"We don't have to fear anyone" - Van Dijke twins headline RB Bora's super-ambitious sprint train
Cycling
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe were able to pick up handful of strong signings on the transfer market. We're yet to see which will play out the best, but maybe they'll hit jackpot with two classicsmen: the Dutch Van Dijke twins Mick and Tim.
"Our focus is mainly on the classics," Mick van Dijke confirms the plan for 2025 in an interview for In de Leiderstrui. "Tim and I both performed well there last season, both in service of and for example in Paris-Roubaix, where we got the chance ourselves due to circumstances. That made us enthusiastic and that is why we want to investigate further. There is a lot of confidence from the team, so we will do everything we can to get ourselves well prepared for the start."
Danny van Poppel, regarded by many as one of, if not the best leadout in the current peloton, complimented his new teammates, stating that he would put both twins in his dream sprint train. Is that gonna be a focus next year?
"Well, the classics are unfortunately only about six weeks a year, so we will also be able to do a lot of work in the service of sprinters or a classification rider," Mick notes. "We will be working a lot with Danny, and we can handle all positions well. If you look at the riders for the sprint train in this team, we don't have to fear anyone. We will normally get our sprinter in position very well, at least that's what I expect."
Perhaps the only missing piece is a top-class sprinter. Can Sam Welsford fulfill that role? "Sam is very fast, he didn't win three stages in the Tour Down Under for nothing last season. He's a real sprinter, so if we can get him on track..." Tim van Dike puts faith in his new sprint leader. "We'll have to get used to each other first."
The two already got to learn the ropes of sprint preparation at Visma | | Lease a Bike with Olav Kooij as last man. "At Visma, Olav Kooij and we were a well-oiled machine, we knew exactly what we were going to do. That's how we won many sprints," Tim points out about their cooperation. Their paths now split: "We will miss him in any case. The three of us did everything together for five years, from young promising riders to that stage win in the Giro in May."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
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