"Remco is an interesting rider... But just like Van Aert and Pidcock, Evenepoel has a long-term contract" - BORA boss open on transfer talk

Following the added investment of Red Bull into the BORA - hansgrohe team, big things are expected in the transfer market over the coming years. With rumours of Wout van Aert, Tom Pidcock and Remco Evenepoel the sky seems to be the limit for the soon to be called Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe.

"Normally we don't respond to rumours," says BORA - hansgrohe's team boss Ralph Denk in conversation with Sporza. "The Red Bull deals with Van Aert and Pidcock are separate from Red Bull's partnership with Bora-Hansgrohe. We have a partnership with Red Bull headquarters in Austria. Van Aert and Pidcock have deals with Red Bull Belgium and Red Bull UK respectively. We haven't talked about them in our meetings yet. In addition, Van Aert (until 2026 at Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Pidcock (until 2027 at INEOS Grenadiers) have long-term contracts. We respect them."

Whilst van Aert and Pidcock are somewhat easy rumours to piece together given the Red Bull links, the talk surrounding Remco Evenepoel is slightly stronger. Primoz Roglic has already been added over the recent off-season in BORA - hansgrohe's quest to win the Tour de France, but with the Slovenian turning 35 by the end of this year, it's thought the team will target a more long-term Tour de France winning threat.

"Winning the Tour de France drives me every day. That's no secret. After the departure of Peter Sagan, we focused on Grand Tours. We won the Giro 2 years ago with Jai Hindley, a very nice achievement," Denk explains. "We have already had many brainstorming sessions with Red Bull and there will be many more to come. But the signatures under the collaboration with Red Bull were only signed at the end of April. Our partnership with Red Bull is therefore less than a month old."

"Remco is an interesting rider. It is always better to have him by your side than to have him opposite you," Denk concludes, referencing the noise surrounding his rumoured transfer target. "But I can confirm that there is certainly no deal with Remco. Rumours are part of the game. But just like Van Aert and Pidcock, Evenepoel has a long-term contract with Soudal - Quick Step (until 2026). For our part, we will respect that contract."