Derek Gee-West in his new Lidl-Trek kit. Photo courtesy of the team.

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Daniel 🫶

It’s mid-December, we’re in Denia, Spain and Lidl-Trek general manager Luca Guercilena has just arrived for the team’s media day. He’s running late, unfortunately, and proceedings are just about winding up as the last batch of riders filters through for their media interviews, and the team press officers clear up any last-minute requests from the assembled journalists.

I’m sitting with one of the Lild-Trek ensemble, casually talking about the roster for next year, when I ask if there’s another spot to be filled. At 29 on the team, there’s still a potential opening, and the fuzzy, unclear answer I get makes me think that something could be on the horizon. It’s at moments like those that you start to ponder the possible deals and moves that could be taking place at the last minute. Who is free? What do the team need? Where is Derek Gee-West going? The sort of thing that keeps me up at night.

My conversation wraps up just as Guercilena is walking by, and having known him for several years, it’s not unusual for me to approach him and wish him well. We talk for a couple of minutes before his next engagement with one of the key sponsors in attendance, but just as he begins to leave, I ask my “Gee” question.

Later that evening, Guercilena calls the entire team together in the hotel to address the riders. He welcomes the new arrivals on the men’s and women’s sides, greets those returning for another season and then caps his introduction with news that the team would indeed be welcoming one more rider to the team in the next 24 to 48 hours. It doesn’t take a genius to know who he is talking about, and suddenly 29 becomes 30.

Over dinner, my phone starts to buzz. It’s a reliable source I trust that always delivers accurate information.