Teams & Riders The Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe team thread

[Ripper]

Well, this is the road racing news of the day!

Hopefully his training gets more on the mark. I really don't think he was getting the most of it out of himself at SQS.

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Vanthourenhout is just the personal DS for Remco.

This would mean Lodewyck wouldn’t join. Fiesta!

 

[Berniece]

Zak Dempster.

Vanthourenhout is just the personal DS for Remco.

What about Lodewyck? I’ll be happy if he stays at SOQ

 

[fenns]

can only see problems here unless one of Lipo and Remco doesn't want to contest the Tour

 

[Samamba]

What about Lodewyck? I’ll be happy if he stays at SOQ

No he's going too (both are basically there just for Remco), but Vanthourenhout is "above" that, he will "direct" the team around Remco. I should've said it differently. But Vanthourenhout will not be the main guy for sportive related things at Red Bull like Belgian press has made it out to be. Zak Dempster probably will be.

 

[Salvarani]

This is basically team Remco leaving to be integrated within Redbull - Bora.

SQS on the other hand looks to be going back to what made them good with the moves they have done so far.

 

[Karl Merckx]

SQS on the other hand looks to be going back to what made them good with the moves they have done so far.

overpay past their prime riders like they did with Asgreen, Lampaert & Alaf in 2022 ?

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

It’s interesting to me that all the articles I’ve read (Velo News, Cyclingnews, etc.) take it for granted that Remco is coming in as the guy with Lipowitz, Roglic, Hindley as his support team, similar to how when Roglic came in it was taken for granted that Hindley, Vlasov, Martinez would be his supporters.

I don’t see if as being clear cut like that. Roglic won the 2024 Vuelta in dominating fashion; why would he be an automatic dom for a guy who has one GT win in 2022? Why would you make the younger, clearly improving guy who got third in this years Tour dom for the guy who got third in the prior year’s Tour? Doesn’t make sense to me. Now, in classics, Remco needs to be the guy, but then I’m not sure Lipowitz and Roglic are necessarily the doms.

 

[red_flanders]

I feel for Roglič. He wanted out of Visma so he could ride Tour as Nr. 1. He picks a good team on paper with stable structure. He gets there and in a year team is sold to Red Bull, he gets a real threat in Lipowitz and now new ownership is firing people everywhere making room for "new guys" and brining in new star (Remco).

At least he made good money out of it.

If he were still a true #1 none of that would have mattered.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

I don’t disagree there’s a chance his age has degraded his abilities, but he was the clear #1 guy last Vuelta. Crashes and illnesses have taken their toll this year. We were seeing Lipowitz at peak (current) form vs Roglic way off form. (Of course, he was still better than Remco…)

 

[Rackham]

It’s interesting to me that all the articles I’ve read (Velo News, Cyclingnews, etc.) take it for granted that Remco is coming in as the guy with Lipowitz, Roglic, Hindley as his support team, similar to how when Roglic came in it was taken for granted that Hindley, Vlasov, Martinez would be his supporters.

I don’t see if as being clear cut like that. Roglic won the 2024 Vuelta in dominating fashion; why would he be an automatic dom for a guy who has one GT win in 2022? Why would you make the younger, clearly improving guy who got third in this years Tour dom for the guy who got third in the prior year’s Tour? Doesn’t make sense to me. Now, in classics, Remco needs to be the guy, but then I’m not sure Lipowitz and Roglic are necessarily the doms.

It's not just perception that Rog rides with a Damocles sword over his head, it's the truth. The big elephant in the room is his 2025 season went to hell irrevocably when he crashed on the gravel in the Giro and his injuries got infected. But due to a myriad of factors he's constantly being reviewed and judged with a "win or bust" approach by cycling followers and honestly also his team here (we can only surmise age being the primary one but in this sport that's given us Valverde and Horner I find that borderline projection, i.e. some people wishing his washed status into existence).

Cycling is very hype based. Sponsors like futurism (aka dreaming of future victories years down the line), fans like futurism and so do team staff because it keeps them employed when the here and now isn't so great. Evenepoel looks exciting on paper and that's good enough for Denk and Red Bull to basically tell Rog no more TdF (which is what seems to be circulating on social media right now, whether true or not).

Meanwhile someone like good old Rigoberto Uran got to ride the TdF however he wanted to the best of whatever abilities he had pretty much right until the end. It's a different career.

 

[Heston]

Lipowitz is for sure the best GT rider on the team now. Then Roglic, Remco and Pellizzari on roughly the same level. Hindley seems way off these days.

But either way I see a team that will never work in practice. Too many egos and riders that won't do proper dom work for the best rider (Lipo).

If I am Lipowitz I start to look for a new team. Pellizzari should consider it too.

 

[Remy55]

If I am Lidl I would be all over Lipo. Specially with the focus on the german market with Lidl coming in.

 

[Cycling111]

If I am Lidl I would be all over Lipo. Specially with the focus on the german market with Lidl coming in.

If I were BORA, I would have signed Del Toro. He's more a GT rider than Remco, and his last name would be a great asset for the brand 😅
Although I understand that Remco signing is also due to the media coverage and the Belgian market.

LIDL doesn't have a GT structure. I don't know if it's worth changing them. Look at Quick Step, they went from dominating classics to changing the team, and now they're going to have to change it again.

Although if they want to sign a GT leader, I would sign one of the UAE guys. Sooner or later Ayuso and Del Toro are going to leave the team. I don't think Lipowitz will cause so many internal problems at Bora. However, Ayuso does nothing but leak his discontent to the press, even though he participates in many races every year as a leader. This year, he's leader at 2GT at 23 .

 

[peterfin]

If I am Lidl I would be all over Lipo. Specially with the focus on the german market with Lidl coming in.

Unless you are a national lottery or national telecom brand, sponsors of cycling teams typically want exposure outside their home country. So it makes sense to focus on stars with broader reach than the home country.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

If I were BORA, I would have signed Del Toro. He's more a GT rider than Remco, and his last name would be a great asset for the brand 😅
Although I understand that Remco signing is also due to the media coverage and the Belgian market.

LIDL doesn't have a GT structure. I don't know if it's worth changing them. Look at Quick Step, they went from dominating classics to changing the team, and now they're going to have to change it again.

Although if they want to sign a GT leader, I would sign one of the UAE guys. Sooner or later Ayuso and Del Toro are going to leave the team. I don't think Lipowitz will cause so many internal problems at Bora. However, Ayuso does nothing but leak his discontent to the press, even though he participates in many races every year as a leader. This year, he's leader at 2GT at 23 .

If I were Bora I would have signed Pogačar but you can only buy someone out if the other team allows it.

 

[Brullnux]

If I am Lidl I would be all over Lipo. Specially with the focus on the german market with Lidl coming in.

Lidl is a pretty established pan-European brand. Germany is obviously their home, but they aren't a 'German' team.

 

[fenns]

This looks to me like it would have been a good signing 12 months ago. They've reportedly been after Remco for a while and have now got him after protracted negotiations. But things have moved on - Lipowitz's Tour podium does not look like a fluke and Remco's 2025 has been disappointing. Even worse we hear that Remco is bringing his entourage - how's that been working out recently?

 

[theyoungest]

Unless you are a national lottery or national telecom brand, sponsors of cycling teams typically want exposure outside their home country. So it makes sense to focus on stars with broader reach than the home country.

Yeah, you want to sign Lipo if you're a brand who wants exposure in the German market. Not if your name recognition in Germany is already 100% like Lidl. It was also originally Lidl Belgium who started sponsoring cycling.

 

[peterfin]

It’s interesting to me that all the articles I’ve read (Velo News, Cyclingnews, etc.) take it for granted that Remco is coming in as the guy with Lipowitz, Roglic, Hindley as his support team, similar to how when Roglic came in it was taken for granted that Hindley, Vlasov, Martinez would be his supporters.

I don’t see if as being clear cut like that. Roglic won the 2024 Vuelta in dominating fashion; why would he be an automatic dom for a guy who has one GT win in 2022? Why would you make the younger, clearly improving guy who got third in this years Tour dom for the guy who got third in the prior year’s Tour? Doesn’t make sense to me. Now, in classics, Remco needs to be the guy, but then I’m not sure Lipowitz and Roglic are necessarily the doms.

It's not that strange to me actually that he is being projected as "the" guy. With all the hype around this move, the buy-out and the fact that there is a move at all (which wouldn’t happen if he hadn't a leadership role at the TdF imho).

I do think that Lipo will have a protected status early on and that the race will decide if he needs to help Remco. If Remco has that bad day again, I can see Remco helping Lipo too.

Regarding the classics: Remco raced only 2 of the 5 momentums sofar. From what he tells us, except for Lombardy, none if the monuments is a personal goal although he won't mind winning LBL a third time of course. He wants to focus on the TdF and the championships. A giro with enoug TT kms might like him too. He may be their classics guy too (and I hope he gets to race MSR and RvV) but I assume it was not part of the negotiations to get leadership status in those races.

 

[search]

According to Belgian press, Haussler was kicked out as well, and will be replaced by Tony Gallopin

Duitse ploeg met veel Belgische gezichten: hier komt Evenepoel in 2026 terecht

Het is officieel: Remco Evenepoel verlaat Soudal-QuickStep op het einde van het jaar en trekt naar Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. Bij welke mensen komt hij precies terecht?

www.demorgen.be

 

[Cycling111]

It's not that strange to me actually that he is being projected as "the" guy. With all the hype around this move, the buy-out and the fact that there is a move at all (which wouldn’t happen if he hadn't a leadership role at the TdF imho).

I do think that Lipo will have a protected status early on and that the race will decide if he needs to help Remco. If Remco has that bad day again, I can see Remco helping Lipo too.

Regarding the classics: Remco raced only 2 of the 5 momentums sofar. From what he tells us, except for Lombardy, none if the monuments is a personal goal although he won't mind winning LBL a third time of course. He wants to focus on the TdF and the championships. A giro with enoug TT kms might like him too. He may be their classics guy too (and I hope he gets to race MSR and RvV) but I assume it was not part of the negotiations to get leadership status in those races.

Remco is the guy because he was also the only one they could have let go from their team. The signings of Vingegaard and Pogacar, in particular, are unaffordable

 

[Axel Hangleck]

I've never understood this in cycling; signing a rider and they bring an entourage with them. The whole point of moving teams is to get new ways of working, with new people.
Imagine this in football - it wouldn't work. Getting rid of team personnel so a new rider can bring in his own people is weird, and so typical of cycling.

 

[Cycling111]

If I were Bora I would have signed Pogačar but you can only buy someone out if the other team allows it.

I think Del Toro will leave the UAE in 2-3 years, but BORA isn't patient. It was clear with the signing of Van Gils that it cost them a lot of money. Having recently renewed his contract with Lotto, they had to pay a severance package, and on top of that, he's being given an exorbitant salary. Van Gils had a great season, but not at the Big 6 level either. But last transfer window, they signed him eagerly without thinking about planning.

Van Gils, as a star signing, hasn't been included in a Tour with stages that favored him. Lazkano missing since Roubaix. A strange mix of signings between classics riders and domestiques.
A year later, it seems they're going to have to change quite a bit again.

I would have waited a couple of years. Hang on with Roglic and Lipowitz and in two years sign one of the UAE guys who will end up leaving the team.

 

[stoempestoempestoempe]

I wonder what this will mean for Pellizzari. Everyone is focusing on Lipowitz and Evenepoel, but I assume both will get their fair share of chances as both have already podiumed the Tour. With Roglic still on board and being the possible leader for both Giro and Vuelta, Pellizzari may be the odd man out as I don't see a GT where he gets a chance to start as a (co-)leader. Evenepoel, Lipowitz and Roglic will all be ahead of him in the picking order and that's a shame since Pellizzari seems to be really talented and should be given the opportunity to fight for the GC as well.