“Roglic, Lipowitz and Remco all want to win the Tour de France” – Alberto Contador urges Red Bull to play the numbers game against Tadej Pogacar

Beating Tadej Pogacar is no longer about finding one perfect rival. It is about creating problems he cannot solve alone.

That is the logic Alberto Contador believes Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe must follow if they want to turn ambition into yellow. Speaking in conversation with Sporza at Velofollies, the two-time Tour de France winner made clear that their greatest weapon is not a single leader, but the tension between several.

“Roglic, Lipowitz and Remco all want to win the Tour. All three have already stood on the podium,” Contador said.

That line is not about ego. It is about leverage.

In recent Tours, Pogacar has often been the strongest rider in the race. But he has also benefited from clarity: one main rival, one main plan to break. Red Bull’s structure threatens that simplicity.

With Primoz Roglic, Florian Lipowitz and Remco Evenepoel all capable of riding into Paris near the top, the team can attack from multiple directions, at different moments, with different risk profiles.

Contador laid out the basic idea: “They have to play with their options. Roglic can take risks, Remco and Lipowitz will stay in the wheel. But if they lose time, they can change tactics.”

That is not a single strategy. It is a moving one.

Instead of defending one leader, Red Bull can force Pogacar to respond to several types of threat. Long-range moves. Short, explosive attacks. Steady pressure through numbers. Each one forces a different response.

Evenepoel did not move to Red Bull to become “the” leader. He moved to become a better one.

As Contador put it: “He has switched to a very good team, one that has everything in house.” He pointed to the environment around him, naming Roglic, Lipowitz, Hindley and Vlasov, and added that the team has “the right people to help Remco improve on the long climbs.”

That matters because Evenepoel’s Tour ambition has always been conditional. Not about whether he can win stages or time trials, but whether he can repeat high-mountain performances day after day.

Contador framed it as the real test: “We will see what Remco’s level is if he improves even more. Can he stay at the top every day in a Grand Tour with stages that have two or three big climbs?”

Inside Red Bull’s multi-leader system, Evenepoel does not have to answer that question alone. He can grow into it while still being part of the wider tactical machine.

Contador has lived through genuine leadership conflicts, most famously when Lance Armstrong returned to Astana. But he sees Red Bull’s situation as fundamentally different. “In my case, Armstrong had already won the Tour and came back to win it again. I had just won the Tour. But only one of us could take the overall victory, so that was difficult.”

Red Bull’s trio are aligned in ambition, not in hierarchy. None is returning to reclaim an old throne. All are still chasing the same one.

What makes that workable, in Contador’s view, is modern certainty. “You can see their values for the Tour. You can make a decision with much more certainty than 10 or 15 years ago.”

That allows Red Bull to adapt leadership as form changes, without burning the season on one early choice.

Contador does not pretend that numbers guarantee success. “If you want to beat Pogacar, you have to play with your possibilities,” he said. And then he added the reality check: “Otherwise it is difficult to beat Tadej when he is on form.”

That is why Red Bull’s approach cannot be passive. They cannot simply hope one rider reaches Pogacar’s level. They have to create situations where Pogacar is forced to solve several problems at once.

For Evenepoel, that is the real value of his move. Not being the sole hope. But being part of the pressure.

If Contador is right, Red Bull’s Tour will not be decided by choosing one leader. It will be decided by knowing when to use three.