"We have not been able to further develop the talents we have signed." Ralph Denk hopes to improve the impression of his team with a Giro d'Italia victory
Cycling
With five-time Grand Tour winner Primoz Roglic, there cannnot possibly be doubts about who will lead the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's charge at the upcoming Giro d'Italia. The Slovenian who has won Giro d'Italia in 2023 is also the go-to favourite this year with the Spanish riders Juan Ayuso and Mikel Landa as the main challengers.
In case of a victory, it wouldn't be the first time for the German WorldTour formation as they refer to Jai Hindley as the 2022 Giro winner. The Australian is also part of the selection, but this time comes to Corsa Rosa as a key support rider for Roglic.
"We have already won the Giro, have been on the podium in second place and would of course be happy to finish on the podium again," said team boss Ralph Denk in a press release, emphasizing his team's ambitious goals for the first three-week tour of the year.
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe made massive moves on the transfer market last winter, aiming to bolster the German team's Classics lineup with the signings of Maxim Van Gils, Oier Lazkano, Van Dijke twins or Laurence Pithie. However those goals were not met this spring. Chased by injuries and illness, the team rode an anonymous Classics campaign.
"We have not been able to further develop the talents we have signed," the German concluded, referring to disappointing results in races such as the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Denk's initial assessment of Red Bull's involvement as co-sponsor is nevertheless positive: The decision remains "very, very good." At the same time, however, he emphasized that there is still a lot of room for improvement internally. "As an organization grows, it becomes more complex to adjust the details. It takes time for all the small cogs to mesh smoothly," explained the team leader.
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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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- great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
- the time for a GC rider to retire is when they cannot win stages, or have a significant level drop like from winner/podium into top 5/10 consistently. Roglic is still competitive and Froome raced even though he became pack fodder.abstractengineer10-11-2026
- He should be in a different team. It was detrimental. For them it does not matter if he does not develop. He should have gone to a team where they need him to succeed.abstractengineer10-11-2026
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