Lidl–Trek (men's team) explained
Lidl–Trek is a professional road bicycle racing team at UCI WorldTeam level licensed in the United States. Formerly RadioShack–Nissan, in 2014, Trek took over the ownership of the team and its ProTeam License.[1]
History
2011
See main article: 2011 Leopard Trek season.
The team was founded in 2011 under the name of Leopard Trek and officially stylized as LEOPARD TREK with Brian Nygaard and Kim Andersen as team managers.[2] The Schleck brothers were under contract with the Danish team Saxo Bank managed by Bjarne Riis through the end of the 2010 season. Several other riders followed the Schleck brothers to the new team, including veterans Jens Voigt,[3] Fabian Cancellara[4] and Stuart O'Grady.[5] Subsequent signings included sprinter Daniele Bennati, Davide Viganò[6] and Joost Posthuma.[7]
The team became active at the start of the 2011 cycling season. On December 13, 2010, Jakob Fuglsang revealed that the team would be called Team Leopard, in reference to the management company run by Nygaard.[8] Trek, the bike supplier, confirmed shortly before the team was officially presented that they would be a co-title sponsor, giving the team a full name of "Leopard Trek."[9]
Team rider Wouter Weylandt died as a result of a high-speed, downhill crash during the 2011 Giro d'Italia. The remaining riders of Leopard Trek left the competition at the completion of the following day's stage.
2012
See main article: 2012 RadioShack–Nissan season. For the 2012 season, the team was renamed RadioShack–Nissan–Trek. The reason is that the American ceased racing, and their former sponsors joined the Luxembourg Cycling Project. Johan Bruyneel along with several riders from moved to the new team.[10] [11] The lineup for 2012 was officially confirmed on December 5, 2011.[12] The official UCI name for the team is RadioShack Nissan[13] and it is registered in Luxembourg.
While the UCI ProTeam is now named RadioShack–Nissan–Trek, in December 2011 Leopard also launched a UCI Continental Team, consisting mainly of U23 riders, called Leopard-Trek.[14]
On July 17, 2012, Fränk Schleck was removed from the 2012 Tour de France by the team during the second rest day after his A-sample returned traces of Xipamide.[15] Team RadioShack–Nissan won the team classification of the Tour de France.
Johan Bruyneel stood down as General Manager on October 12 in the aftermath of the publication by the US Anti-Doping Agency of its"reasoned decision" on the Lance Armstrong doping case.[16]
On December 21, 2012, Nissan announced that they would cease to sponsor the team, with immediate effect.[17]
2013
See main article: 2013 RadioShack–Leopard season. During the 2013 Tour de France Team RadioShack-Leopard announced that they would not renew Fränk Schleck's contract, leaving him without a team. It also caused a serious and public rift between his brother Andy Schleck and team management, putting his future with the team into doubt.
In September 2013, Chris Horner beat Vincenzo Nibali to win the 2013 Vuelta a España becoming the oldest grand tour winner in history, winning two stages along the way.
2014
See main article: 2014 Trek Factory Racing season. On July 3, the team announced that Samsung would become a new minor sponsor of the team.[18]
2015
See main article: 2015 Trek Factory Racing season. On December 16, 2015, the team announced that Italian coffee brand Segafredo had committed to a three-year co-title sponsorship effective January 1, 2016, with the team changing name to Trek–Segafredo.[19]
2016
See main article: 2016 Trek–Segafredo season. In April the team announced US software company CA Technologies would sponsor the team with immediate effect until the end of the 2017 season.[20] In March 2017 the deal was extended through 2019.[21]
For the 2017 season, the team announced the signings of Alberto Contador,[22] John Degenkolb (until 2019),[23] Koen de Kort (until 2018),[23] Jarlinson Pantano,[24] and Ivan Basso.
2020
The team suspended the 2019 junior road race world champion Quinn Simmons for actions on Twitter, where he used a black hand emoji that Trek–Segafredo considered racially insensitive [25]
2023
In 2023, it was announced that both the men's and women's teams would rebrand as Lidl–Trek, thanks to sponsorship from supermarket chain Lidl. This rebrand would come into effect on June 30, prior to the Giro Donne and the Tour de France / Tour de France Femmes.[26]
Doping
On June 27, 2017, the UCI announced André Cardoso tested positive for erythropoietin in an out-of-competition control on June 18 and has been provisionally suspended.[27] He had been due to support Alberto Contador in his bid for the 2017 Tour de France, with Haimar Zubeldia taking the empty roster place.[28]
In April 2019, Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation confirmed that Jarlinson Pantano had returned an adverse analytical finding for EPO, in a doping test carried out on February 26. Pantano was immediately suspended by the team.[29]
Major wins
See main article: List of wins by Leopard Trek and its successors.
National & World champions
- 2011
Luxembourg Road Race, Fränk Schleck
Switzerland Road Race, Fabian Cancellara
Germany Road Race, Robert Wagner
- 2012
Luxembourg Road Race, Laurent Didier
Denmark Time Trial, Jakob Fuglsang
Switzerland Time Trial, Fabian Cancellara
- 2013
New Zealand Road Race, Hayden Roulston
Switzerland Time Trial, Fabian Cancellara
Luxembourg Time Trial, Bob Jungels
Luxembourg Road Race, Bob Jungels
Belgium Road Race, Stijn Devolder
Croatia Road Race, Robert Kišerlovski
- 2014
New Zealand Road Race, Hayden Roulston
Belgian Time Trial, Kristof Vandewalle
Switzerland Time Trial, Fabian Cancellara
Luxembourg Time Trial, Laurent Didier
Japan Time Trial, Fumiyuki Beppu
Austria Road Race, Riccardo Zoidl
Luxembourg Road Race, Fränk Schleck
- 2015
United States Road Race, Matthew Busche [30]
Luxembourg Time Trial, Bob Jungels
Luxembourg Road Race, Bob Jungels
- 2016
Australia Road Race, Jack Bobridge
Switzerland Time Trial, Fabian Cancellara
Italy Road Race, Giacomo Nizzolo
- 2017
Colombia Time Trial, Jarlinson Pantano
Portugal Road Race, Ruben Guerreiro
Denmark Road Race, Mads Pedersen
- 2018
Ethiopia Time Trial, Tsgabu Grmay
Ireland Time Trial, Ryan Mullen
Latvia Time Trial, Toms Skujiņš
- 2019
Ireland Time Trial, Ryan Mullen
Latvia Road Race, Toms Skujiņš
World Road Race, Mads Pedersen
- 2020
Luxembourg U23 Time Trial, Michel Ries
- 2021
Latvia Time Trial, Toms Skujiņš
Latvia Road Race, Toms Skujiņš
Ireland Time Trial, Ryan Mullen
Ireland Road Race, Ryan Mullen
- 2022
Latvia Time Trial, Toms Skujiņš
Latvia Road Race, Emīls Liepiņš
Netherlands Time Trial, Bauke Mollema
- 2023
Eritrea Time Trial, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier
Latvia Time Trial, Toms Skujiņš
Luxembourg Time Trial, Alex Kirsch
Latvia Road Race, Emīls Liepiņš
Czech Road Race, Mathias Vacek
Denmark Road Race, Mattias Skjelmose
Luxembourg Road Race, Alex Kirsch
United States Road Race, Quinn Simmons
Europe Gravel, Jasper Stuyven
Belgium Gravel, Jasper Stuyven
- 2024
South Africa Time Trial, Ryan Gibbons
South Africa Road Race, Ryan Gibbons
Eritrea Time Trial, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier
Eritrea Road Race, Natnael Tesfatsion
Netherlands Time Trial, Daan Hoole
Czech Time Trial, Mathias Vacek
Danish Time Trial, Mattias SkjelmoseNotes and References
- News: Trek to take over WorldTour license from Becca in 2014. Cycling News. June 26, 2013. September 28, 2013.
- http://www.cyclesportmag.com/news-and-comment/cs-blog-an-open-letter-to-leopard-trek/ CS Blog: An open letter to Leopard Trek
- Hood, Andrew. (October 22, 2010) Jens Voigt to join Schleck brothers' Luxembourg squad. Velonews.competitor.com. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/40432425/ns/sports/ Cancellara Joins New Luxembourg-Based Team
- http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/11/news/stuart-ogrady-signs-with-luxembourg-pro-cycling-project_148399 Stuart O'Grady signs with Luxembourg Pro Cycling Projet
- http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/luxembourg-pro-cycling-snaps-up-bennati-and-vigano Luxembourg Pro Cycling snaps up Bennati and Vigano
- https://twitter.com/joostposthuma/status/6975794106605569 Joost Posthuma confirms via Twitter joining the Luxembourg Pro Cycling project in 2011
- http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/luxembourg-team-to-be-called-team-leopard Luxembourg Team To Be Called Team Leopard
- http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/team-leopard-trek-to-be-presented-in-luxembourg Team Leopard-Trek To Be Presented In Luxembourg
- Web site: Becca Confirms Nygaard's Departure From Leopard Trek . Cyclingnews.com . September 6, 2011. December 30, 2011.
- Web site: Leopard-Trek welcomes RadioShack and Nissan as new main sponsors. | LEOPARD TREK . Leopardtrek.lu . December 30, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120102134932/http://www.leopardtrek.lu/news/leopard-trek-welcomes-radioshack-and-nissan-new-main-sponsors . January 2, 2012.
- News: RADIOSHACK NISSAN TREK announces 2012 roster. December 5, 2011. January 4, 2012. leopardtrek.lu. Leopard Trek. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120107223134/http://www.leopardtrek.lu/news/radioshack-nissan-trek-announces-2012-roster. January 7, 2012.
- Web site: UCI to prevent inclusion of Trek name in RadioShack Nissan team title . Velonation.com . February 23, 2012.
- News: EuroTrash Thursday!. Alastair. Hamilton. PEZ Cycling News. December 8, 2011. June 28, 2012.
- News: Frank Schleck tests positive for banned diuretic and is out of Tour . The Guardian . UK . Richard . Williams . July 17, 2012 . December 28, 2015 .
- Web site: Leopard SA and Johan Bruyneel end their collaboration. radioshackleopardtrek.com. October 12, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20130124140947/http://www.radioshackleopardtrek.com/news/leopard-sa-and-johan-bruyneel-end-their-collaboration. January 24, 2013.
- News: Nissan confirm immediate split with RadioShack. Cycling News. December 21, 2012. December 22, 2012.
- News: Samsung new sponsor . Cycling News. July 3, 2014. July 3, 2014.
- News: Segafredo joins Trek Factory Racing as co-title sponsor . Cycling News. December 16, 2015.
- Web site: Trek-Segafredo sign sponsorship deal with CA Technologies. Cyclingnews.com.
- Web site: CA Technologies extends multi-year partnership with Trek-Segafredo. March 31, 2017.
- Web site: Contador signs with Trek Segafredo on Tour de France rest day. Cyclingnews.com.
- Web site: Trek-Segafredo sign John Degenkolb. Cyclingnews.com.
- Web site: Pantano signs for Trek-Segafredo. Cyclingnews.com.
- Web site: September 2020. Kirsten Frattini 30. Trek-Segafredo suspend Quinn Simmons for 'divisive, incendiary, and detrimental' statements on social media. September 30, 2020. cyclingnews.com.
- Web site: Fletcher . Patrick . updated . Daniel Ostanek last . 2023-05-05 . Trek-Segafredo to become Lidl-Trek from Tour de France onwards . 2023-06-24 . cyclingnews.com . en.
- Web site: UCI statement on André Cardoso . . June 27, 2017 . June 27, 2017.
- Web site: Andre Cardoso tests positive for EPO. Cyclingnews.com.
- Web site: Trek-Segafredo suspend Pantano after EPO positive.
- News: Busche secures stars-and-stripes jersey at US pro road championships . May 26, 2015 . Ted . Burns . Cycling News . December 16, 2015 .
