A Fistful of Seconds
The German supermarket company Lidl enters this year as the main sponsor of the Lidl Deutschland Tour, and from this edition onwards, the leader's jersey will turn blue, the corporate color of the brand. In strictly sporting terms, this race is an ideal territory for riders who excel on hilly terrain, as the course does not feature any major mountains but also no flat stages for pure sprinters. Once again, bonus seconds at the arrivals and intermediate sprints will be key to deciding the winner of the race.
Route
The race consists of a 2.9 km prologue ITT and four stages with hilly profiles, featuring elevations between 2000 and 3000 meters each.
Favorites
Three days before the race starts, the starting list is still in a very early phase, making it difficult to talk about favorites. Even so, the Lidl-Trek duo of Mads Pedersen (1200) and Jonathan Milan (1000), or the Ineos Grenadiers' Filippo Ganna (800) and Ethan Hayter (600) already appear as key contenders for the general classification. Other candidates currently on the short starting list include Ben Healy (600), Danny Van Poppel (600), Anthony Turgis (400), Stefan Bisseger (400), Max Walscheid (200), or Alexander Kristoff (800).
Photo: © Marcel Hilger / Lidl Deutschland Tour