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.

 

[vappaxbipmv]

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.

Everyone's dream would be to win the Tour. But I think he's realistic enough to know that he can't win the it anymore and will choose more achievable goals

 

[Berniece]

Everyone's dream would be to win the Tour. But I think he's realistic enough to know that he can't win the it anymore and will choose more achievable goals

In his latest interview he said it's the race he wants to win the most. I would assume that's the one he is targeting at 100%.

 

[vappaxbipmv]

In his latest interview he said it's the race he wants to win the most. I would assume that's the one he is targeting at 100%.

I wouldn't interpret it as such. At least 95% of riders would want to win the Tour the most but almost everyone is realistic that it's not happening. Same goes for Roglic, I think he will target winnable races (for him) like Suisse and Vuelta. If he goes to the Tour, I don't see him targeting GC but rather stages

 

[Berniece]

I wouldn't interpret it as such. At least 95% of riders would want to win the Tour the most but almost everyone is realistic that it's not happening. Same goes for Roglic, I think he will target winnable races (for him) like Suisse and Vuelta. If he goes to the Tour, I don't see him targeting GC but rather stages

Would be a great solution for their problem. As long as he selects specific stages and helps the team during other.

 

[vappaxbipmv]

Would be a great solution for their problem. As long as he selects specific stages and helps the team during other.

That's the role in which I see him and he would probably accept it if in return he gets a Vuelta leadership

 

[pablohidalgo7]

I don't know if a rider like Roglic knows how to compete only for stages, losing time beforehand. He's never done it, and I don't see it in his DNA, just as I didn't see it in Valverde. The reality is that last year even arriving a bit out of shape after the Giro and the antibiotics, he focused on surviving almost by inertia until he was able to fight for a top 5 or a podium finish. Only once did he realize that under normal circumstances Lipowitz would finish third, that's when he went for a stage win in a crazy way (although he almost finished third due to the circumstances of the Loze stage, and I'm sure he had that a bit in mind).

Furthermore, I don't think he wants to work for a teammate only for them to finish third 10 minutes behind (whether it's Lipo or Remco) and for his sacrifice to be practically meaningless.
In any case, at the moment it is not even clear who is the strongest of the 3 if they all manage to reach a Grand Tour at their 100 %, whether it is the Lipowitz of 2025, the Remco of the Tour 2024 or the Roglic of the Tour and the Vuelta 24, in the last two cases there are reasons that justify not having shown their peak Grand Tour level. this year, not only in the case of Remco, we do not know the real level of Roglic after Volta and before all the problems starting at the Giro.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Their two main goals has to be to podium the Tour and to win the Vuelta. Podiuming the Giro isn't as high a priority as the other two (I'm assuming Vingegaard is doing the Giro here). With their team, Bora absolutely has to win the only GT Vingegaard and Pogacar don't ride.

I don't see Remco doing another GT besides the Tour, as he should be focusing on classics in the spring and Worlds in the fall, so he's the obvious first choice for the Tour. To maximize the chance of winning the Vuelta, I would send both of Roglic and Lipowitz there. Then the big question is if Lipowitz should do the Tour as well - or do the Giro as well. Doing the Giro would be the best in a vacuum as it maximizes his chances in the Vuelta, while also having a shot at actually winning the Giro if Vingegaard crashes out. However, doing the Tour maximizes the chances of Bora finishing on the podium there. I would probably take the gamble and send Lipowitz to the Giro and Vuelta alongside Roglic and hope that Remco can replicate his 2024 Tour.

 

[Cycling111]

Roglic has already been outclassed by Lipowitz in this Tour. We have to accept that his best days are behind him. I don't think Bora will use Lipowitz as a domestique, and he'll go to the Tour with a higher hierarchy.

Regarding Remco. A signing like Remco's is to go as the leader to the Tour, not the Giro. Furthermore, if it's true that he's earning the same as Pogacar (8 million) it's to go to the most important race for the sponsors.