as one of the peloton’s emerging Grand Tour riders.
This year’s build-up, however, has been far from ideal. Illness following Volta a Catalunya forced the Canadian to miss Lidl-Trek’s altitude camp in Sierra Nevada, leaving him uncertain about how quickly his best condition will arrive during the race.
“Unfortunately, this year, because I got quite sick after Catalunya, I missed the prep camp,” Gee explained. “I think for sure it’ll be a loss that I will feel towards the start of the race. Hopefully it’s not something I can never catch up to during the race.”
Rather than hiding from those concerns, Gee instead appeared unusually relaxed about the uncertainty surrounding his form. “When you don’t have the best run-in, it also kind of takes some pressure off,” he said. “If the legs show up right away, that’s great. If I struggle in the first week and the legs show up in the third week, then that’s great.”
That patient outlook fits both Gee’s rider profile and the nature of the Giro itself. The Canadian has repeatedly shown an ability to grow stronger as Grand Tours progress, while this year’s route features a brutal final week packed with climbing and attritional mountain stages.
“The purest of bike races”
For Gee, the Giro’s identity itself is part of the attraction. “It’s a very attritional race, the Giro is every single time,” he explained. “The third week makes such a big difference. The Giro has always been famous for having the hardest stages, the worst weather.”
That suffering and unpredictability is precisely what the Canadian believes creates opportunities in a race where one rider appears overwhelmingly superior on paper. “It feels like the purest of bike races,” Gee said. “That really appeals to me as a bike rider.”
With cold weather, long mountain stages and cumulative fatigue all expected to shape the final week, Lidl-Trek appear hopeful that the Giro’s traditional chaos could gradually narrow the gap between Vingegaard and the rest of the field.
Ciccone targeting stages while keeping GC options open
Alongside Gee’s GC ambitions sits a very different but equally important role for Ciccone. The Italian arrives at his home Grand Tour after a build-up shaped around altitude training rather than heavy racing, with the Lidl-Trek rider openly admitting his focus will primarily be on aggressive stage hunting in conversation with Cycling Pro Net.
“It’s going to be more about stages,” Ciccone said. “Of course I want to try to win a stage.”
At the same time, Ciccone also acknowledged that his tactical role could evolve depending on how the general classification develops around Gee deeper into the race. “We’ll see day by day,” he explained. “Depending also how is the situation in the GC.”
That flexibility could become extremely important for Lidl-Trek in the mountains. Ciccone’s attacking style and climbing ability give the team another card to play if Gee establishes himself as a genuine podium contender. “We have Derek Gee for the GC and also Johnny for the sprint,” Ciccone explained. “So I think we can win more than one stage.”
Giulio Ciccone at the 2026 Giro d'Italia team presentation
Why this Giro suits Lidl-Trek
The route itself appears particularly well suited to the variety within Lidl-Trek’s lineup.
Ciccone believes the parcours offers numerous opportunities for aggressive riders capable of handling hard uphill finishes and selective stages. “If you look at the parcours, I really like it,” the Italian said. “We have many opportunities to try. There are many hard stages and especially uphill finishes.”
That combination of sprint opportunities for Milan, selective climbing stages for Ciccone and a brutally attritional third week for Gee gives Lidl-Trek several different ways to shape the race.
And if the Giro becomes as chaotic and exhausting as Gee expects, the team may yet discover they are fighting for far more than stage victories by the time the race reaches the Alps and Dolomites.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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