The long-rumored transfer is finally official. So what does it mean for Lidl-Trek?
Kristof Ramon, Cor Vos
After months of rumors, Lidl-Trek formally announced on Tuesday that Felix Gall is joining the team on a three-year deal. He will be joined in the transfer by fellow Austrian and fellow Decathlon-CMA CGM rider Gregor Mühlberger, who has signed a two-year deal with Lidl-Trek.
In Gall, Lidl-Trek adds a five-time Grand Tour top-10 finisher who rode onto the podium at both the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España this season. With that track record, it hardly comes as a surprise that the 28-year-old would be looking for a change of scenery given the emergence of Paul Seixas at Decathlon. The young French prodigy is sure to have Decathlon’s full backing at the Tour de France for the foreseeable future.
The bigger question is what motivated Lidl-Trek to make the move, signing another rider with a history of contending for Grand Tour podiums without actually winning any*. At Lidl-Trek, Gall joins a crowded stable of riders at a similar level: Juan Ayuso, Derek Gee-West, and Mattias Skjelmose all fit the bill, and in fact Gall has fewer pro wins than any of them. He does look like the best GC racer of the lot at the moment, but he has not yet looked like a true contender for three-week victories in the age of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard.
*Tao Geoghegan Hart, the team’s only rider with a Grand Tour victory to his name, is expected to leave at the end of the season.
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