The 2025 Lidl Deutschland Tour promises five days of intense racing across Germany, featuring an opening prologue and four road stages.

We start in Essen with a short but technical 3 km against the backdrop of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, ‘Zeche Zollverein’, where mere seconds will decide who wears the first leader’s jersey. Stage 1 then covers 203 km to Herford, with late climbs in the Teutoburg Forest and Stuckenberg testing the peloton before a city-center sprint.

The following day the peloton will cover 190 km from Herford to Arnsberg, during which the Teutoburg Forest promises to be an early challenge.  The steep Sauerland  Seufzertal climb and a final circuit in Neheim will shape the outcome.

Stage 3, a 175 km classic-style battle, takes riders through the relentless climbs of the Sauerland and into Hesse. With 3,000 meters of elevation, including the notorious Hirschberger Wand’s (20% gradient), this is the ‘Queen Stage’ and will likely decide Sunday’s overall victor.

The Tour concludes with 163 km from Halle to Magdeburg. An early 18% ascent should provide some jeopardy before the sprinters’ teams take control. The climax of the 2025 Lidl Deutschland Tour will be two high-speed laps along Magdeburg’s Schleinufer.

Bahrain Victorious line up with Nikias Arndt, Phil Bauhaus, Alberto Bruttomesso, Žak Eržen, Vlad Van Mechelen, and Edoardo Zambanini. The team will back Bauhaus and Eržen in the sprints, aiming to capitalise on the fast finishes in Herford and Magdeburg. Arndt and Bruttomesso bring strength to the sprint train and depth on the hillier stages, while Zambanini and Van Mechelen will lead the team’s GC ambitions. This versatile lineup ensures Bahrain Victorious remain a factor across every stage.

Gorazd Štangelj, lead Sports Director in Germany, is confident in the six riders selected:

“The Deutschland Tour opens with a short 3 km prologue. There’s little strategy there, every rider must deliver their best effort, and it will immediately give us a picture of where we stand. Stage 1 is the longest of the race and should end in a bunch sprint, where Phil Bauhaus will be our leader. For Stage 2 we’ll reassess; if Phil has the legs, we stay with him, but we can also give Žak Eržen an opportunity as both are sprinters.

When it comes to the general classification, we expect the race to be too demanding for Phil or Žak, so Edoardo Zambanini and Vlad Van Mechelen will take on the ‘GC leader’ role. Each day features key climbs and intermediate sprints that will be decisive for bonus seconds. Stage 3 is the hardest, with constant climbing and narrow roads, so we’ll give full support to Edoardo and Vlad while keeping the race under control against breakaways.

The final stage should be another sprint, where we’ll again choose between Phil and Žak depending on form, while Edoardo and Vlad continue to hunt time bonuses. Our clear goals are to win a stage and place a rider inside the GC top 10.

Competition will be fierce: riders like Wout Van Aert, Jonathan Milan, Jasper Philipsen, Alexander Kristoff, and Biniam Girmay can all survive the tougher sections and fight for both stages and the overall. Every second will matter in this race. The prologue will already be crucial, and although we don’t bring a pure TT specialist, our task is to limit losses against Milan, the favorite for the time trial. Phil and Žak will spearhead the sprints, Edoardo and Vlad will focus on GC, and with Alberto Bruttomesso and Nikias Arndt providing experience and positioning strength, we are confident in a strong all-around performance.”