Cycling's super teams were not built overnight, however, seven months on from their new investment and title sponsor coming on board, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are hoping that 2025 can be the year to kick on in pursuit of becoming "cycling's most attractive team."
When General Manager Ralph Denk made a deal for the energy drinks giant to become the majority owner of his team, he made sure to state that "we have big, big goals but the Tour de France isn't the only goal." As 2025 approaches, Denk and the team are now certain they've built a squad capable of winning right from January through to October with their increased budget.
Speaking at the team's media day on Saturday, Denk and head sports director Rolf Aldag laid out the plans for next season and detailed how their newest signings should allow them to be competitive in every race they attend.
"In 2024, we had some really great results, and we also overcame some difficulties. Next year, we definitely want to cover the Grand Tours in a way that we are always competitive - we do believe we have that talent," explained Aldag.
"If we can get the maximum out of our talent, with all the investment, and we're not followed by bad luck, then we feel like we can be competitive in all Grand Tours, plus the one-day races."
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were already 'competitive' at all the big three-week races in 2024, taking second at the Giro d'Italia through Dani Martinez, who Aldag described as the "first of the humans" behind Tadej Pogačar. They were also sat fourth at the Tour de France before Primož Roglič's crash, from which he bounced back with victory at the Vuelta a España.
But with the new investment from Red Bull, they know they now can't just be a Grand Tour team and need to be winning all year round if they are to rival the likes of UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike for the top spot.
"We want to be attractive, so we cannot isolate ourselves just specifically to a certain type of race," said Aldag.
In the 2024 Monuments, cycling's biggest five one-day races, they managed just one top-ten finish, with Jordi Meeus taking eighth at Paris-Roubaix. However, they weren't even, particularly, in the fight to win one - their closest being a last-gasp attack from Matteo Sobrero at Milan-San Remo which was closed down.
With new singings such as Laurence Pithie, Oier Lazkano, the Van Dijke brothers Mick and Tim, and Maxim Van Gils, Aldag and Denk are assured they can now be in the running throughout the one-day calendar. They are all proven riders, none quite the biggest names yet, however, there's a big eye on the future with all of them.
"We do feel like with our new signings, they're not superstars yet, but that's a nice thing, that we have a chance to develop them into really valuable players in the races," said Aldag.
"It's really good to see that mental mindset in the team that we want to challenge the established [Wout] Van Aerts and established [Mathieu] Van der Poels and we feel that the new generation with Laurence Pithie, with [Oier] Lazkano, and then in the Ardennes later with Maxim [Van Gils], we feel like we are in the position to do that.
"We have a focus on the three [Grand Tours] but also, we're pretty confident that we will be competitive everywhere we go in every race because there are no non-important races. We feel that we can cover the whole range of cycling."
With Roglič confirmed to be doing both the Giro and Tour and their Vuelta ambitions being led by a combination of Jai Hindley and Aleksandr Vlasov, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe should have a slim chance at winning all three Grand Tours.
Of course, with the dominance of reigning Giro and Tour winner Tadej Pogačar, who looks likely to combine the Tour with the Vuelta, this will be a tall order to say the least, however, Denk is thinking further ahead than just next year with his ambitions.
"Five monuments, three Grand Tours and the world champion - this would be a nice long-term goal for my project," said CEO Denk.
He's not only invested in new signings for the WorldTour team but also put a lot of effort into the development pathway for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, who will have an under-23 team alongside their junior programme next year. With the future at the forefront of his mind, Denk sees this as vital in maintaining success and achieving his huge target of winning the Tour de France in future years.
"We believe talent development is really the key to long-term success and that's why we do this," he said.
"In the long term, our vision and mission is to be the most attractive cycling team in the world. It's a high level. I know this, but I'm very ambitious about this.
"What that means - the most attractive cycling team in the world - definitely, you have to perform well sporting-wise, and to win the Tour de France, it is not a secret that this is a long-term goal from my personal side."
