In normal circumstances, a 26-year-old taking their first-ever UCI win in a Grand Tour would go down as a big surprise, and a win from behind, but somehow, when Daan Hoole did just that on stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia, it seemed as natural a result as anything.
Forget the fact that Hoole has only ever won one race before – the Dutch national time trial championships last year – or the fact that he was up against, on paper, stronger TT specialists, because after a week of Lidl-Trek masterclasses in this Giro, Hoole was just continuing that winning trajectory.
After 10 stages, Lidl-Trek have already won on four occasions, held three out of four jerseys, and currently lead the sprint standings by an almost 100-point margin. And that’s before we even talk about their GC ambitions.
The team are on a roaring run of success, and whilst they might not be leading the GC, they have this race in the palm of their hands. So what’s the secret?
“I think the Lidl products,” was Daan Hoole’s joking, sponsor-pleasing response post-stage, before giving a more serious answer to what’s making the difference in the team.
“I think we just have a super good team,” he continued. “For sure, when Lidl joined the team, we had some extra budget to buy some better riders, but I think also if you look at Mads or Ciccone, they were already a long time in the team, and they just improved year by year.”
As Hoole says, the reported injection of cash from Lidl has directly correlated with bigger, better results, partly as it’s given the team the time and resources to work on all the technical aspects of racing, which proved particularly fruitful in Tuesday’s TT.
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“To find a good aerodynamic position is something you have to put a lot of time into, and it’s an ongoing process of still trying to find new things. We work a lot on the speedsuit, with Koen de Kort and Santini, to develop a super fast speedsuit, and I think we have maybe the fastest speedsuit out there,” Hoole explained.
“And then also with the new mechanic in the team, he changed a lot my position to make me even more aerodynamic. I think with my height that’s really something you have to find, and this year we really made big steps with that, so I’m happy that I could do it today.”
More than just a bigger budget and better equipment, though, Lidl-Trek seem to be showing – both here and at the Classics, where they had one of their best campaigns yet – something that can’t be bought, and that’s team spirit.
From committed teamwork and silly bets, to Hoole’s teammates Jonathan Milan and Simone Consonni video calling him from Sierra Nevada team camp to congratulate his race, it’s clear that the riders have belief not only in themselves, but in each other.
“I think we have a super good team spirit, and the right people behind the project with the right knowledge, and year by year we improved, so now we are at a super good level,” Hoole said. “We really have the leaders to win, and the rest are super committed to help them as good as possible to be able to win.”
For Hoole in particular, it’s that strong faith from within the team that helped deliver him to his first big win, less than a year after his first TT victory.
“[Time trialling] is something I’ve been working on for the last few years, and a lot of people have been telling me to keep improving in it and keep believing in it, and today it became reality that I won. It’s insane,” he said.
Insane, yes, and unexpected, probably to most, but it’s no enormous surprise to see Lidl-Trek continuing to do well in this race, after Pedersen’s early, confidence-boosting success, the impressive performances
“If you win on the first stage, it gives something special, it gives some confidence to everyone, and we just went on this flow of having super good confidence and really good teamwork,” he said. “It’s a really good feeling. For me to win today is something crazy and probably quite unexpected.”
Going forward, Lidl-Trek are hoping to keep the maglia ciclamino to Rome, but they also have a GC bid on their hands with Giulio Ciccone targeting the overall, and so far looking on track to achieve a good finish. Often derailed by a TT, Ciccone limited his losses in Pisa, and sits eighth on GC, 2:07 adrift on the race lead but with some promising signs after fifth on the Tagliacazzo summit finish and third in Siena on the gravel stage.
Then there’s Mathias Vacek, who has put in some huge performances to help deliver Pedersen to his wins, and then impressed all of his own accord with a strong TT in Albania, a surprisingly good climbing performance on Tagliacozzo, and some searing attacks on the gravel.
Only 10 days in, and Lidl-Trek are having one of their best Grand Tours in recent memory, as the success just keeps rolling in.
“What a day, and again what a performance by the whole team so far, and what a Grand Tour this is,” was Mads Pedersen’s assessment after the time trial.
Whilst Hoole’s win may not result in a teammate shaving their head, as Pedersen’s stage 1 victory did, Lidl-Trek very much still have some tricks and ambitions – and wagers – up their sleeve.
“For sure, we still have some ongoing bets for the next days and the ciclamino jersey in Rome,” Hoole said. “So don’t look surprised if somebody has some crazy earrings or strange coloured hair.”
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