'Not much you can do without one of these superstars' – Why Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's new cobbled Classics squad isn't fully firing yet

After heavily investing in a new Spring Classics squad for 2025, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe haven't yet started firing on all cylinders, with the lack of a "superstar" seeing them limited to fighting for top 10s at races such as the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. 

Oier Lazkano, Laurence Pithie, and the Van Dijke twins Tim and Mick were brought in to bolster their squad's strength in the cobbled races, but so far, the best result for the team has been Jordi Meeus' ninth at Gent-Wevelgem. E3 Saxo Classic, Dwars door Vlaanderen and both races during Opening Weekend have all seen them fail to crack the top 10. 

But without someone like Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) or Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), it might be unfair to expect an instant synergy from the mostly new squad. 

However, aside from in Wevelgem, where they rode well together in the crosswinds, it's fair to say it has not quite been what the team had hoped for.

"Gelling is a process, but I have high expectations. Obviously, I would have liked things to gel directly already from Omloop Nieuwsblad onwards," Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe DS Heinrich Haussler told Cyclingnews on Wednesday. 

"But half of the group was in Down Under, then UAE, so we were missing some of them for Opening Weekend. Also, now we're chopping out and changing guys, with some being sick or not in form, so it's also not easy to combine that.

"It's really, it's easy to say, 'Hey, look, guys be in front for the climbs', but If you look at Lidl-Trek, for example, with the riders they have, it's been a process that they've been working on over several years, and it's a hard thing to do. The guys need to know each other in and out."

When Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team manager Ralph Denk spoke to the press at the start of the season, he stated, "We cannot isolate ourselves just specifically to a certain type of race", with the big-budget German team needing to perform throughout the year at one-day Classics and the Grand Tours

Now that the cobbled Classics are upon them, they aren't isolated, but they certainly aren't one of the top players yet. With Flanders only a day away and Paris-Roubaix arriving in eight days, anticipation with have to be the method they follow. 

"I mean, yes, if we get an opportunity, we have to anticipate, but sometimes it's not that easy – you can't just invent something," continued Haussler. "In the races these days, the finals are starting so early, and these top guys are just so strong there that it's it's a different bike race. 

"Personally, I'm hoping that these three or four guys," referring to Van der Poel, Pogačar, Pedersen and Van Aert, "they're going to end their career a little bit earlier and leave room for the others," he jokes.

"You cannot do anything, you know, and I love the way guys like Mathieu [van der Poel] ride, even years ago in cyclocross, the way they race and how they dominate, but it's just the way it is."

Haussler himself is no stranger to these races and the pressure which performing at the Monument Classics brings, as a former runner-up at both Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders in 2009. But the Australian believes Paris-Roubaix may be the team's best chance to show their potential.

"I think for Paris-Roubaix, anything is possible because you also need luck on the day. If you do manage to anticipate, once these big guns come from behind, maybe they'll be missing those big explosive watts," he told Cyclingnews. 

"Also in Paris-Roubaix,  just sitting on the wheel is a lot easier than on the Oude Kwaremont, on the Paterberg. So I see our chances as definitely better in a race like that compared to Flanders, especially with Pogačar back. You know they're going to make the race as hard as possible, and Tadej can just go off the front solo."

Without one of these real top Classics stars, it's slim pickings for those in the wheels.

"It's these top guys, to be honest, there's not really much you can do if you don't have one of these superstars – a Wout or Mads or Tadej or Mathieu," said Haussler. 

"It sounds very sad, but you're fighting just for a podium sport, or a fourth or a fifth"

Building for the future with Pithie and Lazkano

This is the reality that Denk and team Chief of Sport Rolf Aldag knew heading into 2025, uttering similar words about the team lacking one of the absolute best riders for the one-day calendar, however, also acknowledging that development will be key going forward.

"We do feel like with our new signings, they're not superstars yet, but that's a nice thing," said Aldag back in December. "Then we have a chance to develop them into really valuable players in the races."

With Pithie at just 22 and the Van Dijkes and Lazkano only being 25, there's certainly room to build them up into one of the best Classics squads, but work needs to be done, and experience has to be gained.

"Laurence is super young, and also that's also the idea bringing him to the Classics, to get more confident, with more road knowledge, more ability to read the race and knowing where to position himself," said Haussler.

"In the future, hopefully, he can also then fight for a win in Flanders or Roubaix. He's not far off, to be honest, and I honestly believe in Roubaix as anything is possible."

For Lazkano, who impressed in the cobbled Classics both last year and the year prior, with the best results of second at Dwars in 2023 and third at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in 2024, it's not been the easiest transition, with the Basque struggling in the hectic bunch.

"With Oier in the classics, even in the years before when he did do a result, it was either out of a breakaway or a long solo effort, or the group went already after 100 kilometres and he was he could move his way forward with his pure power," continued the DS.

"The racing these days is just becoming so much more hectic and stressful, more crashes, and all teams, they now have big guys who can drag race 600 watts and I think for the moment, that's just where Oier is struggling a little bit – with the positioning and fighting. 

"But hopefully, when we bring him back for Flanders, that's a race that suits him better because it's longer,and it's just harder with the distance, so he can ride his way to the front."

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe aren't quite firing yet at the Classics, but it takes time to build a well-oiled cobbled machine that the likes of Lidl-Trek, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Visma-Lease a Bike or UAE Team Emirates-XRG operate with.

Yes, they have the "superstar" riders, too, but it's the sum of all the parts that can really make the difference in these cobbled Monuments.