Thibau Nys and the Lidl-Trek squad prep for the Tour de France with a brutal training block

On Tuesday, Daan Hoole claimed the second time trial of the Giro d’Italia for Lidl-Trek, following Mads Pedersen’s three stage wins earlier in the race. While sitting in the hot seat, Hoole even received a call from teammates Jonathan Milan and Simone Consonni, with Jasper Stuyven, Toms Skujins, Thibau Nys, and Julien Bernard all offering their congratulations after the finish. Clearly, team morale is running high.

That same group is currently training in the Sierra Nevada as they prepare for the Tour de France, and the team’s success in Italy is no doubt fueling extra motivation to make an impact in France as well. As usual, Lidl-Trek is working with a split squad setup, focusing separately on a core group of sprinters and climbers.

On Thursday the climbers knocked out a brutal session of 183 kilometers and a staggering 5547 meters of elevation gain, but there were still smiles at the finish from Thibau Nys, Toms Skujins, Otto Vergaerde, Julien Bernard and Mattias Skjelmose. The sprinter group including Jasper Stuyven, Edward Theuns, Simone Consonni and Jonathan Milan rode 201 kilometers with 3111 meters of climbing.