Andy Schleck (Lidl-Trek) has returned to the team where he concluded his professional career, stepping into the newly created role of Deputy General Manager 11 years after hanging up his wheels.
The 40-year-old Luxembourger's appointment, announced on Wednesday, brings Grand Tour pedigree back into the Lidl-Trek management structure with a likely mandate to mentor Juan Ayuso and strengthen the team's stage-racing ambitions.
Schleck's career achievements read like a greatest hits of late 2000s Grand Tour racing: the 2010 Tour de France title, two additional Tour podiums, a Giro d'Italia runner-up finish, three Tour stage wins and victory at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. That experience, General Manager Luca Guercilena believes, makes him uniquely qualified to guide the next generation.
"Andy knows this team inside out, and he understands exactly what it takes to succeed at the highest level," Guercilena said. "He has lived the pressure of Grand Tours, worn the yellow jersey, and led teams through the biggest moments in the sport. That experience is invaluable for our riders and our staff."
The appointment follows Ayuso's high-profile switch from UAE Team Emirates in September, when the Spanish climber signed through 2030 amid considerable attention over his departure circumstances. Pairing the 23-year-old's ascending trajectory with Schleck's proven ability to navigate cycling's highest-pressure environment forms a central pillar of Lidl-Trek's Grand Tour strategy.
"I'm not here by any accident, I'm here because I still know the DNA of the sport," Schleck said. "I know what it means to wear the yellow jersey, to have the pressure in the meeting on the bus, the long hours in the heat. With my sporting background, combined with what I did over the last 10 years."
Since retiring in 2014, Schleck has opened bike shops in Luxembourg, managed a junior women's team and served as President of the Tour of Luxembourg, building what Guercilena describes as "a broad perspective from the business side of cycling."
The appointment reunites the Schleck brothers at Lidl-Trek, with older sibling Fränk having joined as Sports Director for the women's WorldTour programme in November.
"The team has a big history, I was riding here myself when Luca was my sport director before he went on to become the general manager," Schleck said. "With the heritage of the team, and with the resources and riders we are adding, it will only take us in one direction."
Cover image credit: Lidl-Trek
