"I probably won't cycle for 10 more years": Gianni Vermeersch explains leaving Alpecin for Red Bull Bora challenge
Cycling
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe faced a difficult reality in 2025. Despite having a big budget, the German team struggled in the spring classics, realizing that money does not guarantee results on the cobbles. After a disappointing campaign, the management decided they needed an experienced leader to guide their young riders, and they found the perfect candidate in Gianni Vermeersch.
The 33-year-old Belgian has spent most of his career at Alpecin, working as a key teammate for Mathieu van der Poel. Now, he moves to Red Bull to mentor young talents like Laurence Pithie and the Van Dijke brothers.
A difficult decision to take
Speaking to In de Leiderstrui at the team's press day, Vermeersch explained how the transfer happened. "After the spring, my manager came with the message that there was interest," Vermeersch said. "Then I had some conversations and that is how it comes to a deal, so actually that is a fairly standard story."
However, leaving the team where he became a professional was hard. Vermeersch admitted he thought about staying there until he retired. "I had been with the team for a very long time," he reflected. "On the one hand, I played with the thought of finishing my career with that team, knowing that I probably won't cycle for 10 more years."
In the end, he wanted a change. "But on the other hand, I was also open to a new challenge and realized that it could be good to let a fresh wind blow for that one extra percent."
Red Bull was clear about why they signed him. They had strong riders, but they lacked tactical knowledge. "What Red Bull planned with me, they made very clear in the conversations," Vermeersch explained. "They wanted someone with experience in the team. Last year they already had a strong core, but the results were not really there."
Vermeersch believes that to win in Flanders or Roubaix, Red Bull needs to learn from successful teams like Alpecin. "You see patterns in the successful teams, who often manage to ride as a whole," he observed. "That is the most efficient way of racing. It is certainly the ambition to be able to take a step as a team... It is up to us to create a close-knit group."
Vemeersch spent 6 seasons with Alpecin, in which he got 3 professional wins
The Alpecin exodus
Vermeersch was not the only rider to leave Alpecin this winter. Quinten Hermans, Xandro Meurisse, Robbe Ghys, Fabio Van den Bossche, and Timo Kielich also moved to other teams. Vermeersch sees this as a compliment to his former bosses, the Roodhooft brothers.
"They can also look positively at their transfers, because it is the success of their story," he argued. "If so many of your good riders are picked up, it only means that you have done many things right and are still doing well."
He insists he left on good terms. "At Alpecin they were positively surprised and they granted me this step. That contact with riders and staff will certainly not dilute. I owe a lot to Christoph and Philip Roodhooft."
Vermeersch will start his season on Monday at the Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior in Spain. However, he also has big goals in Italy.
"Strade Bianche is a race that appeals to me very much," he said. "At the Strade I had the feeling that since the change of the course it was a bit too heavy for me, but last year I was seventh... maybe there is still something possible."
Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Well it clearly helps that this was Pidcock's own car, no?Occam06-11-2026
- The American performance at the World's road race was a masterclass in cycling tactics. If it wasn't McNulty, it might well have been Jorgensen or Simmons to take off and win in a solo break.Occam06-11-2026
- What a gimmick
Rafionain-Glas06-11-2026 - Thats only cause he rides for UAE. In any other team he would be captain in many races atleast. UAE is just to crazymiguel06-11-2026
- He seems to be the rare athlete whose passion and curiosity about life beyond his sport equals his extraordinary achievements in it. It would be great for him to risk less of that life. He seems very grateful and joyful for what he has already attained.
MarkFour06-11-2026 - As much as I admire and even revere Wout, the less I know about his backside the better.MidnightRider06-11-2026
- Ok, Walt 🤣... Vingegaard would be lucky to get on the poduim. He would not beat Seixas or Del Toro, let alone TP. Then there are the Americans...BD06-11-2026
- So, for starters. Cycling is a saturated, static/dying sport in traditional lands, it will not have resurgences like eg running occasionally does because of several obstacular (yes, I know that’s not a word but don’t make me point out the obvious at your expense) factors. Obviously, like almost everything involving money, there is a desire/need/advantage to growth and that can only come from (developing or just testing) new markets. For me, the WC is the obvious and best choice for several reasons, it comes at the end of the season so is less critical season risk wise, it is not a “pro” team race but nation based which makes integration of uncommon participation more natural. It is a vehicle for redistribution (one of a very limited number of available mechanisms to develop new markers fairly) that the fixed calendar doesn’t allow and it helps make budgets fairer over the long run (moving the whole circus to everywhere evens out everyone’s budget as opposed to having everyone always come to the same location.Jumpyjohn06-11-2026
- Sad that a more refreshing article like this, which could generate discussion in a number of directions, gets completely ignored for the importance of debating the level of superiority of one rider into every single last detail, including a majority of totally hypothetical ones. People complain there is no news in the off season and it’s boring but don’t realise how boring it is to review the same old discussion over and over again, several times a day. In fact, you’d almost think this was a rider fan website. Instead of complaining about the FREE (as long as you pay attention to data use if not unlimited coz this site consumes almost as much for loading Youtube) content, the presence of cv of authors (for the missed obvious reason that it makes it easier to insert extra advertising without changing formats), the lack of quality/checking and depth of articles, why not also think about the content, quality and variety of posts that everyone can contribute to? The platform becomes irrelevant when discussion is interesting.Jumpyjohn06-11-2026
- UAE Team Emirates and Pogačar will officially unveil their objectives at the team’s media day, which will take place on December 18 in Benidorm, Spain. New information from the UAE Team: Exceptional recovery remains the cornerstone of success for the Slovenian cannibal-Pogi, whose sporting manager, Matxin, believes he will be even better in 2027 than he has been over the past three seasons.PogiSloFans06-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment