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

[acm]

You can't wait until the end of August for a rider like Roglič to ride his first GT of the season. He'll definitely do La Vuelta, the only question now is Giro or Tour.

 

[Berniece]

You can't wait until the end of August for a rider like Roglič to ride his first GT of the season. He'll definitely do La Vuelta, the only question now is Giro or Tour.

If they think he can be competitive in TDF and Vuelta he should do the TDF. If they think riding TDF will make him a bit too tire for the Vuelta, he should ride the Giro. I would focus on getting that 5th Vuelta win, it's a realistic goal.

 

[Links2003]

So, after the Giro Route presentation yesterday it is quite obvious that it is a quite good route for Remco. How would you set up the team for the GTs?

My take would be something like:

Giro:
Remco
Giulio
Hindley
Cattaneo
Aleotti


Tour:
Remco
Lipo
Hindley
Vlasov
Cattaneo


Vuelta:
Roglic
Martinez
Giulio
Aleotti

Martinez will also be joining the Giro (alternatively, he will be sent to the Tour once he is back in top form).
In terms of stages, Meeus or van Poppel could also ride the Giro for the sprints

Giro:
Remco, Giulio, Hindley, Cattaneo, Aleotti, Meeus, Fisher-Black, Zwiehoff

Tour:
Lipo, Remco, Hindley, Vlasov, Denz, Van Poppel, Martinez, Moscon

Vuelta:
Roglic, Giulio, Aleotti, van Gils, Wandahl, Piethie, Tratnik, Van Dijke

 

[Rackham]

Martinez will also be joining the Giro (alternatively, he will be sent to the Tour once he is back in top form).
In terms of stages, Meeus or van Poppel could also ride the Giro for the sprints

Giro:
Remco, Giulio, Hindley, Cattaneo, Aleotti, Meeus, Fisher-Black, Zwiehoff

Tour:
Lipo, Remco, Hindley, Vlasov, Denz, Van Poppel, Martinez, Moscon

Vuelta:
Roglic, Giulio, Aleotti, van Gils, Wandahl, Piethie, Tratnik, Van Dijke

From what we can gather based on interviews, Rog wants to go to the Tour + Vuelta.

 

[Berniece]

From what we can gather based on interviews, Rog wants to go to the Tour + Vuelta.

Would be weird if they don't do that. They just need to properly manage everyones expectations. You can go for your own GC, until any of Lipo, Roglic, Evenepoel has a shot at victory. If that's not the case, you do you.

 

[MLKarlos]

Would be weird if they don't do that. They just need to properly manage everyones expectations. You can go for your own GC, until any of Lipo, Roglic, Evenepoel has a shot at victory. If that's not the case, you do youthode

Those three all sharing lead at the Tour will be a complete disaster imo

 

[Berniece]

Those three all sharing lead at the Tour will be a complete disaster imo

I can also see that go completely wrong if riders don't want to help each other. It depends a bit on what Roglic wants to do. Does he want to go for GC or stages.

 

[Rackham]

Would be weird if they don't do that. They just need to properly manage everyones expectations. You can go for your own GC, until any of Lipo, Roglic, Evenepoel has a shot at victory. If that's not the case, you do you.

I've reached the cynical realization the Giro and Vuelta mean very little to teams because the primary interest is exposure and the associated money. IMO the spring classics + TdF are where it's at from a sponsor's perspective. I saw that Visma (for example) lost money in 2024 (I read an article circulating on reddit a few days ago) so the only thing these big teams care about is doing well in the Tour.

Cycling fans/geeks/nerds might want their favorite rider to dip his feet into winning the Giro but IMO Red Bull would rather Evenepoel got a podium in the Tour than win the Giro. I think Visma have the same attitude regarding Vingegaard.

Where does Rog fit in? He's an outlier now and has a bit more 'freedom' to aim for a personal goal (like winning the Vuelta) because he's no longer the main focus of the team or the star rider anymore. The only problem is if he says he wants to go to the Tour and actually shows he's got good legs (lets say in Suisse if he does that), at which point the team has a potential headache on its hands.

 

[Berniece]

Where does Rog fit in? He's an outlier now and has a bit more 'freedom' to aim for a personal goal (like winning the Vuelta) because he's no longer the main focus of the team or the star rider anymore. The only problem is if he says he wants to go to the Tour and actually shows he's got good legs (lets say in Suisse if he does that), at which point the team has a potential headache on its hands.

It's also about Roglic's own expectations. He said he still dreamed about winning the TDF. If that's the case I guess he cares more about TDF than the 5th Vuelta win. Makes the puzzle much harder. So in my opinion, I would try to get Lipowitz to go for Giro win. If Vingegaard isn't at his best it could be an exciting race.

 

[vappaxbipmv]

It's also about Roglic's own expectations. He said he still dreamed about winning the TDF. If that's the case I guess he cares more about TDF than the 5th Vuelta win. Makes the puzzle much harder. So in my opinion, I would try to get Lipowitz to go for Giro win. If Vingegaard isn't at his best it could be an exciting race.

I'm pretty sure Roglic would rather win a 5th Vuelta than top 5 the Tour (both realistic goals)

 

[Berniece]

I'm pretty sure Roglic would rather win a 5th Vuelta than top 5 the Tour (both realistic goals)

Yes, but his dream is still to win the TDF, and he knows he has to be at 100% to win a TDF. It's hard to be at your best in TDF and Vuelta. It's not really possible. So Roglic has to decide if he wants to go for his dream, or to be a record holder.