Lidl-Trek do not deny interest in Primoz Roglic: "Great riders are always interesting"

Although they have little basis, over the 2023 season plenty rumours surged of Primoz Roglic leaving Jumbo-Visma. One of the teams mentioned often was Lidl-Trek, and the team does admit that there is interest in the Slovenian.

“The negotiation with Lidl was very fast, more than usual for this type of operation. They wanted to enter before the 2023 Tour de France for a question of visibility," team manager Luca Guarcilena told Marca. "We managed to speed things up thanks to the good relationships that were established. We are not hypocrites, the funds have grown a lot, but now the needs will also be higher."

The entrance of the new sponsor significantly improved the lineup for the coming year. Tao Geoghegan Hart and Jonathan Milan are among the 9 signings into the 2024 season which will boost the quality even further. “The new sponsor asks us to be the number 1 team in the UCI ranking and to win the Grand Tours. It won't be easy, but these are our new challenges." However the team has resources to perform even better throughout the year, and does think of other stars in the peloton. 

"It's incredible to think about where cycling has come: ten years ago there was only Team Sky which could count on very large budgets, now there are 4-5 teams with very large budgets. At the time, however, we were already a strong team, but now you need double or triple those resources to stay at the top. But it's positive, cycling is generating a lot of attention in this period," he argues.

The team is not yet complete for the 2024 season, two more signings will be taking place he reveals: "At the moment we still have two free positions in the workforce, we will see which ones there will be opportunities, but we are already happy with what we have done. We know that there are 6 riders who are world phenomena, but they all already have contracts and are unlikely to be released. But it is clear that if one of them wanted to leave, due to his decision, we would be there to analyze the situation."

Some fans have argued that Primoz Roglic, despite having two more years of contract and just winning the Giro d'Italia, should leave Jumbo-Visma to have more freedom. The Dutch team have denied any contacts with Slovenian, but Guarcilena does admit interest. “We are interested in him. Great riders are always interesting. When he is on the market, given that he is not now because he has an existing contract, we will see what can be done. In recent weeks there had also been contact with Mikel Landa, but this did not materialize."