Lidl-Trek's plans to keep all the leaders happy: 2026 calendars for Pedersen, Ayuso, Milan and co revealed

Lidl-Trek has managed to keep its crucial core intact for the 2026 season. With established stars such as Mads Pedersen, Jonathan Milan and Mattias Skjelmose staying on board, there is plenty of continuity, but the arrival of Juan Ayuso changes everything. The German-American team has big ambitions for the coming season – and what exactly do those plans look like? In de Leiderstrui was present at the team presentation.

Last season, Lidl-Trek enjoyed major success in the Grand Tours thanks to their sprinters, who won the points classification in all three races. The general classification riders, however, failed to live up to expectations. The signing of Ayuso is intended to turn that situation completely around. The young Spaniard, who arrives from UAE Team Emirates – XRG, has not been brought in to play a supporting role.

Would Lidl-Trek opt for joint leadership alongside Skjelmose or Giulio Ciccone? At the team presentation in Valencia, the answer became clear: Ayuso will be Lidl-Trek’s sole leader at the Tour de France. Skjelmose will also line up for La Grande Boucle, but he will do so in a super-domestique role for the rider who finished third at the 2022 Vuelta a España.

Ayuso will begin his season with a high-altitude training camp on Mount Teide before pinning on a race number for the first time in Portugal at the Volta ao Algarve. After a stop at Paris–Nice, he will turn his attention to the Ardennes Classics, where he is scheduled to ride both La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. His focus will then shift fully to the Tour de France, with preparation coming at the Tour Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes, formerly known as the Critérium du Dauphiné.

For Ayuso, 2026 will combine both the Classics and the Tour, and the same is true for team-mate Skjelmose. The winner of the Amstel Gold Race will be given a freer role in the Ardennes than he will have at the Grand Départ, with the expectation that he will contest the full Ardennes trilogy. In the autumn, his focus will shift to the World Championships in Montréal, after finishing fourth in Kigali this year.

Ciccone’s objectives are also clearly defined. The Italian is expected to abandon his general classification ambitions following several unsuccessful attempts in recent years. Instead, he will put his climbing skills to use in pursuit of stage wins and possibly the mountains jersey. Where will he do that? According to the team, both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France are on his programme.

That leaves the question of how Lidl-Trek will distribute responsibilities for its sprinters. Pedersen was kept out of the Tour de France last year and instead rode both the Giro and the Vuelta with success, while Milan claimed the green jersey in the summer. Ayuso revealed that the Dane will return to France in 2026, with the points classification as his primary objective. Should he succeed, Pedersen would complete the remarkable feat of winning the points jerseys at all three Grand Tours within just eighteen months.

That decision means Milan will not ride the Tour de France. The Italian will instead focus on the Giro d’Italia, where he won the purple points jersey in both 2023 and 2024. His season will start at the UAE Tour, where he claimed two stage wins in 2025, before turning to the Classics. After Tirreno–Adriatico, Milan is set to ride Milan–San Remo, Gent–Wevelgem and Paris–Roubaix.

The Tour of Flanders does not appear to be on his schedule. Milan will focus on the flatter cobbled races, although Pedersen will also naturally line up there. The former world champion will be Lidl-Trek’s main leader during the spring Classics. With Jasper Stuyven having departed for Soudal Quick-Step, Mathias Vacek is expected to take over his role as a shadow leader.

Thibau Nys is another rider marked as a shadow leader. His focus will once again be on the Ardennes, with the GP Miguel Indurain marking the start of his campaign in April – the same race he opened with this year and won immediately. The Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège will follow. And the Tour de France? That is not on the agenda. A start in the Giro d’Italia and/or the Vuelta a España, however, remains a possibility.