"The team could split into two camps" - Jan Bakelants worried about leader overload at Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe

The move of Remco Evenepoel to Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe massively shifts the power distribution of GC teams as Primoz Roglic, Florian Lipowitz and Evenepoel should suddenly wear the same colours from 2026 onwards. This brings up a question of how will these three men - all with ambitions to win Grand Tour(s) - split up their goals. Ex-pro Jan Bakelants thinks this might be an impossible task even for such experienced tactician as is former Belgian national coach Sven Vanthourenhout.

"Timing-wise, this isn't the best moment for a move to Red Bull: Florian Lipowitz's breakthrough complicates everything," Bakelants tells Het Laatste Nieuws. "Two months ago, you'd have thought Remco would be the absolute leader, but now he's going to have to assert his position. He'll have to become the leader by pedaling. Because how do you distinguish between the two? I'm still convinced that an Evenepoel in top form is a better rider than Lipowitz, but does everyone see it that way?"

"Remco finished third in his first Tour, at 24. Lipowitz also finished third in his first Tour, at 24. Will the German let himself be pushed aside so easily? I suspect he can be appeased next year with the promise that he can be the star of the Giro or Vuelta, but in the future?"

Bakelants points out that Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe also has the talented Giulio Pellizzari and the experienced Primoz Roglic. "Sporting manager Sven Vanthourenhout will have a lot of work to get them on the same page," says Bakelants, who has more doubts.

"The team management hasn't yet proven they can use their resources efficiently," he concludes, based on the disappointing performances of several riders who arrived last winter, such as newly assembled Classics team.

"You don't come in humbly like that. It's almost a hostile takeover. Vanthourenhout's appointment, in particular, is a frontal attack on the existing team. Or at least, that's how it will seem to some. If you're not careful, the team could split into two camps. So, from a sporting perspective, it's best to hit the ground running for Evenepoel; that's the only way to get the existing riders on board with the Remco project."