Liam O’Brien, the Irish 18-year-old who really impressed in the international junior peloton in 2023, has now been unveiled as Lidl-Trek Development Team ride for the year ahead.
The Cork teenager, who has come up through the ranks with Fermoy Cycling Club. recently attended his first training camp with the team in Calpe, Spain, where these publicity shots were taken.
After coming home for Christmas, and plenty of miles pounding the roads, he’ll be back to Europe shortly for another team camp ahead of a season of racing with his new squad; the development team attached to the World Tour outfit of the same name.
O’Brien confirmed his potential this year with 12th at junior Liège-Bastogne-Liège, 4th in the TT and the overall at the Sint Martinusprijs Kontich UCI 2.1 stage race in Belgium and 11th in the junior TT at the World Road Championships in Glasgow.
He also won a stage at the Junior Tour of Ireland and held the yellow jersey until the final day, when he sadly crash and relinquished the race lead, losing overall victory at the death. Also on home roads, he placed 2nd in the TT and road race at the National Road Championships.
In August he signed his 2024 contract with Lidl Trek’s new development team; the Irish teenager among its first batch of eight new riders announced.
The team will be registered at Continental level and will be based in Deinze, Belgium, where the Trek Factory Racing service course is located. Accommodations will be made for the young riders, including an option to stay at an apartment in Girona, Spain, where they can enjoy pristine training roads.
The development team will be managed by Markel Irizar, who has headed up Lidl-Trek’s talent scouting operation since retiring as a rider in 2019.
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