Red Bull - BORA - Hansgrohe Set to Fight for Tour de France Glory this Summer
Slovenian star Primož Roglič will spearhead the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe team at this year's Tour de France - the biggest cycling race of the year - and starting in 2025, a new U23 program will also bridge the gap between the juniors and the WorldTeam.
Here is all you need to know:
Starting with the 2024 Tour, Red Bull will join long-time partners BORA and hansgrohe as a main sponsor with 2023 Giro d'Italia and three-time Vuelta a España champion Roglič leading the charge while, starting in 2025, a new U23 program will bridge the gap to the WorldTeam.
CEO Ralph Denk revealed: "We have a clear plan to become the most attractive brand in cycling. I want to find iconic riders and the development of young talents is a huge focus for us. Everything is new, not just the jersey, not just the bike... also the feeding bags and bottles for the guys."
The German outfit's eight-man team selection was unveiled at a press conference in Salzburg ahead of the Grand Départ on Saturday, June 29 in Florence, Italy with Roglič joined by Jai Hindley, Aleksandr Vlasov, Matteo Sobrero, Danny van Poppel, Marco Haller, Nico Denz and Bob Jungels.
Roglič is Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's main overall title hope and the 34-year-old Slovenian will be aiming to become only the eighth rider in history to complete cycling's prestigious Triple Crown after he claimed stage victories in the 2017, 2018 and 2020 editions of the Tour de France.
Wearing all new colours at the innovative launch, Roglič declared: "It's crazy to be a part of this. This jersey for the start is pretty good - the yellow one is for the end."
Roglič will be aided in the winning yellow jersey pursuit by experienced Grand Tour riders Hindley and Vlasov, who will be his main support entering the mountains in the second and third weeks.
Australian Hindley was the 2022 Giro d'Italia champion and won a stage at the Tour de France on his debut last year, while Russian Vlasov also has one Tour under his belt - finishing top five in 2022.
Italian Tour debutant Sobrero will be additional support in the mountains - just like for the team's recent triumph at the Dauphiné - while the powerful trio of Dutchman Van Poppel, Austrian Haller and German Denz aim to give confidence to the climbers by excelling on the flatter stages.
The seasoned professional and Tour de France stage winner Jungels of Luxembourg knows what it takes to win a stage at cycling's pinnacle race and he will be the road captain for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe.
The 111th Tour de France will be Red Bull's first as a team sponsor and it will be the German team's 11th since it made its debut in 2014 after being founded in 2009 by German ex-cyclist Denk.
Since its Tour debut a decade ago, BORA - hansgrohe has achieved 11 stage wins – almost half of which were achieved by green jersey points champion Peter Sagan during his five-year spell (2017-2021) at the team.
The riders will use carbon fibre S-Works bikes from American brand Specialized, while Italian clothing specialist Sportful is behind its distinctive jersey design - which has been given a Red Bull refresh - with fashion and lifestyle-brand BOSS visible as a new official fashion partner.
The long-term development of iconic riders is a key part of the new strategy and a further milestone in the Rookie Program, which already consists of the junior team, GRENKE - Auto Eder, as a recognized talent factory and Red Bull Junior Brothers as an innovative scouting campaign.