"Catastrophic tactics": Chris Horner slams Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe's race management in Spain

American teenager Andrew August stunned the peloton on Stage 3 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, snatching victory from a late breakaway while the favorites hesitated behind. But for Chris Horner, the story of the day wasn't just the youngster's triumph, but the "knucklehead" tactics of Remco Evenepoel's Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe team.

Speaking on his podcast, Horner gave a harsh review of how the German team managed the stage. While Evenepoel remains a "first-page rider" in Horner’s book - a status confirmed by his dominant solo win on the queen stage on Saturday - the American analyst argues that the team's approach on the road to that victory was full of unnecessary risks and wasted energy.

Before discussing the mistakes of the favorites, Horner praised the day's winner. August, a young pro with huge potential, rode a perfect final kilometer to beat the sprinters and the GC favorites. "He's going to put on a show on today's race," Horner said of the INEOS rider. "That might upset some of you fans sitting on the Chesterfield... 'cause he's sitting on back there. But he's got every reason to be sitting on... because he's got a sprinter back there, Ben Turner."

While INEOS celebrated, Horner was confused by the aggression shown by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe on a stage that should have been a simple transition day. With the queen stage coming up the following day, Horner expected the team to ride defensively to save energy. Instead, they attacked.

"The catastrophic tactics keep continuing," Horner said, referring to mistakes from earlier in the week. "Too many times directors are just telling their riders, 'Every day you have to do something. Every day you have to work.'"

The criticism focused on a strange moment when Aleksandr Vlasov attacked from the peloton, followed shortly by Evenepoel himself. "This is a knucklehead move right here," Horner argued. "Vlasov throws an attack. It was a ridiculous tactic right here. Why are you attacking? Your two teammates [still in the peloton] are probably tired. That means you only have two guys left."

"Remco - no one's going to work with him, and he wants a field sprint not to lose any energy," he added. "You can still back off the throttle at the top here... Let the sprinter teams take over for you because you only got four guys left."

Despite his criticism of the team car, Horner made it clear that he respects Evenepoel's talent. He ranks the Belgian as a "first-page rider," a level reserved only for the best in the sport.

"Evenepoel, I got him fourth on my list. I look at the top four GC guys on my 'first page' list, no doubt about that," Horner stated, placing him alongside Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, and Primoz Roglic. "You guys can argue with me on the last two... but the Belgian kid is a wunderkind, first page."

However, Horner believes that this level of talent is not being supported by the best decision-making in the team car. He pointed out the transition from Soudal Quick-Step to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

"I had to look up who the Sports Director was driving the car here [Klaas Lodewyck]. Well, he was Soudal Quick-Step's Sports Director," Horner pointed out. "So Patrick Lefevere has not educated his Sports Directors. And now these guys have gone over to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and they're still racing the same way."

Ultimately, while Evenepoel’s individual strength allowed him to win stage 4 today, most likely sealing the general classification, Horner warned that wasting energy on transition stages is a dangerous game to play against strong rivals like UAE Team Emirates.

"Remco throws an attack. This is not your stage, Remco," Horner concluded. "Whoever set it up in the team bus certainly didn't use the right tactic."