“Together, me and Mads Pedersen can win more types of stages than Jonathan Milan” – Mathias Vacek highlights Lidl-Trek’s internal Tour de France dilemma

Lidl-Trek’s 2026 Tour de France equation may not be as straightforward as a pure sprint train built around one of the fastest men in the world. According to Mathias Vacek, the team’s competitive edge lies in flexibility rather than specialisation.

Speaking in an interview with the Czech Cycling Federation, Vacek made clear why he believes his partnership with Mads Pedersen offers something tactically different. “Together we can win more types of stages than Jonathan Milan,” Vacek said, discussing his expected Tour role.

The comment was not framed as rivalry, but as profile contrast. Milan, one of the most powerful flat sprinters in the peloton and a proven Grand Tour stage winner, is built for pure bunch finishes. Pedersen, by contrast, has repeatedly shown he can survive climbs before a reduced sprint and win on rolling terrain.

That distinction shapes Lidl-Trek’s internal dynamic.

Vacek’s assessment comes amid evolving expectations around Lidl-Trek’s 2026 Tour line-up. Milan has been heavily linked with Giro d’Italia ambitions and points classification goals earlier in the season, while Pedersen, fitness permitting after his early-year crash in Valencia, is widely expected to anchor the team’s Tour sprint and stage-hunting strategy.

For Vacek, the reasoning is clear. “He is a pure sprinter,” he said of Milan. “Mads Pedersen can win hilly stages, he can get over climbs before a sprint finish. The team knows that.”

The implication is not that one rider is superior to the other, but that Pedersen’s versatility widens the tactical map. In transitional stages, crosswind days and uphill finishes, the Dane’s durability allows Lidl-Trek to contest scenarios that might otherwise be out of reach for a traditional sprint unit.

Vacek has already proven his value in this dynamic. At the 2025 Giro d’Italia, he played a central role in supporting Pedersen’s charge for the points classification and his four stage victories. That experience now feeds directly into the Tour plan. “We will clearly go for the green jersey,” Vacek said of the 2026 Tour. “I will function as his right hand.”

The role is defined. Pedersen leads. Vacek supports, positions and, where possible, capitalises on opportunities that open from aggressive racing.

It also aligns with Vacek’s own development curve. The 23-year-old Czech champion has openly acknowledged that he will never be a pure climber and that chasing that profile would cost him power on the flat and in hilly one-day races. “I know I will never be able to follow the very best climbers. And if I try, I lose strength on the flat and in the hilly races,” he explained in the same interview.

Instead, he is refining the qualities that complement Pedersen’s strengths.

Vacek does not shy away from the magnitude of the Tour stage. “The pressure will be huge,” he admitted. “But I am looking forward to it. I am happy about it. After the Vuelta and the Giro, I have reached a certain position. And my nomination is deserved.”

That confidence is rooted in progression. Over the past season, he added Czech national titles in both time trial and road race, claimed a stage at the Tour de Wallonie and consolidated his place among the peloton’s elite all-rounders. Lidl-Trek rewarded that growth with a contract extension through 2029, signalling long-term belief in his trajectory.

Within that context, his comments on Milan are less about hierarchy and more about identity. Milan remains one of the fastest sprinters in the world. But in a Tour increasingly shaped by selective stages and reduced bunch finishes, Lidl-Trek appear to see value in versatility.

Vacek’s partnership with Pedersen, he believes, expands the team’s winning routes.

And in a race where marginal differences often decide the green jersey, that broader tactical canvas could prove decisive.