Lidl-Trek will target stage victories at the Giro d’Italia, with a lead out train built to help Jonathan Milan, while recent Tour of the Alps winner Juanpe Lopez hopes to win stages in the mountains.
Tao Geoghegan Hart, Mattias Skjelmose, Quinn Simmons and Mads Pedersen are expected to be part of Lidl-Trek’s Tour de France line-up. Andrea Bagioli, Simone Consonni, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier, Daan Hoole, Jasper Stuyven and Edward Theuns complete the eight-rider team for the Corsa Rosa.
Stuyven fractured his collarbone at Dwars door Vlaanderen on March 27 but is back in training and will be part of the leadout for Milan, alongside Consonni and Theuns.
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The Italian won a stage and the cyclamen points jersey at the 2023 Giro d'Italia and impressed in the Tirreno-Adriatico sprints, winning twice ahead of Jasper Philipsen, before bolstering the Lidl-Trek Classics squad.
There are expected to be six or seven sprint opportunities during this year’s race. The Giro d’Italia begins in Turin on Saturday, May 4 with a hilly opening road stage and then a mountain finish at Oropa on Sunday. The sprint opportunities begin in the first week with stage 3 to Fossano expected to finish in a sprint.
Other sprinters on the Giro d’Italia entry list include Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike), Fabio Jakobsen (Dsm-firmenich PostNL), Caleb Ewan (Jayco-Alula), Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), Alberto Dainese (Tudor), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché - Wanty), Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates).
“With a sprinter like Milan, we will be working hard for every possible fast finish,” directeur sportif Gregory Rast explained.
“He will be our leader for the sprints and winning the points jersey is something he can try to repeat again this year. We are aware of his potential but, of course, we can’t ignore the strong competition that, we’re sure, will give us a hard time.
“For this reason, Jonny will be supported by Theuns and Consonni, that is the train which we saw working well together in the first part of the season.
“The time to recover that form for the Giro has been minimal, but both the Team and Jasper had a lot of motivation to have him at the start. The first week may be useful for him to regain any lost confidence, then he’ll be able to aim for his own chances as well as help in the lead out for Jonny.”
Lopez wore the maglia rosa for 10 days and won the best young rider white jersey in 2022. Now 26 years old, the Spanish climber returns to the Giro with impressive form.
“The man who, more than anyone else, has proven that he is ready for the Giro is Juanpe Lopez. His victory at the Tour of the Alps speaks for itself,” Rast said.
“Italian climbs suit him well, as he has already proven in 2022, and I am convinced that he can chase stage success on the toughest days. Then, day after day, he can keep a look to the evolution of the fight for the GC. I believe this can be a goal to chase as we go along, also considering the presence of two long time trials that are decisive for any GC talk.”
