Giulio Ciccone will belatedly start the 2024 season next week at the Tour de Romandie after surgery for saddle soreness sidelined him for the opening months of the season.

The Italian has already been ruled out of the Giro d'Italia, his first target for 2024, but his Lidl-Trek team has indicated its intention to compete in both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.

Ciccone underwent surgery in early February to remove a perineal cyst and was off the bike for a month; he returned to training in mid-March, at which time he also announced that he would miss the Giro this season.

After four weeks on the bike, he was cleared to return to racing at the Tour de Romandie.

"I feel like a new man and can't wait to get back to racing," Ciccone said on Friday.

"The weeks without riding the bike were very, very hard. I tried not to think about the time I lost, but it wasn't easy."

"It's not easy.

"When I started riding again, I felt fantastic. The intensity of the workouts was gradual, but constant. But it was like lighting the fuse again. I felt that inner fire again."

Jos Larrazabal, Lidl-Trek's head of performance, confirmed that Ciccone will join the Tour de France roster alongside Tao Geoghegan Hart. Ciccone won the mountains jersey at last year's Tour de France and wore the yellow jersey in his debut race in 2019.

The 29-year-old Italian is also set to return to the Vuelta a España for the first time since his 2021 debut ended in a crash early in the final week. Skelmose has already confirmed his participation in the Vuelta for Lidl Trek.

"When we gave up on him for the Giro d'Italia, our first thought was to add him to the Tour de France roster. Now that we know his condition is improving, we can confirm this option," Larrazabal said.

"His contribution to the team's ambitions, starting with supporting Tao's GC challenge, is very important. The unity and teamwork of our strongest riders will be our greatest strength. At the Vuelta a España, we have Skjelmose and Mads [Pedersen].

The Tour de Romandie starts Tuesday in Payerne, where Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Juan Ayuso and Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), Eddy Dunbar (Jayco Arla) and others will compete.

Ciccone will join the Lidl Trek squad along with Tao Geoghegan Hart.

"Of course, the Tour and Vuelta will be the most important races of the season. The team knows what kind of contribution I can make if I feel good," Ciccone said.

"Over the next few months I have time to focus and set common, concrete goals with the team. Now it is important to live in the moment, to do my best in Romandie and to take my condition to a new level."