Green for Mads. Team victory for Lidl-Trek. And the perfect way to close an extraordinary chapter for Luca Guercilena.
What a Tour. What a team.
After three weeks, 3,321 kilometres and 54,500 metres of climbing, Lidl-Trek arrived in Paris as winners of the 2026 Tour de France team classification, with Mads Pedersen in the green jersey as winner of the points classification and a stage victory to celebrate along the way.
For all of us at Unbroken, it was an incredibly proud moment. As Official Recovery Partner of Lidl-Trek, we have the privilege of supporting the team through the relentless demands of training, racing and recovery. To see that work culminate in a Tour like this is something special.
Three weeks of racing. One extraordinary team.
Lidl-Trek arrived at the Tour with big ambitions and delivered one of the team's most complete Grand Tour performances.
Mads set the tone on Stage 4, taking a spectacular victory in Foix after exceptional teamwork from Mathias Vacek and Quinn Simmons. The win also put Mads into the green jersey. He described it simply:
“What a team effort and what a team win.”
It was a jersey Mads and the team would fight for all the way through France. Even in the mountains, the battle for points continued. On the penultimate mountain stage, Mads fought back after being dropped on the Col de la Croix de Fer to take the intermediate sprint and secure enough points to make the green jersey his, provided he reached Paris.
He did.
Green belongs to Mads.
Three weeks of consistency, determination and teamwork earned Mads Pedersen the Tour de France points classification, adding another major achievement to an already extraordinary career.
And his own philosophy helps explain why recovery matters so much when racing day after day.
“Everyone knows how to train. But what is important is being fully recovered, so you can get the most out of your body in each training session.”
Mads Pedersen
Unbroken is already part of that routine. Mads takes it in his bottle during his cool-down after the biggest training and racing days.
“Unbroken fits easily into my routine. I take it right after training, it’s ready in my bottle during cool-down.”
Recovery across 21 stages
A Grand Tour is one of the clearest demonstrations of why recovery matters.
There is no long break after a hard day. Riders finish, recover and prepare to race again the next morning, repeating that cycle for three weeks.
For Dr. Jens Hinder, Head Doctor at Lidl-Trek, this is exactly where Unbroken fits into the team's wider approach to recovery.
“Amino acids are one of these important things we have to use. This was working. It was an easy solution.”
Dr. Hinder particularly values Unbroken's natural protein origin and its practical role after the enormous muscular load riders experience in professional cycling.
As he puts it:
“If you really work so hard with the muscles you use in cycling, and you have a small part to give something back to this heavy muscle load you had, then it’s something worth to do.”
One final Tour for Luca
There was another reason the celebrations in Paris meant so much.
The 2026 Tour de France marked Luca Guercilena's final race as General Manager, bringing to a close more than 16 years at the heart of the team.
Luca had been there since the organisation's first training camp in 2010. Over the years, he helped build the team through its different eras into the Lidl-Trek organisation of today.
Mads' Stage 4 victory was already dedicated to Luca.
“This win is for Luca and for all the good years we had together.” - Mads Pedersen
Then came Paris.
The green jersey. The team classification. And Luca standing on the podium with the team he had helped build.
Lead Sports Director Steven de Jongh perhaps summed it up best: winning the team classification and having Luca on the podium was “the best gift we could give him on this special day.”
Congratulations, Lidl-Trek
From everyone at Unbroken, a huge congratulations to Mads Pedersen, Luca Guercilena, every rider and the entire Lidl-Trek staff.
Winning at this level is never about one person or one day. It is built through preparation, teamwork, consistency and the ability to recover and go again.
We are incredibly proud to stand alongside Lidl-Trek as Recovery Partner and to play our small part in supporting the team through the demands of the WorldTour.
21 stages. 3,321 kilometres. Green in Paris. Team classification won.
Ready to go again. Ready for what’s next.
Go Lidl-Trek. Go Unbroken.
Photo credits: Getty Images and Hardy CC Photos
