"For me is a red flag" - Red Bull SD issues warning over pressure on young riders

In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of increasingly younger riders in professional cycling. We could list countless names from a wide range of nationalities, all dreaming of becoming the next Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard or Remco Evenepoel, of racing the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix and other iconic events.

With that landscape as a backdrop, Daniel Benson sat down with Red Bull – BORA – Hansgrohe sports director John Wakefield, who is responsible for developing the German team’s Red Bull Rookies programme.

From the wealth of talent emerging from the team, Adrien Boichis, Callum Thornley and Luke Tuckwell made the jump from the under-23 squad to the senior team for 2026 and are now racing at WorldTour level. The pipeline could have grown even further if Lorenzo Finn, U23 World Championship, who began his season with victory at the Trofeo Ses Salines (1.1), had followed his teammates in making the step up.

“He could easily already be racing in the WorldTour, but we don’t want to rush things, and we have good reasons for the pathway he’s following.”

Wakefield clearly outlines the structure’s vision and the philosophy that guides the Rookies team. “What we did was try to select one or two riders with general classification potential, then three further prospects, and build a team around that. We also want to win bike races and develop riders who can win other events or become very valuable and important domestiques.”

Sustainable growth, without shooting themselves in the foot, allowing the youngsters to develop in stages, is one of the core pillars of the project. “It’s not just about focusing on GC contenders. Of course, that’s important, it’s the Tour de France, but we also want to win Paris-Roubaix or a Monument, those types of races. It’s a holistic development structure.”

His role within Red Bull is to work with riders who are often still of junior age, and it is impossible to draw a definitive profile of what they might become in the future. “But you can say: ‘This rider has the physiological potential.’”

It is premature, even with clear physiological potential, to claim that a rider will one day fight for a Grand Tour, a Monument or another top-tier race, because so much can happen. “To confidently say you can win the Tour de France with a rider in five to ten years’ time is just selling a story. It’s also naïve, because what if he gets a girlfriend at 20 and his career ends? That really happens.”

He does not shy away from a deeper analysis. “Many of these boys are so focused that they don’t have a life outside cycling. For me, that’s an unbalanced life, because if the career doesn’t work out, what will they do afterwards? They’ve done nothing but ride a bike since they were fourteen, and their parents or someone else pushed them.”

That is why he highlights the circumstances of those who start pedalling at a young age without the right support. “Some quit, and you always have to find balance. We’re dealing with young people, and that’s what they are, they’re still kids, and we want them to remain that way.”

The sports director leaves a final warning. “If at sixteen or seventeen he is already living like a professional, or being pressured to live like one, that for me is a red flag. It’s something we do not encourage.”