Lidl-Trek's give-and-take mentality pays off at the Giro with six wins: "When it is like this, they dig deeper for each other"

Schär recounted to Rouleur a situation that occurred before the ninth stage to Siena. "Carlos Verona [one of the team’s experienced road captains] had a meeting with me and the other sports directors about the strade bianche gravel stage. He told us he didn’t feel comfortable on those gravel roads. So we immediately pulled the plug and said there was no pressure on him that day, he could save energy and didn’t need to be in the mix with stuff like this. We always just listen to everybody and try to get the best out of them."

That is the key to Lidl-Trek's success. "We don't push anybody. We are liberal. We're quite easy-going. We've had this super successful Giro with six stage wins and it's not something we planned beforehand," he told me as the car rolled out from the start in San Michele all'Adige. "I would really put it down to our team spirit and the great atmosphere. You see when a team is clicking and working together – when it is like this, they dig deeper for each other. There is chemistry."

Pedersen is the most important contributor to the team's success, both on and off the track. "Mads is a born leader, he's a leader by heart. It's a true pleasure to be around him. He doesn't see the pressure as a burden. He takes it in a good way. It's super nice to see how he leads the group, while at the same time, there is never anything that is not easy-going with him."

"He's the captain, the pace-setter, and at the same time the man who has to bring home most of the victories. But he doesn't use his strength solely for his own benefit. ”On the bike, he is an animal. He proves every race how good he is. This year in Paris-Nice we already saw his versatility with these climbing stages, breakaways and also how he helped Mattias Skjelmose. He's on it and he's actually almost made for these points jersey competitions as he can survive the climbs and has a really good sprint."

The recipe for Lidl-Trek's success was evident from the first stage, where Mads Pedersen won. "For example, when a GC guy like Ciccone in Albania was already working for Mads on day one, this is giving and taking. Normally GC guys, they're told to save and take it easy, but Ciccone even suggested himself to help out Mads. Then Mads paid him back," he said, referring to the hard work of the Dane in the 11th stage won by Richard Carapaz. Ciccone finished third there.

The Italian rider was in seventh place in the GC until his crash in Slovenia. It meant the unfortunate end of his Giro. That hit hard. "Of course, it is human and normal to be disappointed. We gave this 24 hours window where it was allowed to be disappointed – it was a moment of shock to lose Chico, it wasn’t nice. In the evening, though, you saw how the boys stood together. Chico came back from the hospital to the dinner table and they had a great atmosphere," said the former rider for BMC and AG2R, among others.

The disappointment immediately gave way to wild celebration. On the day Ciccone didn't start, Verona won the stage. He himself quickly switched gears, thanks to a speech by Pedersen. "He mentioned it might be the moment to step in and to go for his own chances. I was in many other teams and when you lose the leader the next day most guys say ‘but I’ve worked so much, it’s a bit tough to show yourself after 10 to 13 stages of working on the front and the switch the button to start winning because you have fatigue when other riders could save energy.’ With us, this was not even a topic, it was just about goals and trying to go for it on the stage."

Give and take, wish each other well, and stand behind the plans with all your might. That way, the results come naturally. The past three weeks have proven that. "We had a really good time at this Giro," Pedersen said in Rome. "We have six stage victories and the ciclamino jersey, it's incredible. We had a really good time. For us this is absolutely insane, not a lot of teams will ever be able to do this."