Two-time Grand Tour podium finisher parts ways with Lidl-Trek — Italian climber set for early exit after four seasons

Gaia Realini's four-year spell with Lidl-Trek will come to an earlier-than-expected end, with the Italian climber and the German-registered Women's WorldTour team agreeing to part ways after the 2026 season.

The decision is surprising because Realini was previously tied to Lidl-Trek through the end of 2027, following a contract extension announced in February 2024. At the time, the team was securing the services of one of the most promising young stage-race riders in women's cycling after a breakthrough first season at the highest level.

Realini joined Lidl-Trek for 2023 after establishing herself with Isolmant-Premac-Vittoria, and immediately showed that she could compete with the best climbers in the WorldTour. She finished second overall at the UAE Tour Women in her first race for the team before going on to win Trofeo Oro in Euro and finish on the podium at both La Vuelta Femenina and the Giro d'Italia Women.

Her 2024 season reinforced that trajectory. Realini finished fourth overall at the UAE Tour, seventh at the Giro d'Italia Women, third at the Tour de Romandie and, most significantly, fifth overall at the Tour de France Femmes. At only 23, she had established herself as a genuine contender for the general classification in the biggest stage races.

Realini's rise had been particularly rapid. She had already finished third overall at both the Giro and Vuelta in 2023, while also winning a stage of the Vuelta and taking third at Flèche Wallonne. Her climbing ability made her particularly dangerous on the steepest finishes, and Lidl-Trek increasingly built its stage-race ambitions around her alongside fellow Italian Elisa Longo Borghini.

The following year brought further evidence that the 2023 results had not been a one-season breakthrough. Realini added a third-place overall finish at the Tour de Romandie and finished fifth at the Tour de France, while also taking seventh at both the Giro and Tour de Suisse.

That progression made the 2024 contract extension a logical investment in the team's future. Instead, the relationship will end one year earlier than originally planned.

“After four years together - four precious years that have contributed so much to my personal growth and brought so many great emotions - we have decided that the time has come to go our separate ways,” Realini said in Lidl-Trek's announcement.

The change comes after a difficult period for the Italian. A fractured elbow suffered in training disrupted the beginning of her 2025 season, and she has struggled to reproduce the level that made her one of the sport's leading young climbers.

Her results in 2025 reflected that decline, with no top-15 finish among her major starts. The 2026 season has offered some signs of recovery, although she remains some distance from the form she showed two years earlier. Realini finished eighth and 12th on key climbing stages at the Vuelta Femenina and placed 10th overall at the Faun Tour Femmes.

The separation leaves Realini, still only 25, facing an important decision about the next stage of her career. Her record before the injury means there is already substantial evidence of what she can do when healthy and in full form: she has eight Grand Tour appearances, three Grand Tour podiums, a Tour de France top five and multiple victories and podiums in major climbing races.

Her future team has not yet been confirmed, nor has it been announced whether she will continue racing in 2027. The end of her Lidl-Trek contract also comes as the team reshapes its women's roster, with Kasia Niewiadoma, Blanka Vas, Ally Wollaston, Arlenis Sierra and Julia Kopecký among the riders arriving or already confirmed for next season.

Realini is the latest confirmed departure from Lidl-Trek's 2027 roster, following Felicity Wilson-Haffenden's move to Fenix-Premier Tech, Shirin van Anrooij's transfer to Canyon-SRAM and Amanda Spratt's retirement.