Lidl-Trek weighs options: 'It's obviously pretty hard to crack that Visma | Lease a Bike code'

Lidl-Trek was seen prior to this season as the possible potential challenger to Visma | Lease a Bike in the spring. In the opening weekend, the German/American team was still without leader Mads Pedersen, who is needed to crack the Visma code. Team manager Gregory Rast and helper Daan Hoole explain themselves to IDLProcycling.

Jasper Stuyven and Jonathan Milan were basically the men to make the cut on behalf of the team in the first classics of the season, but in the end it was Toms Skujins who came out on top. Milan fell ill and even had to skip Kuurne after dropping out earlier on Saturday, while Stuyven, despite two top-ten finishes, did not yet appear to be in top form.

Hoole, who he says had to abandon the race in Kuurne on Sunday due to a stupid fall, watched the Omloop on Saturday in front of the TV. He too was impressed by Skujins. 'It was impressive and I have to be honest: I was also a little bit surprised. Toms is of course a super good rider, who also rode top ten at the World Championships. But that he could release Wout van Aert and those guys, that was super. I thought: how many people in their lives have been able to release Wout van Aert at the Berendries? Not many. If he can do that, that's special," said the Dutchman, who was more surprised with that than sports director Rast.

'Toms did a very good race. He was able to ride conservatively because Visma | Lease a Bike was in the front with a lot of riders,' the Swiss stated. 'We saw on the Valkenberg and Molenberg that he was very strong, so we told him to ride conservatively and go with us if he had some left. I wasn't surprised by his performance because he was fully focused on this Opening Weekend.'

Hoole did see some omens in the Latvian in France. 'I already did Besseges with him, but there I had fallen ill. There he rode very strong and then he started to train at altitude in Andorra, so that went well. We did say to each other with a few teammates and leaders: so, what is he doing? It was very nice," he commented on how Skujins was looked at in the riders' hotel.

So in the end, Stuyven was the man who came in best in both races, with Rast still slightly satisfied. 'Jasper made a mistake on Saturday by missing the big shuffle, but he was with us when it mattered. On the Bosberg he had a lesser moment, but we gained a lot of confidence from the other races. For both Toms and Jasper, we are going to need them, even if Mads Pedersen joins. With some other guys, we have a strong team.'

Hoole is the first to agree, although he does not want to say immediately that they can compete with the yellow-black super block. 'There is still a difference between us and Visma | Lease a Bike, but in the end we did very well by being with four men in that group on Saturday. They had six guys in the final group and we had two or three, so that's a difference. With Mads and some other guys, we have a very strong group. But it's kind of hard to crack that code because, of course, they have so many options. However, we have definitely talked about that and in the width we are also well strengthened, so hopefully we will succeed once this year.'

For the strong Dutchman, a role as super-helper lies ahead, even when Pedersen soon joins from Paris-Nice. 'My role remains the same, but we are now with more men. We also had to make the choice to change riders, so it is fighting for your spot. But that's only good. I will be there for Flanders and Roubaix, in a supporting role. In races like Nokere and Bredene, I can go for my own chances.'

Pedersen, Pedersen ... Rast also expects a lot from the Dane, he told this site on Saturday. But what exactly does Hoole think of his leading man, whom he already experienced briefly in the Ster van Besseges. 'Things actually went super well there, also with the team, so that was purely positive. If you see what Mads has already achieved this season... now he has had a training camp in Mallorca, so I think he can only improve. Of course, to beat guys like Mathieu van der Poel and Wout, he has to. I definitely think he can be in the same place as them," concluded the Dutchman confidently.