Lidl-Trek

Founded in 2019, Lidl-Trek (formerly Trek-Segafredo) are one of the newer squads in the pro peloton, but that hasn’t stopped them from quickly becoming one of the most important and most successful. 

In their debut year, they racked up an impressive 17 wins, and they ended the 2023 campaign as the number-two ranked team in the world, behind SD Worx, who are far and away the most dominant force in women's cycling.

Lidl-Trek have a reliable core of star riders that includes two former world road race champions in Lizzie Deignan and Elisa Balsamo, a three-time world time trial champion in Ellen van Dijk, plus the decorated Italian Elisa Longo Borghini, who counts Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche on her palmarès. The likes of Amanda Spratt and Lucinda Brand only add to the depth, while the team also boast an exciting array of young talent, including pocket climber Gaia Realini and the versatile Shirin van Anrooij.

Lidl-Trek may not have the same superteam reputation as SD Worx, but their line-up is certainly similarly strong. They have shown themselves to be a force to be reckoned with in the Classics and, with the breakthrough of Realini, who was on the podium of the Giro d'Italia Women and Vuelta a España in 2023, they've become a force in stage racing, too. 

Elisa Longo Borghini

Elisa Balsamo

Shirin van Anrooij

Gaia Realini

Lizzie Deignan

Amanda Spratt

Lauretta Hanson

Lucinda Brand

Ellen van Dijk

Brodie Chapman

Clara Copponi

Elynor Backstedt

Lisa Klein

Ilaria Sanguineti

Ava Holmgren

Felicity Wilson-Haffenden

Fleur Moors

Isabella Holmgren

Isabel Sharp

Racing

Analysis

Lidl-Trek Team Talk: The future is bright, but was 2023 disappointing? 

Trek-Segafredo became Lidl-Trek halfway through the season, as the German supermarket became the title sponsor

Beginning the season as Trek-Segafredo, America's original 

 were already undisputedly the second-best side in the world, after 

. Their ambitions for 2023, therefore, were to bridge the gap between themselves and the Dutch superteam, which stood at 351.36 UCI points at the end of the 2022 campaign. 

However, twelve months on and the gap between the two sides is so vast that comparisons between them are barely worth making. Whereas SD Worx have stamped their authority on the Women's WorldTour at seemingly every opportunity in 2023, the 

 team have appeared hamstrung through much of the year, only taking the second spot in the 

Such a short diagnosis, however, does not tell the full tale, and the team carries more promise into 2024 than it did into this season. Whilst results may not have been free-flowing this year, the team received the welcome addition of Lidl as a title sponsor ahead of the 

As has been seen with the investments in both the men's and women's teams, Lidl's support is substantial and promises a brighter future for both sides. In the end, 2023 will be mostly remembered for Lidl-Trek as the year their long-term future was secured, but on the bike, there have certainly been highlights among the disappointments. 

 enjoyed some fine form in the summer which delivered the team another Giro d'Italia Donne stage win, whilst the breakthrough of 

 will have the team full of hope for what she may achieve in the future. 

It may not have been a season for the ages for Lidl-Trek, but there were certainly moments to look back on with fondness, and there are clear explanations for their missed opportunities. 

The season started well for Lidl-Trek, who, known as Trek-Segafredo until July, got off the mark in Australia with Brodie Chapman's victory in the National Championship road race. Just a month later, at the UAE Tour, they won their second Women's WorldTour stage race of the season.

Trek were in fine fettle as Longo Borghini and Realini lit up the first-ever women's stage race in the Emirati nation. The Italian duo painted a masterpiece on the roads of Jebel Hafeet on stage 3, going clear of their rivals halfway up the 11km climb and riding to the finish together to cross the line arm in arm. 

At the time, Longo Borghini was the undisputed team leader and in turn, Realini produced a selfless ride to lead for much of the climb and drag her teammate over a minute clear of the rest of the pack. The stage win was Longo Borghini's and so too would be the overall victory, with Realini making the win all the sweeter by taking second place on GC. 

Another Italian, Elisa Balsamo, joined in the early-season success at the Setmana Ciclista Valenciana just four days later. The former world champion won the first two stages of the Spanish stage race, pipping Lotta Hentala (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step) in the sprint on both occasions. 

The 25-year-old is one of the team's flagship riders, having joined as the reigning world champion in 2022 and picked up four Grand Tour stage wins in her first season. Her plight in 2023 goes to sum up much of the team's luck, with a consistent Spring campaign followed by a fractured jaw sustained during the RideLondon Classique. 

This traumatic crash left Balsamo unable to eat properly for weeks on end and whilst she made her return at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in July, she had lost significant muscle mass and would have to slowly build her way back towards full fitness throughout the final months of the season. The hard work paid off with a stage victory at the Simac Ladies Tour in September, but 2023 will be a season that Balsamo will be happy to see the back of. 

She was not alone in her misfortune, with Longo Borghini's season also interrupted and hampering Lidl-Trek's ambitions at the Tour de France Femmes. 

The summer had started brightly for her and the team, with Longo Borghini doubling up at the Italian National Championships and despite illness on the eve of the Giro d'Italia Donne, the tricolore jersey showed off her newfound sprinting ability to triumph on stage 4. It was on the following stage, however, that things took a turn for the worse, with Longo Borghini suffering a spectacular crash and being forced out of the race as a result. 

In her peak years at the age of 31, Longo Borghini has been the team's biggest asset for a number of years, but she departed the Tour de France Femmes early, suffering from a deep skin infection and only three more race days awaited before she would call time on an underwhelming season.

Elisa Longo Borghini calls time on ‘complicated’ 2023 season

Without Longo Borghini, Lidl-Trek struggled for victories in the second half of the campaign. Their multi-disciplinary Lucinda Brand won the Baloise Ladies Tour, along with a stage win and the points classification, prior to a dependable ride at the Tour de France Femmes - but only Balsamo's Simac Ladies Tour success awaited the team before the year was out. 

With Balsamo and Longo Borghini plagued by misfortune, Lidl-Trek struggled to gain a foothold on the top steps of podiums, and at this point, we must acknowledge the absence of Ellen van Dijk on maternity leave. The Dutchwoman picked up ten wins in 2022 and will no doubt bolster the team's tally next season, but she did not pull on Lidl-Trek colours this year - bar a heartwarming photoshoot showing off her baby bump, that is. 

Lizzie Deignan's maternity leave saw her take time off in 2022 and her return has been somewhat low-key so far, with her third place at the RideLondon Classique a highlight. Deignan and Van Dijk are both key riders for Lidl-Trek and without the pair notching up significant results, the team's performance was always going to suffer. 

With the team's leaders not firing on all cylinders then, for one reason or another, 2023 has been a season in which Lidl-Trek have fallen from 34 to 14 victories. It is their least successful season since 2020, but for each disappointment there have been explanations, and this is not to say their young talent has not blossomed. 

Shirin van Anrooij is a rider who has long been tipped for stardom and at times you must remind yourself that she is still only 21 years of age, such is her importance to the Lidl-Trek side as both a prospect and a dependable teammate. 

To no great surprise, she won the inaugural Tour de l'Avenir Femmes this season, but she also picked up her first win in Trek colours at Trofeo Alfredo Binda on just her second race day of the season. This preceded a promising Spring campaign during which she took top-10 placings in a handful of top races. 

Given her trajectory, 2024 may well be the season she begins winning consistently, and the same can be said for Lidl-Trek's most exciting prospect coming out of 2023, Realini. The slight Italian climber finished in the top 10 of all but one stage race she competed in during the season, with revelatory third-place finishes in both the Giro d'Italia Donne and La Vuelta Femenina. 

Gaia Realini: From Giro d’Italia Donne breakout rider to podium finisher

It was in the latter where Realini announced herself as one of the world's best, playing a crafty hand to outwit the eventual race winner Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) on stage 6. In decimating the competition alongside teammate Amanda Spratt at Trofeo Oro in Euro, the 22-year-old also displayed her prowess in one-day races. 

Perhaps somewhat harsh for the second team in the Women's WorldTour rankings, but Lidl-Trek's 2023 campaign has been one chequered by misfortune with fleeting moments of acclaim. Regular podium placings throughout the year have rescued their points tally, but they will hope for a smoother run in 2024 and with their leaders back to full fitness.

Lidl-Trek's Top Five in 2024

The women's Lidl-Trek team are almost going down a completely opposite path to the men's team, who have spent the summer investing their new title sponsorship money on proven assets that command sizeable pay packets. The likes of Carlos Verona, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Jonathan Milan will be pulling on the blue, red and yellow jersey next season, all having established themselves and more at WorldTour level. 

But for Lidl-Trek's women's outfit, their squad is already laden with proven winners and all they will be hoping for in 2024 is to keep them all fit, healthy and available. With Van Dijk, Deignan, Longo Borghini, Balsamo, Van Anrooij and Realini all at full fitness, theirs is an intimidating squad indeed. 

With this in mind, the spare pennies have been spent not on big names, but on young prospects who will hope to follow in the footsteps of Realini in hitting the ground running on their new team. Five of the side's six signings are aged 18, with only FDJ-SUEZ's Clara Copponi adding senior experience to the ranks. 

The Frenchwoman is a handy sprinter in her own right but will certainly slot nicely into Balsamo's lead-out in 2024. 

As for the five youngsters, the Holmgren twins - Ava and Isabella - will be joined by Fleur Moors, Felicity Wilson-Haffenden and Izzy Sharp. Both Wilson-Haffenden and Sharp are exceptional time trialists and will do well to learn from the tutelage of Van Dijk upon her return to action. 

Lidl-Trek signs junior time trial world champion Felicity Wilson-Haffenden

The side's only outgoings are triathlete Taylor Knibb, who joined for a brief period this season, and the retiring Tayler Wiles, who struggled to find her best form in her final season on the road after suffering with iliac artery endofibrosis.

Where Lidl-Trek's wins will come in 2024 

If you hadn't got the picture already, Lidl-Trek have a plethora of leaders, all of whom will be expected to chip into their win tally in 2024. Fourteen victories for a team of this calibre is not enough, and with a clean run at things next season, a lot more will be expected of this superstar squad. 

Time will tell when Van Dijk makes her return following maternity leave, but Deignan will certainly be hoping to benefit from a true winter of training this time around. The British star has already set her sights on a stage win at the Tour de France Femmes next season and recently spoke to 

 of her desire to return to a leadership capacity in 2024. 

'I miss the pressure' - Lizzie Deignan targets Tour de France Femmes and Olympic Games

Elsewhere, big hopes will of course rest at the feet of Longo Borghini and Balsamo, both of whom are versatile enough to take regular wins throughout the season. Balsamo is a supreme sprinter who put the often indomitable Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) to the sword at the Simac Ladies Tour, whilst Longo Borghini will surely target a big GC victory before her peak years are out. 

As the understudy to Longo Borghini this season, Realini may well even jump ahead of her compatriot in the team's hierarchy should her rise continue at its current trajectory. Twice a podium finisher in the Grand Tours this season, a win would not be out of her sights should SD Worx send a weakened field to a race like La Vuelta Femenina. 

To complement this array of talent, rouleurs such as Spratt, Brand and Chapman can prove themselves as invaluable members of the team with the occasional victory alongside their selfless devotion to the leaders. 

It is for good reason that Lidl-Trek have invested in five young talents for 2024 and beyond. Only Elynor Bäckstedt, Van Anrooij and Realini in their current lineup are under the age of 25, with the latter two having already established themselves at the top level, and Bäckstedt proving a reliable teammate over the past few years. 

Of the incoming riders, it is Australia's Wilson-Haffenden who appears the biggest talent on paper. Winner of the junior World Championships Time Trial in August, the 18-year-old also holds the Oceania time trial title, alongside that for her home nation. 

Also the Australian junior national road race champion, the future looks bright for Wilson-Haffenden and the opportunities offered to Van Anrooij and Realini at their respective young ages will certainly fill her with enthusiasm ahead of her first season with Lidl-Trek. 

Do you agree that 2023 was somewhat disappointing for Lidl-Trek? And how do you think their leaders will fare next season? Let us know in the comments below! 

Features

Racing Features

Lizzie Deignan: The 5 races that changed my life

Lizzie Deignan at (L-R) the 2012 Olympics road race, the 2021 Paris-Roubaix Femmes, and the 2015 World Championships road race

Lizzie Deignan recently told us she has no plans to retire any time soon, but she is already able to look back on a long career and an illustrious list of achievements. 

The 34-year-old British rider has won some of the sport's biggest races, including 

, and a World Championships road race crown. But which ones mean the most to her? 

In this special feature, Deignan selects five races – not necessarily wins – that have shaped her career, taking us back into the moment and reflecting on the impact they've had upon her.

London 2012 was, without a doubt, a game-changer for me, my life, and my career.

At that point, I was making a living as a road rider, having decided to quit the track because the Omnium had come in and didn’t suit me. The timed events on the track weren’t right for me and my heart lay on the road at that point in my life.

I wanted to go and make a proper wage on the road and the success in 2012 meant that I could secure my future. The silver medal legitimised my dreams because it was huge, and it made me believe that I had what it took to be a professional road rider. Up until that point, I didn’t know if that was possible. I was also the first British medalist at the Games. 

, in the eyes of the British press, had “failed” the day before and they’d written about it being a disaster but I pulled off a medal and everything started from there.

Going into the race I was hoping for a top-10 but to perform like that on that day, with literally the best legs I’d ever had, I was so lucky. It all came together for me in terms of the conditions, the race-winning break and the way the race panned out. There were four of us in the break, and when Shelley Olds punctured it was game on because the three of us left knew that we were all going for a medal. 

 took the title with me in second but I’ll never forget the atmosphere because the crowds were four deep all the way around the course. It was insane. It’s a moment in time that I’ll always savour.

It was also the first time that my friends started to respect what I did. Before that point, they just thought that I was a bit of a weirdo who cycled because, before the Games in 2012, cycling wasn’t that popular in the mainstream. It was seen as a bit of an old man in yellow lycra sort of sport but London changed that in such a dramatic fashion. 

In terms of my life, the medal opened up so many new doors. Suddenly there was private sponsorship and more self-confidence on my part and I started to believe that I could reach another level. It also gave me a sense of justification, that I’d taken the right path. All my friends had just finished uni at that point and had started moving on but the medal proved that I’d also made the right call with my life, and my career.

This was the first big win that I had on the road. I’d endured a tough year after the Games in 2012 and didn’t perform like I wanted to during the 2013 season. Going into the following year I said to myself that I needed to either deliver on the promise that I’d shown in 2012 or consider my options. Honestly, I couldn’t stop thinking that maybe I’d just had a lucky day in London. That’s where my mindset was. I just wasn’t delivering the results that I thought I was capable of.

After London, I definitely enjoyed my Olympic medal and everything that came with it. I did stuff like the television show Superstars and, to be honest, I did fun things which I should have done as a 23-year-old. I didn’t have the same responsibilities that I have now and maybe I had too much fun, but I have no regrets. In 2013, though, I didn’t have a great year. There was illness and I just didn’t reach the level that I aspired to. 

It was a tough time so I put in a really hard winter, lost loads of weight, and totally focused. It paid off because I started the season in great form and smashed it in Drenthe, riding away from the bunch alongside Anna van der Breggen and then beating her in the sprint.

I remember attacking the peloton on the VAMberg climb and just thinking to myself: ‘What’s wrong with everyone? Why aren’t they following me?’ I was just on another level. It was such a nice feeling to be that strong.

That win kick-started my season and overall victory in the World Cup, and winning my team sponsor’s home race was an obvious delight for them. The confidence from that win was huge, and once you take your first big win it’s so much easier to take the next one because you believe you can do it again.

And if you’re wondering, the next TV show I’d love to do would be Strictly. I love to dance. I’d have realistic expectations but I’d love to be taught how to dance. I couldn’t do the Jungle one, not with being a vegetarian. Honestly, I’d do whichever one paid the best. I’ve got children to feed!

I look back at that race and think ‘Who the hell was that?’ I smashed it.

The confidence, focus and delivery to be able to do what I did was incredible. I don’t know how I did it. I don’t think that I appreciated the performance at the time because I put it together myself, with the help of Danny Stam, by going out to America, riding recon over the course. Although I wore a British Cycling jersey, it was my project. To be able to beat the Dutch, in a World Championships with no teammates, was incredible.

I know that, from the outside, it looked like quite a tense race that could have gone so many ways but I felt in total control. I don’t know how to describe it but I just knew that I was going to win. Some days come together on the bike and you just know that you can respond to anything, and that was one of them. I was just on it.

I’m really proud of that win but the jersey is actually on a coat hanger in the garage at the moment. I’ll end up doing something with it at some point, I’m sure, but in terms of changing my life, that win made all my dreams come true. To wear the rainbow jersey for a year, and to still have the bands on me as a little reminder, it’s special.

This win came nine months after the birth of my first child, Orla. Just the fact that I’d won a WorldTour stage race that fast after having a child, it was beyond my expectations. I was so proud to pull that off, and with it being a British race, it meant that much more.

When I came back after Orla was born I wanted to be the best again. I didn’t want to ride around and I wanted to reach that top level again but there’s a certain process that you need to go through and there’s lots of rapid changes.

I came back in the Ardennes and did fine with a few top-10s but I wasn’t dictating the racing. I was surviving. In the Women’s Tour, however, the race was mine for the taking. It was an affirmation that I’d made the right choice.

I don’t base my career on proving doubters wrong – I race for me, and for my teammates – but I have to admit, proving a few doubters wrong in that instance did feel good.

Winning that race blew things up way more than I was expecting and it was a much bigger win than me, if that makes sense. It was the victory that wasn’t about me but about women’s cycling and for all of us. I don’t know if it was a slow news day but the win was picked up everywhere and my normal friends knew what I’d been doing again nearly 10 years after the Olympics.

I think the fact that people were watching the race made a massive difference. I loved my win in Drenthe – on a personal level, it meant the world to me – but I didn’t have people coming up to me and saying ‘I remember your win in the Drenthe World Cup’. When I won that race it was a Tweet: ‘Lizzie Diegnan wins….’ and that was it, but the fact that Paris-Roubaix was on television, those things are what makes the difference. I have people come up to me all the time and say they watched that race, and that’s an incredible feeling of pride, both for myself and for women’s racing. It was still a weird time, post-pandemic, and there were no crowds, but to finally race on the iconic cobbles and to be the first-ever winner of the race, that’s a title I’ll always have.

I was there originally to work for Ellen van Dijk and Elisa Longo Borghini. Although I’d had good form that season, they were stronger coming into the race. I had no ill feelings towards being a worker because Ellen was, on paper, the strongest. It’s just how it panned out.

Where’s the cobblestone? Well, unlike the rainbow jersey, the cobblestone is in the kitchen. I’ve still not decided on where I’m going to put it permanently and I’d love to be like Fabian Cancellara and say it’s going to be on display in my home-built sauna but that’s just not the reality. Like everything, I’ll figure it out.

News

Race News

Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek) took home third overall and the best young rider's jersey

 as the race’s stand-out young rider, having battled 

) on some of its hardest stages. This year, she leaves the race as a podium finisher.

In the context of 2023, Realini’s performance is her biggest overall result to date, but it is far from surprising. The 22-year-old started her year with second overall behind teammate 

 at the UAE Tour, and has since won a stage at the Vuelta Femenina, where she also finished third on GC.

Coming into July, then, it’s not as if Realini was an outsider. But in her first Giro for a WorldTour team - at the very race which likely earnt her contract with Lidl-Trek last autumn - it was made clear just how far she’s stepped up in just a year.

After Elisa Longo Borghini crashed heavily on stage 6, dropping out of second overall and not starting the following day, Realini found herself as Trek’s sole GC leader.

“This Giro was a new experience for me, both in terms of how I approached it and how I lived it day by day,” Realini said after the race. “It was the event I prepared best for, I was at the start with a great desire to test myself, but with the awareness that the first objective was to gain experience.

“I was ready for whatever the team wanted, but then the abandon of Elisa changed things. I found myself being the leader, having the team racing only for me. The goal was to protect me, to not lose a second, to always put me in the best position to face the competition for GC.”

Despite leadership not being the plan for Realini, she stepped into the role with success, often one of the few riders who could follow race Van Vleuten, and went with what would prove to be the podium-deciding move on the final climb of stage 7.

Having been able to follow and in fact beat Van Vleuten during the Vuelta Femenina, it was clear that confidence was a big part of Realini’s success in Italy.

“From the Vuelta a España to today, I have gained awareness and confidence,” she said. “And the biggest thanks go to the team: teammates, team directors and staff. Thanks to them the responsibility of being a leader has never turned into pressure. I could bring out the best because I raced in serenity. These last few days of the Giro are the proof. Nervous, tricky stages that I passed without any problems. It didn’t happen by chance, but it’s the result of our work.

“From Wednesday until today, every team meeting ended by repeating that we could take the podium and keep it until the end. This conviction gave me incredible strength, and every rider knows that the head counts more than the legs in certain situations.”

The loss of Longo Borghini may have changed Lidl-Trek’s plans midway through the race, but team DS Ina Yoko Teutenberg praised the way they still achieved their goals.

“We came with the ambitious idea of hunting stages and fighting for GC, and we hit both targets,” Teutenberg said. “I’m really proud of what the riders did in these days, the dedication and the team spirit they showed.”

Despite Realini’s podium success in the last two major stage races on the calendar, it’s not clear what her role will be for the rest of the summer - the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift looms, but leadership at that race is hotly contested in a team as stacked as Lidl-Trek. But although it may not pay off immediately, what Realini has proved at this race is that just a year on from being a Continental rider taking a chance in the Giro, she is a rider who should be given serious GC opportunities.

“I'm having a dream season, beyond all expectations,” she concluded. “I'll keep repeating that. I am super happy. What will come in the next few months we will find out as we go along. Now I’ll have some rest, then we’ll think again about races.”

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Name	Age	UCI Career Wins	UCI Points
Elisa Longo Borghini	32	43	3219
Elisa Balsamo	26	27	2406
Shirin van Anrooij	22	6	1637
Gaia Realini	22	3	1007
Lizzie Deignan	35	41	610

Lidl-Trek

Lidl-Trek

The Team

Top Lidl-Trek Stories

Lidl-Trek Team Talk: The future is bright, but was 2023 disappointing?

Lizzie Deignan: The 5 races that changed my life

Gaia Realini: From Giro d’Italia Donne breakout rider to podium finisher

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