"We’ve taken things up a level these past few weeks" - Lidl-Trek DS revels in successful Ardennes Classics campaign for Skjelmose, Ciccone & Nys

Although the Ardennes Classics have been largely dominated by Tadej Pogacar over the last couple of weeks, the Slovenian and his UAE Team Emirates - XRG aren't the only team to be ending the Spring on a high. Most notably, Lidl-Trek has starred in the Ardennes, something that has been a source of great pride for the team's sports director Kim Andersen.

“It’s been a dream week," reflected the Dane to TV2 following the conclusion of Liege-Bastogne-Liege saw Giulio Ciccone take 2nd place behind Pogacar, a career best performance for the Italian at a Monument. Add to that Mattias Skjelmose's victory over the world champion at the Amstel Gold Race and a trio of consistent performances from Thibau Nys at Amstel, La Fleche Wallonne and Liege, there's not much more Lidl-Trek could realistically have done to improve things.

That's not to say that Andersen is without regrets as the Ardennes Classics reaches an end though. La Fleche Wallonne, the only race Lidl-Trek didn't podium in, leaves a somewhat bitter taste in the mouth of the DS. "I really would’ve liked to see Skjelmose climb the Mur de Huy," he notes, referring to the fact that his team leader crashed mid-race, meaning he was sadly unable to back up his Amstel Gold Race brilliance. "I think he would have had a really good day.”

Skjelmose was still feeling the effects of that crash in Liege, meaning the hopes of the team rested on the shoulders of Ciccone, something the Italian thrived with, securing 2nd behind the runaway winner Pogacar. “Huge congratulations to Ciccone - it was fantastic. But we also had three riders just behind," Andersen reflects with pride. "Once we had him [Ciccone] out front, we were confident we’d be on the podium. We’ve taken things up a level these past few weeks. We had a full team after the Haute Levée climb - I don’t think many others did.”