"Without any doubt": Lidl-Trek confident that Juan Ayuso can lead them to a Grand Tour victory

One of the most meaningful and controversial transfers of this winter was Juan Ayuso's arrival to Lidl-Trek. The Spanish rider had a turbulent 2025 season with UAE Team Emirates - XRG, reaching a critical point during the Vuelta a España, in which he publicly criticized the team, even calling it a dictatorship.

It was impossible to remain in the squad after all that, and it was made official at the end of September that the 23-year-old will ride for Lidl-Trek from 2026 onwards. The American team will have an even stronger roster, and for Sports Director Josu Larrazabal, the arrival of Juan Ayuso has strengthened a project that has been built patiently over many years.

“As you can imagine, in December we all arrive with our energy recharged and with the excitement of seeing the new equipment, the new bike, the new clothing... everything that comes with starting a new season,” Larrazabal explains in an interview to Marca. “Even more so when we are coming off a very good season and with such an important reinforcement as Juan, who reignites all the excitement and expectations.”

Managing a roster full of high-level riders and their egos can be challenging, even more now for Lidl-Trek after Ayuso joined the roster. However, that is not new territory for the team.

“We have experience. We’ve had to manage this before. We are the team of the Schleck brothers, of Cancellara, of Degenkolb, and we’ve managed coexistence with riders like Nibali or Richie Porte. This is nothing new. That management is done through communication, being honest, and making it clear which lines we can approach and which we cannot cross.”

Larrazabal insisted that the team’s recent growth is the result of long-term work. “The growth and the final step have obviously been important, but we’ve been working for many years with a solid line,” he said. “It’s not something new: we’ve been managing coexistence with big leaders for many years.”

Ayuso’s arrival has also sharpened the team’s objectives, as they can be considered a super team similar to UAE or Visma. “With Lidl’s arrival [as a main sponsor], we now openly talk about becoming the number one team in the rankings in the coming years. It’s something we want to achieve, although it doesn’t happen overnight. Winning the Tour de France means being an important part of that project.”

“We’ve accumulated experience at a structural level and we come from great stability with Trek, which hasn’t just been a sponsor but an owner, and still is. That has allowed us to always work with a medium- and long-term vision. We are a very solid structure and now we have the potential, by adding the riders we maybe lacked before, to take on those challenges.”

Asked whether Lidl-Trek can now realistically aim to win a Grand Tour, Larrazabal is confident that is now a feasible achievement. “Without any doubt. We weren’t closer before because we didn’t have the rider who could do it. With Juan and with the growth of Skjelmose, who continues to take steps forward, we are convinced that we are going to be there.”

However, he remains realistic about the current balance of power. Beating a Slovenian alien is not something they expect to do, at least in the near future. “We know that we won’t be able to beat Tadej Pogacar in a short period of time,” Larrazabal admitted. “But we also know that our leaders are young and still evolving.”

Asked whether Ayuso had been on the team's radar for a long time, Larrazabal confirmed he indeed was. “Juan has always been on our list, as I imagine he has been on many teams’ lists. Beyond breakthroughs like Pogacar or Evenepoel, we shouldn’t forget that Juan is, together with Pogacar, the only rider who finished on the podium of La Vuelta in his first professional season.”

Ayuso’s versatility is not something to be ignored. “He has consistently been there, he has beaten the best time trial specialists, he has punch on explosive climbs, and he knows how to finish races. He has everything.”

Some question why the Tour de France remains the central objective for Lidl-Trek given the dominance of Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, but Larrazabal stresses a broader perspective. “Everything is evaluated,” he explained. “You have to find the balance between looking at what others are doing and focusing on your own process. This is clearly a medium-term reflection.”

As for closing the gap to Pogacar, Larrazabal doesn't sound too optimistic. “It’s difficult. When the difference is that big, it’s complicated. When it wasn’t so big, Visma managed to do it. You have to see how things evolve year by year. As long as the differences are what they are now, it will be difficult, but we have no doubt that we will keep working,” he concluded.