Felix Gall and Gregor Mühlberger will join Lidl-Trek for the 2027 season, with Gall signing a three-year contract through 2029 and Mühlberger agreeing a two-year deal through the end of 2028.
The Austrian pair move across together from Decathlon CMA CGM after a season in which Gall established himself as one of the leading Grand Tour riders in the peloton. He finished second at the Giro d’Italia before taking third at the Vuelta a España, while Mühlberger played an important support role during Gall’s Giro campaign and won the Lidl Tour of Austria in his own right.
The two are close friends as well as teammates. Mühlberger only joined Decathlon CMA CGM for the 2026 season, but will now follow Gall to Lidl-Trek after a single year with the French team.
Gall’s arrival is the headline move. At 28, he joins Lidl-Trek with two Grand Tour podiums from the same season and a contract long enough for the team to build future Giro, Tour de France and Vuelta programmes around him.
“With Lidl-Trek a new chapter in my career as professional cyclist begins,” Gall said. “After wonderful years and the success that came with them, it is now time for me to take the next logical step.”
Photo Credit: GettyGall’s 2026 season changed his place among the GC contenders
Gall had already established himself as a high-level climber before this season, most notably with his breakthrough at the 2023 Tour de France. What changed in 2026 was his ability to turn that climbing level into sustained Grand Tour results.
Decathlon went into the Giro with Gall as its clear general classification leader, supported in the mountains by riders including Mühlberger. The early evidence came on Blockhaus, where Gall finished second behind Jonas Vingegaard on Stage 7 and immediately established himself among the strongest climbers in the race.
He remained there throughout the three weeks.
Gall eventually finished second overall, a result which moved him beyond the category of a rider capable of producing an outstanding mountain stage or challenging for the lower half of the top 10. As our post-Giro analysis noted, Italy confirmed him as a genuine Grand Tour podium-level rider.
He then backed it up at the Vuelta.
Gall started the race as Decathlon CMA CGM’s clear GC leader and remained in the podium battle after Tadej Pogačar’s abandonment completely changed the shape of the race.
He moved into second overall on Sierra de La Pandera, where another strong climbing performance put him ahead of Primož Roglič. Roglič eventually reclaimed that position, but Gall finished the Vuelta third and only 29 seconds behind the Slovenian.
Two Grand Tour podiums in one season give Lidl-Trek considerably more certainty about the rider they are signing.
“Felix has truly grown into his role as a GC leader, and it has been exciting to watch him take another step forward each season,” Lidl-Trek CEO Andy Schleck said.
“In 2026, Felix has shown that he belongs among the very best, establishing himself as a genuine Grand Tour podium contender. But we believe there is still so much more to come.”
Mühlberger gives Gall a familiar rider inside a new team
Bringing Mühlberger with him should make Gall’s transition easier.
The 32-year-old has spent more than a decade at WorldTour level across Bora-hansgrohe, Movistar and Decathlon CMA CGM. He has increasingly settled into the role of an experienced mountain domestique, although his own results continue to show that he can make use of opportunities when they arise.
He finished 15th overall at the Giro this season despite spending much of the race supporting Gall, then went home and won the Tour of Austria.
“A small dream is coming true,” Mühlberger said of the Lidl-Trek move. “The opportunity to ride for Lidl-Trek is a great message, a major milestone and another valuable chapter in my journey through professional cycling, which now spans more than ten years.”
The value of keeping the pair together became especially clear during the Vuelta. Mühlberger had been riding strongly enough to sit inside the top 10 overall while continuing to work around Gall, but his race ended after a crash on Stage 13.
His abandonment removed one of Gall’s most important climbing domestiques just as the race entered another decisive mountain block.
Lidl-Trek are effectively buying both sides of that relationship: a Grand Tour leader approaching his peak years and a rider who already understands how best to support him.
Mühlberger still wants opportunities of his own
Mühlberger’s move is not intended to turn him exclusively into Gall’s personal domestique.
His Tour of Austria victory demonstrated that he can still lead when given the right race, and Lidl-Trek intend to retain that flexibility.
“Gregor will bring a wealth of experience to the team over the next two years, but just as importantly, he brings the qualities every team values: loyalty, commitment and a willingness to give everything for those around him,” Schleck said.
“He is the kind of teammate who will put himself on the line for his leader without hesitation, while still having the ability to seize his own opportunities.”
That balance appeals to Mühlberger as well.
“For me, what matters is supporting team leaders at the highest level while also having the chance to race for my own results,” he said. “I look forward to everything that lies ahead.”
A rider capable of finishing 15th in a Grand Tour while working for somebody else gives Lidl-Trek useful depth. Mühlberger can remain with Gall deep into mountain stages, cover dangerous breakaways or take responsibility himself when the team’s GC ambitions do not require him.
Gall adds another major GC option to Lidl-Trek
Gall’s signing also changes the shape of Lidl-Trek’s stage-racing roster.
The team already entered 2026 with considerable GC depth. Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose were among their leading options at the Tour de France, while Giulio Ciccone remains one of their most accomplished climbers and Derek Gee-West adds another rider capable of producing strong stage-race results.
Gall gives them something slightly different: a rider who has now shown twice in the same season that he can finish on a Grand Tour podium.
His route to those results has not depended on explosive racing or time-trial dominance. Gall’s strength is his ability to stay among the very best riders on the hardest sustained climbs and repeat that level late into a three-week race.
That makes the next objective obvious.
“Together at Lidl-Trek, we have the ambition to keep pushing the limits of what we can achieve,” Schleck said. “We’re incredibly excited to see how far we can go together over the next three years.”
For Gall, the change comes after several seasons of steady development rather than a sudden breakthrough.
He was junior road world champion in Richmond in 2015 but took time to establish himself at the highest level after turning professional. His years with the structures now known as Picnic PostNL and Decathlon CMA CGM gradually turned that early promise into Grand Tour consistency.
“Lidl-Trek’s high standards across all aspects of modern cycling align perfectly with my own goal of continuing to develop in the best possible way,” Gall said. “I am highly motivated and inspired as I look forward to this journey together.”
After second at the Giro and third at the Vuelta, that development has reached a point where another top-five finish will no longer feel like a breakthrough.
Gall joins Lidl-Trek as a rider expected to challenge for Grand Tour podiums from the outset.
The longer-term question is whether the new environment, with Mühlberger alongside him, can help turn one of those podium challenges into a fight for overall victory.
