‘Tell me, you’re standing there at the pearly gates with St Peter looming over you. He asks, “Do you regret anything of your life?” You look sad and answer, “Yes, I have never owned a Trek bike.” Buy one. Buy one…’
The biking behemoth’s marketing team must love Markel Irizar. The 43-year-old former domestique and now DS of Trek-Segafredo’s women’s team is doing a fine sales job as he chaperones Cyclist around the team’s training camp in Denia, Spain. It’s January, the brief off-season drawing to a close, and we’re here to see how one of the most progressive teams in cycling juggles a successful women’s team and arguably a less-successful men’s team. It’s a tale of complex sessions and maximising resources…
World-class women
Trek-Segafredo was founded in 2011 under the name Leopard-Trek. As per pro cycling’s brittle sponsorshipled business model, the team went by several different monikers until Italian coffee giant Segafredo came on board in 2016. This added financial stability and led to the launch of a women’s team in 2019, which last season notched up 33 wins to finish second behind SD Worx in the Women’s WorldTour rankings.
