"I expect we will see great things from him!" - Lidl-Trek DS excited about Giulio Ciccone's comeback

Giulio Ciccone had once again big plans for 2024, but they fell apart when the 29-year-old developed an annoying seat injury, preventing him from competing until the late April. Just a month later, he's already kicking strong at Critérium du Dauphiné with two fourth place in uphill sprints. Thus the Italian can finally think about bigger goals again. Among those Tour de France next month, where he should line up with Tao Geoghegan Hart, who is returning from a serious injury in 2024 as well.

Just ahead of the race, In de Leiderstrui was able to talk extensively with sports director Steven De Jongh, who already seemed to have some kind of predictive gift around Ciccone. "With Giulio we have a comeback boy."

"Of course, he has hardly ridden, except for Romandie and Eschborn-Frankfurt. Afterwards he also completed an altitude internship. That went well, so he can now fully focus on Dauphiné and Tour. And so on to getting back to his old self, although I suspect he will succeed. If he gets through the first few days well, I expect we will see great things from him!" the 50-year-old Dutchman sounded very enthusiastic at the time.

"Cicco will often have to find out where he stands at the beginning of the races. But once he has the mental confirmation that he can actually compete for victory, he will certainly try to win a stage," De Jongh continued full of praise. "With Giulio we can certainly go in several directions. Last year he also won the polka dot jersey in the Tour. That was unique, especially because Jonas Vingegaard was so dominant in the high mountains. A bit like what you saw with Tadej Pogacar in the past Giro. Then those points for the mountains classification were won in no time, which made Giulio's performance even more impressive."