Coming into stage 4 of the Tour Down Under, Lidl-Trek had five riders in the top 18 of the general classification. Patrick Konrad, 33, was the team's best-placed in third, thanks to time bonuses taken in the breakaway on stage 2.
However, the team's sports director Kim Andersen told Cyclingnews that the race's best young rider Albert Philipsen - who is just 18 years of age and not due to turn 19 until September 3 - is also a protected rider heading into the queen stage to Willunga Hill.
"Patrick has the seconds but as we have seen in training, Philipsen is the strongest," Andersen told Cyclingnews before stage 4.
It's stunning that a rider who just turned 18 last autumn and is only a few months out of the junior ranks can be a team leader in his first WorldTour stage race, but Andersen felt the Tour Down Under was a perfect proving ground for his compatriot.
"This race here is very good for a young guy, because it's not long distances, and there's quite good roads, so it's not too technical," Andersen said. "He was really well prepared for this one and mentally ready."
He wasn't getting ahead of himself in expecting more from the youngster down the road, though.
"I think this race is a little bit special. It's WorldTour but it's the first one, and you cannot really compare it with the WorldTour races in Europe," he said. "If you prepare well, you will be out there."
The leap from junior stage races like the Course de la Paix and Ain Bugey Valromey Tour, which Philipsen won in 2024, is mainly in the quality of the overall field and the race length.
"It's junior distance in kilometres. That will change when it comes to the harder races. I think it was a perfect goal for him to have, and he was really excited to come here," Andersen said.
Following the stage, Philipsen had come through a trial of fire, surviving a split in the peloton as other GC favourites attacked the short but steep Nettle Hill with 21km to go.
"To be honest, it was pretty bad," Philipsen said. "I was way too far behind when we hit the bottom of the climb, it split into a few groups, and I wasn't in the front. I really had to spend a lot of energy to get back to the front of a race."
Now four stages into racing in a field with a high level, Philipsen is looking forward to the Willunga Hill finish on stage 5, where the road tilting up for the final three kilometres could play in his favour.
"I feel like tomorrow should suit me really well. So I hope I have a good day and can make a difference."
Making it over the climbs with the leaders when it's all kicking off wasn't Philipsen's only green moment. New rules only allowing roadside feeds in the designated feed zones could have meant he had to travel through the convoy for water.
Andersen explained that the former junior world champion wasn't familiar with the process. "The first thing he said in the meeting when he started the race was, 'I have never picked up bottles from the car'," Andersen smiles.
Fortunately, he was a protected leader, especially after donning the white jersey following the tough stage 3 to Uraidla, and didn't have to fetch bottles for himself or his teammates.
"Here, he will not do it, but these are the things that we come up against when we have all these junior riders coming in, they are not used to it. He's projected here, so he will not do it, but later on, we need to work on that."
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