Mathias Vacek makes his case for a starring Tour de France role, despite Ayuso and Pedersen at Lidl-Trek

Lidl-Trek head to the 2026 Tour de France with a rock-solid team. But in July, the would-be leaders might just find themselves overshadowed by the would-be helpers. At the Tour de Suisse, Mathias Vacek rode showed extraordinary form to coolly finish third overall behind heavyweights Pogačar and Carapaz. IDL Pro Cycling spoke to the 24-year-old Czech after the race.

That Vacek can ride very fast is, of course, no secret by now. But what he did at the Tour de Suisse was seriously impressive. He caught the eye on day one, surviving up front among the climbers on a scorching, leg-breaking day — the only rider over 70 kilos to manage it. Tadej Pogačar won, while Vacek came home fifth in the chasing group.

A day later, Vacek was among the best again. The win slipped through his fingers, but he sprinted for sixth in a small group alongside Pogačar. In the individual time trial on day four, he finished fourth, 10 seconds behind Pogačar. That sent him into the final stage third overall, in a top ten otherwise made up entirely of pure climbers. Vacek defended that place with real verve on a mountain stage.

Vacek, who broke through back in 2022 as a Gazprom-RusVelo rider with a stage win at the UAE Tour, has shown more than once since joining Lidl-Trek that he can climb very well on a top day — though he would often crack in the closing kilometres. His best overall results came mainly in races for the Classics specialists, such as the Tour of Norway and the Baloise Belgium Tour.

His third place in Switzerland was on another level; he had never produced a result like it. On the final day he stood on the podium alongside Pogačar and Richard Carapaz, having kept strong climbers such as Ilan Van Wilder, Brandon McNulty, Primož Roglič and Wilco Kelderman (well) behind him. The legs are good heading into the Tour de France — the starting point for our interview with Vacek.

"It was a good spell. I was able to prepare myself well and put a lot of work in. I also had a good rest after the Classics, so I'm looking forward to the Tour de France. Everything is going well, and I'm happy with the form I have now."

"The team time trial is quite a big goal, and I think we have plenty of power to be involved in the fight for the yellow jersey on day one. We can have confidence in the team we've got, but let's see what happens."

"There are 21 stages, so there’s bound to be an opportunity for me, just like last year in the Giro d’Italia. We’re focusing on the green jersey with Mads and the general classification with Juan, so I’ll mainly be there to support them. We’ll take it day by day to see if I’ll need to work or if I’ll get a chance. I’m ready for any scenario. If I get the chance, I’ll take it.”

"Mads is fully focused on the Tour de France, so I'm counting on him to be in good shape. He skipped the Baloise Belgium Tour so he could train even harder. Mads will be ready."

"It's been great to be able to focus on myself for 2.5 months—on work, training, and all the little details. I've made progress, and I'm confident that I'm at least as strong as I was during last year's Giro."