"The aim is to fight for the number one spot in the UCI team ranking" - Lidl-Trek manager Luca Guercilena reveals team's ambitions for the future

Lidl-Trek reportedly recieves 40% boost to its budget, thanks to the arrival of the Lidl supermarket chain. This elevates the US-registered WorldTour team to the status of ‘super team, allowing them to take on UAE Team Emirates and Jumbo-Visma in the men’s WorldTour and SD Worx in the women’s WorldTour.

Team manager Luca Guercilena is convinced that the arrival of the likes of Tao Geoghegan Hart and Jonathan Milan will push the team to another level. "The agreement with Lidl and the signing of a bunch of new riders, gives the team the opportunity to be more ambitious. The aim is to fight for the number one spot in the UCI team ranking. Of course to do that, we know we have to build a team that can win a certain quantity of races and a certain quality of races. That will take some time but it's our plan and what drives us," he tells Cyclingnews.

With the junior World champion Albert Philipsen on board from 2025 onwards, the question arises whether we can expect more such signings in the future. "As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day, so we need to be careful and build the team strategically to reach our goals. Albert Philipsen is one of those key rider signings for the long-term future of the team. We’ve signed him for 2025, to help him develop carefully with us, so he can reach his full potential while racing for Lidl-Trek."

"The philosophy of the team will always be the same: the name in front of the jersey is more important than the one on the back, than any individual rider. Team goals always have priority over individual results. Everyone on the team has to respect each other and the internal rules, so we create the right empathy and help each other do the best we can," he concludes.