OFF-SEASON? OFF-ROAD! 👊🏼 Last year, our riders took on a mountain biking adventure at Cape Epic 🚴🏼♂️ This weekend, @CUijtdebroeks and @jordimeeus will be grinding the gravel over at Big Sugar! 🇺🇸
"It is always a dream of mine to win the Tour" - BORA manager confirms next team goal
CyclingSaturday, 22 October 2022 at 11:30
BORA - hansgrohe have grown out of the old Team NetApp structure, and in 2017 became a full-fledged World Tour team with big riders and big ambitions. Team manager Ralph Denk has talked about the ultimate goals the team has had since it's beginnings in it's current form.
The team had Peter Sagan onboard for several years, who carried it's ambitions in the cobbled classics and sprints - successfully, always a present figure in the peloton. “We changed our internal strategy last year. After the departure of superstar Peter Sagan, we have set up a new structure within the squad. It was an intermediate goal to win a Grand Tour. We already did that in the first Grand Tour and that makes us proud”, Denk told Wielerflits.
Read also
As Sagan's performance began having less influence in the team, it began signing climbers to transition into a Grand Tour-contesting team. Emanuel Buchmann, Wilco Kelderman, Sergio Higuita, Aleksandr Vlasov and finally Jai Hindley were all big signings, all riders capable of fighting with the very best in the mountains. They had the goal to win a Grand Tour, and in their first true opportunity to try it, they've succeeded.
Their goal - which has surely been achieved already - is to be one of the best teams in the World for Grand Tours. “But to be honest, it's not easy to prove that. We know that, and our mission is to prove ourselves. We have to be there at the top level and that is a mission that we pass on to our riders," he said. Denk admitted that the next and perhaps final goal for the team will be to win the Tour de France, possibly with riders that are already part of it.
Read also
"It is always a dream of mine to win the Tour. I have been the manager of a cycling team for twenty years and that is the big goal. We've already won the second biggest Grand Tour of three weeks, so there's almost nothing to win," he continued. “Our strategy still stands and has not changed. We have the contours clear.
"The Grand Tours have a great reputation, especially in Germany. More than the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix. It also provides more media value, so that's why we went this route. And hopefully we can keep repeating successes like in the Giro." The likes of Hindley, Vlasov and Higuita will be key to the German team who is seeking to further boost their palmarès.
Read also
"“We have a lot of good climbers in the squad, like Lennard Kämna. What he did in the penultimate stage of the Giro… He was decisive when we dropped Carapaz. We also have Patrick Konrad and Max Schachmann. If we can get all those guys to their best level, we'll have a super strong team," he concluded.
claps 0visitors 39
Just in
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Nov 05, 13:04
0
Popular news
Latest comments
- I wouldn’t assume Tadej can’t win at cross. He did a cross race, not a World Cup, a few years ago and crushed the field. It was a minor race. But he can win anywhere.mij23-12-2024
- I wonder what would happen if Pogacar attacked on the Cipressa instead of the Poggio in San Remo? Would MvdPoel still be able to follow?Ride197423-12-2024
- Debatable?Ride197423-12-2024
- The point is obvious: MVDP can beat Tadej on CX/Road and Tadej cannot. What is so hard to understand???averagecyclist22-12-2024
- Funny... one doper enabler backing the doper he enabled ! Who would have guessed.frieders322-12-2024
- Wouldn’t be here if I wasn’tMistermaumau22-12-2024
- So you're bored, got itvappaxbipmv22-12-2024
- Does everything need to have a point? If so, 99% of the internet should be wiped away. In relation to recent articles with quotes from other riders, my statement points to the ever more obvious reason why they are asked to comment on the effect of his return.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- If anyone would be interested enough to launch an official survey as to who out of these three should shut up, I don’t know who’d win but I’m due Boonen would be way back in 3rd place.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- And your point is what exactly?vappaxbipmv22-12-2024