Pedal Punditry #22 | How do you piece together the 2026 Red Bull - BORA puzzle... And can you?

"Having lots of good riders is a privilege, not a problem" applies to several teams. Will it apply to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe? In 2026 the German team will have a sea of sharks, but without a Tadej Pogacar or Jonas Vingegaard, cycling's new super team will have to be careful for them not to cannibalize in what is set to be a tricky year.

There are several components to this developing story. One is the vast set of leaders the team has, two of them (Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic) bought after Red Bull's entrance as a team sponsor which significantly boosted its level. This comes as a major step up and the team can potentially match UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Team Visma | Lease a Bike in many of the season's best races.

The other are the riders that will be on board in 2026, and their respective individual ambitions, which may clash. Remco Evenepoel is a proven winner and a rider who desires to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France one day; Primoz Roglic is a veteran on the last years of his career but with high ambitions, promises when he joined the team and an unique personality; And Florian Lipowitz, the 'newcomer' who was the best climber out of the three this year and has his eyes firmly planted on the Tour de France. These are the three main characters in the story that features a wide array of secondary figures which also have their own goals and ambitions.

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe have gotten the money and have made good use of it. Now, they will have to manage an extensive set of leaders who have similar goals but without one thing UAE and Visma have: A fixed and set leader whom everyone will work for if he sets his eyes on a goal.

We begin with the first rider who has openly talked about what he wants in 2026: Florian Lipowitz. This was perhaps the first move in a complex game of chess within BORA, as the German spoke right after the reveal of the 2026 Tour de France route and has not waited to know how either the Giro or Vuelta are going to be shaped and what his fellow teammates - and co-leaders have to say about their Grand Tour ambitions. A bold move.

Lipowitz has his own 'Roglic story', a former biathlete turned cyclist only a few years ago, who quickly evolved into the level of cycling's best. At age 25 and with a palmarès that sits in the shadow of Evenepoel and Roglic, in terms of name Lipowitz certainly doesn't have the leverage of his two teammates. But he is not naive, and wants to have it, otherwise he wouldn't be the first to put down his foot on what he wants.

It was only in April 2024 that my eyes first landed on the German and what he could do, as out of unknown he jumped into the slopes of the climb to Leysin to finish second on the day only behind a well established Richard Carapaz. He finished the race in third overall and got himself in the lineup for the Giro d'Italia last-minute, where he confirmed Romandie wasn't a lucky strike with a fifth place right on stage 2 to Monte Oropa whilst working for Daniel Martínez - who would finish the Giro in second place behind Tadej Pogacar. You will notice Martínez is not a key player in this story, but perhaps that is to BORA's benefit, because a fourth Grand Tour-win seeking rider who doesn't offer the guarrantees is not what the team needs at the moment.

But Lipowitz, through consistency and an incredible W/Kg, battled his way up the team ranks with all fairness one could expect: He won the Sibiu Tour in July and learnt how to lead the team, and at the Vuelta he rode to a seventh place confirming his potential as a Grand Tour rider. He layed out all the pieces for 2025, where he delivered on the highest of expectations. Second at Paris-Nice and fourth at Itzulia Basque Country were enough for the spring, but it's when the summer arrived that Lipowitz really outdid himself.

He finished third at the Criterium du Dauphiné, joining Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on the podium. This was a Dauphiné raced à la Pogacar too, with attacks almost on the daily, a big time trial and mountain stages attacked from far away and to the max right from the bottom of climbs. It's not by chance the Dauphiné is the most accurate test before the Tour de France. And so with this third place Lipowitz earned a co-leadership with Primoz Roglic towards the Tour, although everyone with a clear vision could see that the German was the logical figure that should have the sole leadership after everything he'd done.

But he did not force his way at the Tour. Despite his obvious role in the GC battle, he admits he did not feel like he was in position to ask Primoz Roglic (who was also in peak form and only a few positions behind) to work for him. And Roglic did not, in fact chasing breakaways in the final two mountain stages, making it very clear he had a free role whilst the team had no real support for Lipowitz behind, who was carrying the white jersey and a crucial podium spot that was being threatened by Oscar Onley.

This wasn't the case, the two co-lead the entire race, and it worked. But that is because UAE and Visma were on a world of their own, as has been the case for years now, and raced against each other whilst all other GC riders only have to follow the wheels in the mountain stages and then time trial their way to the finish line. In the 2024 route specially, with almost every mountain stage shaped in the exact same format - good job, ASO - Lipowitz only had to eat well, stay upright in the tricky flat and hilly days (which he did) and then deploy his strong W/Kg ratio everytime the race went uphill to the finish line. A simple formula, executed well, which earned him a place on the podium.

Put simply Lipowitz has the legs, and so he has the right to lead BORA. If Evenepoel did not come in, he would have the main leader status in the German team - or at least he should. Besides he is German, it is the best the team could ever hope for. So this rider has to be kept happy at all costs, furthermore because if he is not, at the end of 2026 he may already leave as his contract runs out and he will then become another competitor in the way of Evenepoel's yellow dreams. The team simply has no option but to give Lipowitz what he wants, because he does deserve it and if given the right support, you're looking at a future Grand Tour winner without a doubt.

Enter the equation: Remco Evenepoel. With a salary reportedly of €6 million, two reigning Olympic titles, a World and European jersey on his back everytime he starts a time trial and a second place to Tadej Pogacar at the World, European and (unofficial Italian) climber-oriented championships at Il Lombardia, Evenepoel really needs no introduction.

But in this case, it does no harm. Evenepoel is a proud podium finisher at the 2024 Tour de France, and a non-finisher in this year's. Is he a more complete rider than Lipowitz? Yes. Is he more experienced and successful? Yes. Is he a better climber? We should not go down that rout. In fact I'm not particularly certain how the team will tackle this question, specially as next year's Tour de France is guided towards the climbers, specifically and only. If Evenepoel were to go to the Tour, he would have approximately *checks notes* 9 kilometers of flat time trial roads to take time on Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel. Taking into consideration he finished the 2024 Tour de France, the Grand Tour he rode to absolute perfection, 9 minutes behind the World Champion then he would have to... Realistically win 1 minute per kilometer on stage 16 to have a good chance of winning the yellow jersey.

Let's be very real: Evenepoel can not challenge Tadej Pogacar. Yet. This can happen in the future, but 2026 is not the year IF both are healthy. And no-one at BORA can predict or expect Pogacar to be ill or injured by the time July comes. Evenepoel is the rider in the peloton that has the most say outside of Pogacar, Vingegaard and maybe Mathieu van der Poel. But BORA have to put him in the way of Florian Lipowitz if he wants to race the Tour and contest for the overall classification.

Because Lipowitz has stated his desire to race the Tour and aim for a top result again, Evenepoel has two options. A: State he wants the same and go into direct collision path with Lipowitz, with none being able to commit to working for the other if they are at their best, and creating a co-leadership situation that will inevitably lead to awkward questions all-year long and tense situations. Or B: Go for the Giro, stay away from the Tour, and perhaps try going for the Tour in 2027. This is, in my fair opinion, the logic way to go. But cycling is not always logic, and we do not even know the route of the Giro yet! If the Italian organizers decide to put in a dozen mountain stages after the little trip to Bulgaria and feature almost no flat time trialing kilometers, then what's the point of choosing the Vingegaard-chosen Giro over the Tour where he would have just about the same chances of winning, but if luck was on his side the victory could be twice as big and meaningful... The math is tricky.

Evenepoel can almost by himself eliminate many of the points of contention that may show up. But that is the thing, he is not even officially part of the team yet and these decisions are already on his back. The pressure is on his side, and whatever he chooses will have major consequences (negative or positive) in the team's plans. I'm no specialist but this is not the ideal environment for a rider to be relaxed.

Now Primoz Roglic enters the chat. Former Giro winner, four-time Vuelta winner, BORA's prized diamond in 2024 who earned them a Grand Tour victory. Where does he fit in all of this? An interesting question that I ponder on as I take a sip of my coffee cup.

Roglic is A leader. Roglic is not as strong of a climber as Lipowitz. Roglic is not as complete as Evenepoel. Roglic loves the Vuelta and the single-effort stages. Roglic crashes a lot. Roglic does not like the media pressure. Is Roglic willing to be a domestique for anyone? Does BORA want Roglic to serve at any point as a domestique on a salary of €4 million? We will see, huh - as someone would say.

At the Lille Opera this July I remember asking Roglic a question at a press conference and, in the middle of about a hundred people in the room, he scouted for me. He seemed to do this with most journalists who asked him a question, and was in a playful mood like no other GC contender. At age he seems to have the 'media game' dialed down, with his short and ambiguous answers entertaining most all throughout the year; and putting himself in a position where he rarely shares his real thoughts and hence keeps his and the team's game private. Roglic at this point in his career has prioritized calm and lack of pressure, and he's achieved that this year, to his own merit. At the Tour, he was also keen on having Lipowitz and a sprinter train behind Jordi Meeus so that he does not have the responsibility of having seven riders look out for him and the team's weight fully on his shoulders. This saw the best version of Roglic reappear. A working formula.

Roglic is a piece that does not fit in BORA, I will state it directly. But he wants BORA and BORA want him. But his role has been surpassed by two younger riders who are, as many say in the modern cycling jargon, 'aliens'. But that doesn't mean Roglic has grown weaker, he really hasn't. Hell, look at the Peyragudes mountain time trial at the Tour de France, the day I expected him to perform the best as endurance wasn't an aspect and it was one individual climbing effort. He finished third behind Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, he rode 25 minutes at over 7W/Kg, numbers that (even though it was a time trial and doesn't directly relate to a road stage) would've put 2015 Chris Froome to shame.

In 2025 he still had a clear goal and dream: The Tour de France. The one that got away, in 2020. But he can't win it anymore, that's been made clear. In his absolute best form, this year, a fourth place was the best he could've possibly achieved. Which is fine, it's a great result, but it's not a victory. Now in 2026 he can no longer aim for that. He has the goal of winning all big one-week stage-races in the calendar and the Tour de Suisse is the only race standing in his way. He should aim for this race, and I believe he should aim for the Vuelta a España, whilst skipping the Giro and Tour - unless there is an honest talk, and good reason, for him to head to the Tour with a supporting role for either (or both) Evenepoel and Lipowitz. I don't have interest in what may be said publicly, but that in private this is what they agree to.

Roglic crashes a lot, he can not give promises to win a Grand Tour anymore in the modern peloton, and his role within the team changes by the year. But is BORA going to use Roglic to chase a few wins during the spring, Tour de Suisse and then Vuelta? It's feasible, logic, but I doubt he or the team will 'settle' for having that be the case. A fifth Vuelta win WOULD change his career, we can't say otherwise, as it would turn him into the individual record holder and that is actually a huge deal. He would have the pressure, but the man has won the race four times, I would expect him to know how to deal with it.

Evenepoel and Lipowitz don't have big arguments towards the Vuelta, Jonas Vingegaard should do the Giro-Tour double and Pogacar is certain to miss it, so Roglic can win it. I say take the decision in December already, have Roglic do a big spring calendar, try to complete his palmarès with a Tour de Suisse win and then focus on the Vuelta a España as the sole Grand Tour goal of the year. Someone in the team management should have the courage to say no to any of these three riders and clearly set: Evenepoel to the Giro, Lipowitz to the Tour, Roglic to the Vuelta. Most likely, it is best all three only ride that specific Grand Tour too (although Evenepoel to Tour as a second Grand Tour could be alright, depending on how the Giro goes.

The group chat expands, and now Jai Hindley is also in the chat. 'If I am at my best, I can finish on the podium of any Grand Tour' is something I imagine the Australian saying. I believe he can, the winner of the 2022 Giro is inconsistent but when he has his legs, he HAS his legs. A pure climber, he was the only one who really turned up the gas in the mountains of the Vuelta alongside Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida. Although he didn't crack the podium, Hindley is a menace when he has good form, a rider who seemingly never gets tired when riding uphill and the longer the effort is, the better he is. The Giro has its long mountains and the Tour has colossal mountain days towards its end, so he has the right to have his own ambitions honestly.

But Hindley can ride as a support figure, he is not problematic, and if he has his best legs I believe he can collaborate with the others. The thing is, if he is really at his very best, would any of the other three want to work for him? Giulio Pellizzari is different, at the Vuelta he did but he is very young and a newcomer in the team, but the more established leaders may not want to do the same. But the Hindley piece is more interesting because where will you fit him? If he races with Evenepoel or Lipowitz he won't be put in the race as a leader at a Grand Tour certainly, and there may be a little bit of an argument battle to see who can have Hindley by their side as support in the mountains. But if Hindley doesn't have his form, as often happens, then it's possible that no-one may benefit from his abilities.

Pellizzari, at the time being, is not a threat to anyone above, but his position is a different one. At age 21 he has thrived this year, finishing sixth at both Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. An incredible supertalent, he has the ability to race and be consistent beyond 99% of his fellow pro riders at the same age, and he has evolved a lot since joining the team.

But most importantly is what happened on stage 16 of this year's Giro. In the summit finish to San Valentino, he was the absolute best climber in the race. Better than Richard Carapaz, better than Giro winner Simon Yates, and almost 2 minutes better than Isaac del Toro who has surpassed every expectations this year. What if Pellizzari does the same thing in 2026, only more often? This is a level comparable to all other climbers in the team, and he may find himself in the 'Del Toro' position at the 2026 Giro, regardless of who he is teaming up with.

Pellizzari will work for others if asked, he is still so young, but as happens in UAE if the young riders begin developing so fast they will want their own spot as leaders and may not find it. Then the group chat may not be only between these five riders, but also their own battles to prove themselves above one another, reluctance to work for each other and tactics that will seek to show their worth instead of working for the team's benefit. The awkward question that may rise within BORA is what if Pellizzari grows again in the same way in 2026? If he stays the same his role may be clear, if he evolves further than he he will become another man to challenge Evenepoel, and Lipowitz, and Roglic... More questions, more decisions, more riders that will be unhappy with what will be decided.

No it does not, the ~40 million euro budget (which I suspect has grown this year, the money to sign Evenepoel wasn't found in a treasure chest) brings in many benefits but also a lot of calendar choices. BORA can do what UAE does, expanding their calendar so much that all riders have their own chances of going for results. But they haven't done that yet, and someone needs to press the button.

But picture this, because all of the Grand Tour specialists above may cause some sort of discomfort throughout the year but as I have mentioned, Daniel Martínez wasn't even thrown in the equation. The rider who finished second at the Giro d'Italia behind Tadej Pogacar only year and a half ago. Or Aleksandr Vlasov, who in 2022 was one of the world's absolute best, and occasionally shows glimpses of brilliancy still.

In the sprinter field where does Jordi Meeus fit in all of this? Danny van Poppel will have a leadership role in 2026 which means he should no longer do leadout duties much, but he can fit in any lineup as he is very versatile and a quality domestique for the flat and hilly terrain. But Meeus may lose leadout power, say within the team, but will want to continue having chances in the Grand Tours.

Evenepoel will have his own right-hand man in Mattia Cattanneo, whilst Roglic has Jan Tratnink. Will Florian Lipowitz have his own or feel like he deserves to have a rider as closely connected to him? What does the team do with the likes of Maxim van Gils, Finn Fisher-Black, Gianni Vermeersch of Laurence Pithie in the Grand Tours... Four classics specialists who will have their chances in the spring but will then have to be content with working in the mountains or flat roads for their countless leaders in every single Grand Tour.

Interesting times ahead of cycling's new 'super team'.