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Lidl-Trek’s Giro d’Italia didn’t need saving. They already had five stage victories — their most at any Grand Tour — and have the maglia ciclamino sewn up, tailored to fit the all- conquering Mads Pedersen. However, despite these successes, the team started stage 15 in a sombre mood because their GC leader, Giulio Ciccone, who had looked to be in the form of his life and on his way to competing for a top five result, crashed on stage 14 and had to abandon the race. So when Carlos Verona to crossed the line first in Asiago, achieving only his second career win and his first at Grand Tour level, Sunday felt like just reward for not only the most loyal of domestiques but for the whole team, which have been the standout collective performers of this Grand Tour.
Unlike the exploits of other members of the Lidl-Trek squad, like the superstar Pedersen, with his four wins, starting early on in the race at the Grande Partenza in Albania or when he beat the climbers on the uphill ramp at Monte Berico, Ciccone’s strong presence in the overall classification, Dan Hoole’s impressive time trial in Pisa, or even the eye-catching domestique performances of Mathias Vacek, a lot of Verona’s work, like during most of his 14-year-career, wasn’t captured on the TV cameras. He’s a humble man used to the graft of the domestique, working hard for others, rarely in the limelight — until today.
Verona was emotional at the finish, celebrating with his young family and was as modest as ever in front of the TV cameras. Did he come to the Giro thinking of a stage win? “No, absolutely not.” He had been content with his role being in full support of his leaders, Pedersen and Ciccone — not even just content, he was thriving in it. For one of the first times in his career he wasn’t under pressure to win a stage. But after losing Ciccone that all changed for the Spaniard, who is now the teams’ best chance of winning a mountain stage — Verona knows this, saying: “Maybe I don’t want to do it for me but I have to do it for the team.”
He is the ultimate team player. His previous career victory was in 2022 at the Critérium du Dauphiné when riding for Movistar Team, the day after his GC leader, Enric Mas, was forced to abandon after a crash. Verona may have left the Spanish outfit at the end of 2023 but he has brought the same unwavering loyalty to his new squad and it appears to be a perfect match for both rider and team.
So far this season, Lidl-Trek are the team that most consistently gets the best out of their riders. To do so you have to combine their physical abilities and entrench the understanding that everyone works for each other. The team has been a shining light of how teamwork gets results in cycling — highlighted by Ciccone in a message he sent out after abandoning the race: “It hurts to leave the Giro like this, especially with the climbs still to come and the great feeling in the team.”
This commitment to each others’ goals is also something Pedersen has spoken of during this Giro. The Dane has expressed his desire for Vacek to get his chance at stage glory, after all the work the Czech rider has done for him, particularly for his win on stage five.
The squad will sorely miss Ciccone and his battle for a top spot on the overall classification, but if they can keep working for each other, they could add to the six stage wins they already have. A day after losing their GC leader, one of their key unsung heroes grabbed the biggest win of his life. Stage 15 was perhaps the most emblematic day of Lidl-Trek’s historic Giro d’Italia.
