"We are aiming to win it and we will do everything we can to succeed" - Elisa Longo Borghini ready for first Grand Tour of 2024 at La Vuelta Femenina

Ahead of the first Grand Tour of 2024, a confident Lidl-Trek have unveiled their seven-woman lineup ready to take the fight to Team SD Worx - Protime and secure themselves a big win.

Opting for a two-pronged attack, both Gaia Realini and Elisa Longo Borghini are both viable challengers, especially given the latter's impressive form shown already this campaign. "The classics season has given me a lot of strength and confidence. Thanks to great results and great performances I am very satisfied. The condition is there and the mindset is positive," previews Longo Borghini to the Lidl-Trek website. "We are aiming to win it and we will do everything we can to succeed. Gaia and I represent a complementary match in terms of characteristics. There is a very good understanding between us and we intend to enhance it."

Alongside those two leaders, a strong support team including the likes of another Classics star, Ellen van Dijk, vastly experienced Australians Amanda Spratt and Brodie Chapman, plus the British duo of Elynor Backstedt and Lizzie Deignan.

"I’m happy to have recovered in time for the Vuelta, I’m really looking forward to it and getting the first stage race of my season under my belt," says Deignan, who fractured her arm in a crash at the Tour of Flanders earlier this year. "In terms of my expectations for the race, it will firstly be to get through the eight days safely and to be stronger at the end that I am at the beginning. To be at the start line in a team role is really nice and it’s a good chance to build my form as it means I can get loads of work done, and that’s what I need."

Elisa Longo Borghini
Gaia Realini
Lizzie Deignan
Amanda Spratt
Brodie Chapman
Elynor Backstedt
Ellen van Dijk