Mads Pedersen sees Filippo Ganna's arrival as a key asset: "That's also what was missing a bit"
Cycling
Follow IDL Pro Cycling on Google
Stay up to date with the best cycling news by making us a preferred source on Google.
Follow us on GoogleFilippo Ganna’s transfer to Lidl-Trek was on of the most surprising moves of this winter. The Italian rider from Netcompany INEOS still had a contract with the British team, but decided to move on anyway. Ganna said he made this move primarily with an eye toward the spring classics, where he will join Mads Pedersen, who responded to the news.
ADVERTISEMENT
Read more below the picture!
The Italian is looking towards the spring classics
Ganna has his eyes on the spring classics with Lidl-Trek
Ganna won Dwars door Vlaanderen last year and has also finished in the top ranks on several occasions in races such as Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix. Riding for Lidl-Trek, the 30-year-old Italian hopes to put in strong performances in even more classics.
Read also
"After eight years with my current team, it's wonderful to start a new chapter, and I feel incredibly motivated for the upcoming season," he said. "I have big goals that I hope to achieve with Lidl-Trek, especially in the classics. With the team we have, nothing is out of reach.”
The German team is building a top-tier squad for the spring and hopes to be able to compete with Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, and Tadej Pogacar. “Mads [Pedersen] is the team’s number one, and I hope to be a strong support for him—and vice versa. I know he’ll be a great teammate,” said Ganna.
Read more below the photo!
Pedersen and Ganna in the Tour de France.
Pedersen is nothing but positive about the arrival of "top-Ganna"
In his podcast Lang Distance, Pedersen reflected on the Italian rider’s transfer to his team. “I think that’s really cool!” he said enthusiastically. “He’s another rider who can compete in finals. And that’s kind of what was missing,” the Dane said, referring to the void left by Jasper Stuyven.
The former World Champion believes that he and Ganna can complement each other well. “It’s never hurt me when you’re racing in a final and you can say, ‘I have a rider ahead of me,’ for example,” he explains.
"That helps me relax more, and sometimes it causes me to lose, while other times it definitely helps me win. So I see it as a huge advantage that they signed top-tier Ganna," he says with conviction.
Read also
Clarice WebsterEditor
Clarice has been following cycling her whole life, wroting about Thibaut Pinot (among others) for her university magazine while earning her masters in Journalism. She is passionate about furthering equality in sports coverage, and has taken huge inspiration from pillars of women’s cycling like Beryl Burton, Marianne Vos, and Laura Kenny.
IDL-productions
Team GB dominate, China on the rise, Lavreysen the best ever? Five takeaways from the 2026 Track World Championships
Track World Championships day 2: A golden day for Team GB, Levreysen goes 2 for 2, and Kopecky eliminates the competition
Rumours, speculation and guesswork: 2027 Tour de France route will be revealed live on October 22 in Paris
Vollering adds the Women’s European Championships road race jersey to her rainbow wardrobe
16-day Grand Tours, AI, VAR, drones and more: The UCI's new document has a potentially major impact from 2029 onwards
Latest Cycling News
Greg LeMond on Pogačar, Seixas and living with cancer: 'He is the next Hinault'
Cycling transfers 2026/2027 | The road season has ended, but the transfer market is in full swing
Decathlon poach Sivakov from UAE, who teams up with Ben O'Connor to help Paul Seixas take on Pogačar in 2027
EF Education-EasyPost admit Carapaz was let go for financial reasons: 'Cost centres that you can get rid of'
Transfer rumours about Roglič as retirement deadline looms: New potential team enters conversation
Popular Cycling News
Cycling transfers 2026/2027 | The road season has ended, but the transfer market is in full swing
Marcel Kittel, Wout van Aert, and Marianne Vos partied at a cycling festival in Ibiza: 'To avoid a major hangover'
Greg LeMond on Pogačar, Seixas and living with cancer: 'He is the next Hinault'
Wiggins Jr. gets his call up to the Jayco AlUla WorldTour team, alongside 3 other emerging talents
Tom Pidcock pays special tribute to retiring brother Joey, but isn't totally happy: 'We had to settle for second place'
Latest Comments
- - The bike may be quick, but the article seems a bit too ready to credit the equipment for the result. Remco’s the one producing those watts—though I’ll admit, two minutes is a pretty convincing test ride.jennifer1918-10-2026
- - I’m still learning how time trials work: if Evenepoel caught Jay Vine, does that mean Vine started earlier, and do riders set off at fixed intervals?tourdeforce918-10-2026
- - A flat Tour TT on these roads would be brilliant viewing. Wide, fast courses really let the specialists show what they can do.davidm18-10-2026
- - Fourteen wins in a season is some going. He sounded focused on his own effort rather than the riders ahead, which is exactly the mindset you want in a race against the clock.michael5418-10-2026
- - Catching Vine and putting over two minutes into him is an enormous statement. That new Specialized clearly suits Remco—keen to see how it performs over a longer Tour time trial.raceready718-10-2026
- I’m still trying to understand the history here—why was insulin being used alongside amphetamines? Was that common in cycling at the time?cyclechamp4518-10-2026
- Hard to take the article’s “recovered” line at face value when it ends by raising concerns about team entourages. Cycling has made huge changes, but scrutiny still matters.velodromevirtuoso118-10-2026
- The detail about riders deliberately pushing him off the road is shocking. Do we know whether anyone ever faced consequences for that?pedalpowe2918-10-2026
- Bassons’ story is a grim reminder of what speaking up could cost in that era. Fair play to him for holding his ground when it meant being isolated by his own team.tourdeforce918-10-2026
- I’m still learning how team contracts work: if Barguil had ended his deal before 2018, could the team have left him out of the Tour, or was his place already agreed?sprocketspiny18-10-2026
Loading