Lidl-Trek have confirmed their seven-rider squad for the Tour de France Femmes 2026, with Niamh Fisher-Black providing the clearest general classification option, Elisa Balsamo leading the sprint challenge and Isabella Holmgren adding another serious climbing and young rider card.
The line-up is completed by Loes Adegeest, Lucinda Brand, Amanda Spratt and Riejanne Markus, giving Lidl-Trek one of the more balanced squads on the start line. There is no single overwhelming yellow jersey favourite, but the team have riders capable of influencing the race through GC, sprints, breakaways and the white jersey competition.
That depth has already been evident this season. Fisher-Black has continued to establish herself as a Grand Tour contender, Balsamo remains one of the leading sprinters in the peloton, while Holmgren won the young rider classification at the Giro d’Italia Women and finished seventh overall.
Photo Credit: GettyFisher-Black gives Lidl-Trek a genuine GC option
Niamh Fisher-Black is the most obvious rider around whom Lidl-Trek can build an overall campaign.
She has continued to strengthen her Grand Tour profile and arrives with enough climbing ability to remain competitive once the Tour de France Femmes 2026 route reaches its hardest terrain.
A top-five finish is a realistic target if she limits her losses in the Dijon time trial and reproduces the climbing level she showed at the Giro. Fisher-Black finished fifth overall there and was second on the final stage behind Elisa Longo Borghini, another sign that she can stay competitive deep into a major stage race.
Lidl-Trek also have the advantage of not needing to devote every rider exclusively to Fisher-Black. The squad is strong enough to chase other objectives while still providing her with experienced support through Spratt, Markus and Holmgren when the race reaches the mountains.
Photo Credit: RCSBalsamo gives the team a proven sprint winner
Elisa Balsamo is the obvious option on the faster days.
She may not have the outright speed of Lorena Wiebes in a completely clean bunch sprint, but Balsamo’s strength is the combination of speed and resilience. She can survive harder racing than many pure sprinters and still produce a top-level finish afterwards.
That makes her particularly well suited to a Tour where the sprint opportunities are not all straightforward. The flatter stages give her obvious chances, but she can remain relevant when climbing has already reduced the field.
Lidl-Trek do not need to build the whole team around a traditional lead-out either. Brand, Adegeest and Markus give Balsamo enough experience around her to be positioned without sacrificing the wider GC structure.
Photo Credit: RCSHolmgren turns the white jersey into another Lidl-Trek objective
Isabella Holmgren is one of the most significant names in the final selection.
Her Giro changed the level at which she should be viewed. Holmgren won the young rider classification, finished seventh overall and was second on the Finestre mountain stage behind Demi Vollering. She ultimately finished more than six minutes clear of Lore De Schepper in the white jersey standings, making it a genuine GC performance rather than simply a youth classification gained through consistency.
That puts Holmgren firmly into the white jersey conversation at the Tour.
Antonia Niedermaier and Paula Blasi begin higher in the hierarchy because both have already produced stronger overall Grand Tour results, but Holmgren is now much more than a developmental outsider. Her Giro performance makes her one of the riders capable of staying close enough to make white a meaningful target.
She also gives Lidl-Trek another option if Fisher-Black’s GC campaign changes. Holmgren does not need to begin with protected-leader status, but if she comes through the opening stages and Dijon in a strong position, the team could suddenly find itself with two riders worth preserving in the general classification.
Her rise has been rapid. Holmgren took her first professional road victory at Durango-Durango in 2025 and later won the 2025 Tour de l’Avenir Femmes, before taking another significant step at this year’s Giro.
Markus and Spratt bring Grand Tour experience
Riejanne Markus and Amanda Spratt give the team a substantial amount of stage-racing experience around Fisher-Black and Holmgren.
Markus can contribute across both hilly and mountain terrain and is strong enough against the clock to remain useful throughout the race. She can help with positioning earlier in stages before becoming part of the climbing structure when the road begins to rise.
Spratt brings even more Grand Tour experience and remains a rider capable of contributing deep into difficult stages. Her own leadership days may be less frequent than earlier in her career, but that makes her particularly valuable in a squad where Fisher-Black and Holmgren are still developing their roles at the very top level.
Neither needs to chase an individual classification from the start. Their value comes from helping Lidl-Trek maintain several objectives without losing control of the race around their leaders.
Photo Credit: GettyBrand and Adegeest give Lidl-Trek attacking freedom
Lucinda Brand and Loes Adegeest complete a squad with plenty of tactical flexibility.
Brand remains one of the most experienced and adaptable riders in the peloton. She can work around Balsamo on quicker days, protect the GC riders and become an attacking option when Lidl-Trek do not need to control the race.
Adegeest offers another route towards aggressive racing, particularly on selective hilly stages where the strongest sprinters are under pressure but the pure climbers have not yet taken over.
That depth matters because Lidl-Trek do not have to wait for one particular version of the race. Fisher-Black can concentrate on GC, Balsamo can target the sprints, Holmgren can remain in the white jersey picture, while Brand and Adegeest give the team licence to attack elsewhere.
A squad with several realistic objectives
The strength of Lidl-Trek’s selection is not that they arrive with the favourite for every classification.
It is that almost every rider has a clear way to matter.
Fisher-Black is a realistic top-five GC challenger. Balsamo can win stages from bunch finishes. Holmgren has legitimate white jersey ambitions after her Giro breakthrough. Spratt and Markus bring the experience required to support those goals, while Brand and Adegeest give the team freedom to race offensively.
That should make Lidl-Trek one of the more difficult teams to predict.
If Fisher-Black remains high overall, the mountain structure becomes increasingly important. If she loses time, the same riders can be released to chase stages instead.
Holmgren gives them another layer because her own classification may become too valuable to sacrifice if she again proves capable of staying with the strongest young climbers.
Lidl-Trek Tour de France Femmes 2026 squad
- Loes Adegeest
- Elisa Balsamo
- Lucinda Brand
- Niamh Fisher-Black
- Isabella Holmgren
- Amanda Spratt
- Riejanne Markus
Lidl-Trek may not have the single dominant leader of FDJ United-SUEZ or Team Visma | Lease a Bike, but their strength comes from how many different parts of the Tour they can influence.
Fisher-Black gives them a serious GC target, Balsamo a proven route to stage wins and Holmgren another classification objective after one of the biggest breakthroughs of the Giro.
Behind them, Brand, Markus, Spratt and Adegeest provide enough depth for Lidl-Trek to remain relevant whether the race is being decided by sprints, breakaways or the mountains.
