Lidl-Trek 2026 Tour de France: Ayuso targets podium as Pedersen goes for green

2025 Tour de France: 

• 2025 Tour stage wins: 2
• 2025 Best GC finish: 59th - Quinn Simmons

2026 Objectives:

Lidl-Trek arrives at the Tour with two major objectives: to challenge for the overall podium with Juan Ayuso and to pursue stage victories and the green jersey with Mads Pedersen.

Ayuso will lead the team’s general classification campaign, with Mattias Skjelmose also given protected status. Derek Gee-West and Carlos Verona provide strong support in the mountains, giving Lidl-Trek several options when the race reaches its decisive stages. “The goal is obviously to be on one step of the podium in Paris,” said Ayuso.

Pedersen gives the team an equally serious ambition away from the general classification. The Dane will target stage wins and the points classification, while Mathias Vacek, Toms Skujiņš and Quinn Simmons offer support on flatter terrain and the freedom to attack from breakaways. “The main goal for the Tour is winning a stage, and then we’re trying to aim for the green jersey as well,” Pedersen said.

The balanced line-up should also make Lidl-Trek competitive in the opening team time trial, a stage the squad has prepared for extensively. With proven climbers, powerful rouleurs and several riders capable of winning from a breakaway, the team enters the Tour with ambitions across almost every type of terrain.

🇪🇸 Juan Ayuso: Lidl-Trek's marquee GC signing for 2026 has experienced a seesaw campaign in his debut season for the German Team. Ayuso initially got off to a flyer, winning a stage and the overall title at the Volta ao Algarve before storming into the lead at Paris-Nice. However, a painful crash while wearing the leader's jersey completely halted his momentum, and a subsequent bout of illness at Itzulia Basque Country threatened to derail his key goals entirely. 

The corner has been turned, as evidenced by his fighting ride to third overall at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, where his form and confidence visibly surged on the final two mountain stages. Additionally,  the race highlighted his blossoming chemistry with Mattias Skjelmose, which could give Lidl-Trek a dynamic tactical edge over their opponents heading into July.

🇩🇰 Mattias Skjelmose: Skjelmose joins Juan Ayuso as Lidl Trek’s second general classification option for the Tour. The 25-year-old enjoyed a consistent start to the season before emerging as one of the leading riders in the Ardennes Classics, where he finished runner up to Remco Evenepoel in a two rider sprint at the Amstel Gold Race.

He reinforced his climbing credentials at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, finishing sixth overall while helping Ayuso secure third place. Skjelmose will now look to reproduce the consistency he showed at the 2024 Vuelta a España, where he placed fifth overall and won the young rider classification. His Tour campaign last summer ended prematurely following a crash.

🇨🇿 Mathias Vacek: Vacek gives Lidl-Trek options across almost every type of terrain. The Czech rider can animate breakaways, deliver a precise leadout or compete for victory from a reduced group. Making his Tour debut, he has the versatility to become an important figure in both the team’s tactical plans and its pursuit of stage wins.

🇨🇦 Derek Gee-West: Gee-West is a somewhat unexpected inclusion after leading Lidl Trek’s general classification challenge at the Giro d’Italia in May. The Canadian finished fifth overall in Italy, extending his run to three consecutive top ten finishes at Grand Tours. He also impressed on his only previous Tour appearance, placing ninth overall in 2024.

🇩🇰 Mads Pedersen: The Danish star skipped the Tour last season to take a trip to Italy and Spain, and it proved to be a big success, picking up four stage wins and the Giro and one at the Vuelta as well as the points classification at both. 

Pedersen arrives this summer with his trademark resilience on full display, having spent the spring bouncing back from a brutal February crash at the Volta Valenciana that left him with a broken wrist and collarbone. With his teammate Jonathan Milan having secured the green jersey for Lidl-Trek last summer, a fit and firing Pedersen should be in the running to complete his own career set.

🇺🇸 Quinn Simmons: The American punched his ticket with an impressive sprint victory from the breakaway at the Dauphiné. He will once again line up in the stars and stripes as the reigning US road race champion. Simmons was relentless in his attempts to win from the breakaway at last year’s Tour, with second place on stage 6 the closest he came.

🇱🇻 Toms Skujiņš: Few riders in the Lidl-Trek squad offer more experience and tactical versatility than Skujiņš, who is preparing for his eighth Tour appearance. The Latvian endured a disrupted spring after illness forced him to miss the Classics, but remains a valuable road captain.

🇪🇸 Carlos Verona: Verona returns to the Tour as one of Juan Ayuso’s most important mountain domestiques. The experienced Spaniard has developed into a trusted mentor and teammate for the Lidl-Trek leader, with his ability to provide support deep into the climbs likely to prove crucial. Verona arrives in encouraging form after finishing second at the Andorra MoraBanc Clàssica and has twice placed third on a Tour stage.