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.
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:
