Cycling's superteams were not created overnight, but seven months after welcoming new investment and a title sponsor, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe hopes to make 2025 a breakthrough year in its quest to become “the most attractive team in cycling.”

General.

When general manager Ralf Denk signed a deal for the energy drink giant to become the team's majority owner, he made it clear that “we have big goals, but not just the Tour de France. As 2025 approaches, Denk and his team have increased their budget and are confident that they have built a team that can win from January to October.

At the team's media day on Saturday, Denk and head sport director Rolf Aldag explained their plans for the upcoming season, saying that the new signings should allow them to be competitive in every race.

“We had a really great result in 2024 and overcame some difficulties. Next year, we always want to cover the Grand Tours in a competitive way - I believe we have the talent to do that,” Ardagh explained.

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“We feel that if we can get the most out of our talent with all our investments, and if we are not unlucky, we can be competitive in all the Grand Tours, and in all the one-day races.”

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe has already been “competitive” in three weeks of big races in 2024, with Dani Martinez, whom Aldag described as “the first human” after Tadej Pogachar, finishing second in the Giro d'Italia. He was also fourth in the Tour de France, but Primoš Roglic crashed out.

But with the new investment from Red Bull, they now know that they cannot just be a Grand Tour team, they need to win throughout the year to be on par with top teams like UAE Team Emirates and Visma Lease-a-Bike.

“We want to be attractive, so we can't just specialize in certain types of races,” Aldag said.

In the 2024 Monument, cycling's biggest five one-day races, they only had one top-10 finish, with Jordi Meeus finishing eighth in Paris-Roubaix. However, they were not particularly involved in the battle for the win, and a final attack by Matteo Sobrero in Milan-San Remo was completed.

The addition of new riders such as Lawrence Pitti, Oia Lazcano, brothers Mick and Tim Van Dyk, and Maxime Van Gils allowed Aldag and Denk to be in contention for the win throughout the one-day calendar. They are all proven riders, and while none of them can be called big names yet, they all have their eyes on the future.

“The newcomers are not superstars yet, but that's a good thing, they have a chance to develop into really valuable riders in the race,” Aldag said.

“It's really good to see the mental mindset of a team that wants to challenge the established (Wout) Van Aerts and the established (Mathieu) Van Der Poels.

“We are focused on the three (Grand Tours), but there is no race that is not important, so we are confident that we will be competitive in every race we go to. We feel we can cover the whole spectrum of cycling."

With Roglic confirmed for both the Giro and Tour, and their ambitions for the Vuelta led by the duo of Jai Hindley and Alexandre Vlasov, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe has only a slim chance of winning all three Grand Tours There should be no chance.

Of course, this is difficult to say the least, as Giro and Tour champion Tadej Pogachar is likely to combine the Tour and Vuelta, but Denk is thinking further ahead than next year.

“Five monuments, three Grand Tours, and a world champion--this is a great long-term goal for my project,” said CEO Denk.

In addition to new additions to the WorldTour team, CEO Denk is also focused on the development of Red Bull-Bohra-Hansgrohe, and plans to establish an under-23 team next year alongside the junior program. With the future as his number one priority, Denk believes this initiative is essential to maintaining his success and achieving his larger goal of a future Tour de France win.

“Talent development is the key to long-term success, and that's why we are doing this.

“In the long run, our vision and mission is to be the most attractive cycling team in the world. That's a high bar. I know that, but I am very ambitious.”

“What it means to be the most attractive cycling team in the world is, without a doubt, that we have to perform well sportively and to win the Tour de France, it is no secret that this is my long-term goal from a personal aspect.”