Lidl-Trek presents its Vuelta a España eight

A strong team of climbers take on the last Grand Tour of the season

The 2024 Vuelta a España route makes it arguably the hardest Grand Tour of the season. Between incredibly hot temperatures and a challenging parcours, it will be an extreme test of endurance. Lidl-Trek arrives with a strong, fully international team of eight riders from eight different countries. The team goal? A top GC result in addition to stage wins.

Lidl-Trek will line up at the Spanish Grand Tour with Mattias Skjelmose as leader, ready to take on his biggest goal of the season. The young Dane, for whom the Vuelta has been a focal point of the 2024 campaign, will benefit from a Team of strong climbers to help him through the arduous 21 stages across the Iberian peninsula. Skjelmose will benefit from the experience of his right-hand-man, 2020 Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart, who will take on the role of co-leader after missing out on participation at the Tour de France due to illness.

(Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

The Team is bolstered by Giulio Ciccone, who will be an important help for the GC leaders, and will also relish his chance to hunt for stages in the mountains. In addition to Cicco, the depth of the Team’s talent is further enhanced by three experienced climbers: Sam Oomen, who already knows what it takes to put his leader on the top step of the Vuelta podium; Carlos Verona, a rider eager to perform in his home Grand Tour; and Patrick Konrad, who starts the Vuelta off the back of an impressive 7th place in the Clásica San Sebastián.

Lidl-Trek can also depend upon Otto Vergaerde, riding his second Vuelta. Vergaerde is no stranger to hard work, and will be ready to do what is needed of him to support his leaders, and you might even see him grabbing his own chance when the opportunity arises. Finally, Lidl-Trek have Mathias Vacek lining up for his first Grand Tour, in which he will start wearing his Czech champion skinsuit in Lisbon. Vacek proved his climbing ability earlier in the year at Tour de Hongrie and Tour of Norway, so don’t be surprised to see him fighting for stage wins throughout the Vuelta.