Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven, Tim Declerq, Toms Skujiņš, Edward Theuns, and a fairly locked-in rotation of riders like Otto Vergaerde, Daan Hoole and Mathias Vacek. They would speak of trust, unity and experience, riding as a unit built over several years and many races, and that strength was reflected on the road.
Fast forward to 2026, however, and a number of team changes and badly-timed illnesses means that Lidl-Trek men’s squad have been shuffling through various iterations during the cobbled Classics so far. When it comes to their potential line-up for the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, for example, there isn’t that obvious core squad that there used to be, rather a jigsaw involving drafting in the strongest options from a younger, less experienced cast of riders.
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Jasper Stuyven departed the team for Soudal-QuickStep over the winter, Daan Hoole went to Decathlon CMA CGM, and Tim Declerq retired. Losing those three was significant enough, but then serious illness in Paris-Nice also ruled Toms Skujiņš out of the whole spring.
New arrivals Max Walscheid and Mathias Norsgaard have been drafted into the Classics line-up, but the team has also looked to much younger riders, like Jakob Söderqvist and Tim Torn Teutenberg, which naturally gives their formation a different shape. It says a lot that while Mathias Vacek was the rookie last year, he’s now one of the most experienced components for these races.
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