"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
Cycling
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.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
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