How a Czech domestique might be the key to Lidl-Trek's Tour-struggles between Mads Pedersen and Jonathan Milan

Lidl–Trek can gradually be called one of the superteams. With top riders such as Mads Pedersen, Jonathan Milan, Giulio Ciccone, Thibau Nys and new signing Juan Ayuso, the American-German team is rock solid. Then the question is: who will go to the Tour de France? The competition is fierce, but one man is, in any case, throwing his name into the ring.

That man is Mathias Vacek. The 23-year-old Czech had a great season, but a debut in the Tour de France is still to come. At any rate, he is making it his main goal. “The Tour de France has been my dream since childhood, and next year I will hopefully get the chance to ride it,” he told Live Sport. “If everything goes according to plan, I stay healthy and there are no problems, it can work out.”

It will in any case not be easy. “Of course it all depends on different factors: who the team sends as leader, how many people the leader needs, and who they choose. Then there are only two or three places left, where a huge fight arises between maybe fifteen riders. And then the one who is in the best form will ride.”

“They will say it straight to your face: ‘You are not in form, you are not going.’ You have to be able to deal with that as well, but I want to do everything for it. The best thing is to prepare yourself, to have a good season from the start, and then I believe it will work out,” he says. Last year Vacek rode the Giro d’Italia, while in 2024 he rode his first Grand Tour in the Vuelta a España.

“I think last year was decisive,” the Czech champion knows. the Czech champion knows. “It was a big step forward. I have shown that I can be consistent all season, that I can stay in form without big fluctuations. And the team always values that. And I have also shown that I can be loyal to my teammates and leaders. I think, and I am happy about that, that the team sees a project in me for the future.”

Especially in the Giro, Vacek made an impression, with great domestique work for Mads Pedersen. "This past season has shown that we understand each other very well, we are well attuned to each other,” he says about the Dane. “He has also chosen me as his most important assistant. So I will mainly ride the programme with him and then, of course, there is still the Tour. If it works out, it will be great.”

“Everything went well from the beginning and on the ninth stage to Siena I was supposed to be the man to win. But there was a crash that threw the scenario badly into disarray. Then we were not really in agreement within the team, because I had my leader with me,” he says, referring to Giulio Ciccone. He had to tow the Italian along for his general classification.

“I felt good, I got a gap, but I also lost a lot of strength and that was not enough to win. You can make a perfect plan, you can feel at your very best, but then a bit of bad luck comes along and you have to divide everything up again. But I am grateful that the team gives me such chances. Maybe they see that there is potential in me.”