How Espargaro's new cycling gig fits in with key MotoGP role

Sometime MotoGP title contender Aleix Espargaro will join pro cycling team Lidl-Trek for the 2025 season.

Espargaro has been named as an ambassador for the outfit, who will "join the team at some of the most prestigious events on the calendar whilst promoting the sport of cycling to a wide audience".

Lidl-Trek, sponsored by the German supermarket chain while being one of the few pro teams still owned by a bicycle manufacturer, is among the sport’s biggest names. In 2024, it finished fourth in the sport's teams' standings - the UCI World Team Rankings.

What exactly Espargaro’s new role entails right now remains to be seen - but it ensures that Honda’s new MotoGP test rider will finally be able to achieve a long-time goal of spending time as a professional cyclist, something he told The Race MotoGP Podcast last month was high on his to-do list following his retirement.

“The only thing that I'm really-really curious is about cycling,” he said of post-MotoGP plans.

“Because, you know, I would love to stop for one or two years and then in two years try to be like a professional cyclist. Because now I'm really tired, I want to be at home - but I know that if I do this, I will not have the chance in two more years.

“Because of my age [35] and because once you stop, you disappear. So if I have to do it, it has to be next year - and I'm really thinking about it.”

Espargaro has already tested with Honda, both in the official post-season test and privately, but remains an Aprilia-contracted rider formally until the year is out - as is also emphasised by his Aprilia-branded helmet in the Lidl-Trek announcement video.

Unable to race for Lidl-Trek's main road racing team thanks to its already-full roster, it means that it’s instead likely that Espargaro will wear the team's colours while competing in events in different formats of cycling.

One of those is likely to be South Africa’s famous Cape Epic multi-day mountain bike race, an event that he has finished in the past, and another could well be the Gravel World Championships - the event where Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas finished 133rd out of 202 finishers this year.

However, with Espargaro a long-time resident of Andorra, it’s also likely that Lidl-Trek will use him as something of a training partner and mentor to its teams, which include not only the 3-strong men's team but also a development squad and a women’s team.

“Working with Aleix will be incredibly rewarding for us, and especially for our young riders,” said Lidl-Trek general manager Luca Guercilena.

“We know he is a strong, passionate cyclist, but he also brings different experiences and perspectives to the team. He can help our younger athletes understand and handle the pressures that come with top level competition.”

There’s also a suggestion that he could join the development team’s under-23 riders for some pro races, something that would allow him to bring his experience both as a cyclist and a pro athlete to his new role.

Espargaro's cycling foray is not something likely to meaningfully affect his new MotoGP role in Honda’s premier-class test team.

As one of its three test riders - alongside Stefan Bradl and Takaaki Nakagami - Espargaro will naturally be on-track much less than he had been in 2024, though he has told The Race that Honda's test schedule for next year is unsurprisingly intensive.

The Japanese firm remains a 'Rank D' manufacturer under MotoGP's concession rules, which means the biggest allocation of tyres for testing, loosened aero homologation and no adherence to an engine freeze - as well as six wildcards, of which Espargaro is expected to get the lion's share.

"In the last weeks I received the calendar of the testing programme of Honda, it's crazy, absolutely crazy," Espargaro said during his podcast appearance.

"I want to be really professional with this new job in Honda, so I don't want [any cycling commitments] to clash."

The Espargaro interview, as well as many other end-of-year MotoGP interviews, are available as part of The Race Members Club - available directly on the site or through Patreon