"Too simplistic to say that Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock will soon move" - Red Bull unlikely to bring their sponsored riders to BORA - hansgrohe
Cycling
The recent announcement that global drinks conglomerate, Red Bull had acquired a majority stake in BORA - hansgrohe, sent shockwaves through the peloton. With a number of top riders also sponsored by the company, could they too soon join BORA - hansgrohe?
"It really seems too simplistic to me to say that Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock will quickly move to BORA - hansgrohe," says rider agent Dries Smets in conversation with Sporza. "Van Aert and Pidcock have a contract with their teams and an individual partnership with Red Bull, but one is not necessarily linked to the other."
"Red Bull will own 51 percent of Bora-Hansgrohe. They will want to expand that team and perhaps they will want to phase out individual agreements," Smets continues. "But I would not say that Van Aert or Pidcock will de facto end up with the German team. Especially because there are still ongoing commitments with their current teams."
Primoz Roglic has made the switch to BORA - hansgrohe though and Smets believes Red Bull may have played a part in that deal. "I suspect so, even though I am not an involved party in this case. But I understood from the wings that Red Bull was behind the wheel and that it has made a financial effort. That is a first sign of the team's financial strength," Smets explains.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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If Red Bull owns a team in Bora-hansgrohe, can they also sponsor riders on rival teams like Van Aert, Pidcock etc? It does pose a potential conflict of interest and there's a UCI rule for that. It says "no" at first sight but exceptions can be granted:
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