You gotta feel for young Florian Lipowitz. No sooner had he risen above Primož Roglič in the leadership hierarchy at Red-Bull Bora-Hansgrohe than friggin’ Remco Evenepoel came along.
Top brass at Red Bull insist Evenepoel’s multi-million dollar arrival won’t clip the wings of its home hero Lipowitz or “OG” centerpiece Roglič.
But there could be some cruel compromises next year when Tour de France spaces are divvied out.
“We need to discuss how we’re going to approach the grand tours,” team manager Ralph Denk told the Sport am Samstag show. “It’s too early to say what it might mean for Roglič and others.
“Cycling isn’t like football, where you only have one lineup for every race. The team is different in the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España,” Denk continued.
“Once we know next year’s routes, we can start putting the pieces together.”
Remco Evenepoel Primoz Roglic Florian Lipowitz
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have got a super-team for 2026 ✨ pic.twitter.com/yNUTooAr3y
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) August 5, 2025
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe will have an embarrassment of stage-racing riches next year.
Sure, it won’t have Tadej Pogačar or Jonas Vingegaard. But it will have almost everybody else.
Lipowitz hit the Tour de France podium last month to confirm his status as a breakout star of the season.
Roglič is one of the most prolific stage racers of the active peloton.
And Remco, well, he’s “Golden Remco.”
He’s the crown jewel Red Bull hunted for years. The big money “Bulls” saw the 25-year-old as worthy of the second-biggest salary in cycling and a Belgian shakeup of its staffing structure.
And that’s before we mention Dani Martínez, Aleksander Vlasov, former Giro d’Italia winner Jai Hindley, and rising star Giulio Pelizzari.
Golden Remco and homegrown Lipo
An embarrassment of riches is a luxury problem.
How will Red Bull deal with its leadership overload?
Denk reconfirmed to Sport am Samstag that Roglič has a contract for 2026 – though there have been murmurs of a wild and wacky transfer to Movistar.
Either way, Rogla’s off-the-leash, laissez-faire joyride through the recent Tour de France suggests he’s just cashing his paycheck and waiting for retirement.
Meanwhile, Lipowitz’s coach John Wakefield insisted to Velo that Red Bull can balance the interests of Evenepoel and Germany’s great new hope.
“There’s enough racing to keep both of them happy,” Wakefield told Velo.
“I haven’t personally spoken to Remco yet, but Florian’s attitude is ‘give me a good race program, let me do my thing, and away we go.'”
Red Bull’s two wunderkinds are the last two riders to have joined Pogačar and Vingegaard on the podium of the Tour de France.
They’re both central to Red Bull’s future.
“With Florian, as long as he’s happy with his race calendar, he doesn’t really care,” Wakefield said. “He’s excited to have Remco on.”
Historic moment for German cycling: Florian Lipowitz (on the right) has just taken 3rd place overall in the 2025 Tour de France, becoming the first German on the podium since 2006.
At just 24, the German climber secures the white jersey as best young rider.#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/Z3eWGAro5u
— All about Germany | deutschland.de (@en_germany) July 27, 2025
Lipowitz holds a special status at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
He joined Bora-Hansgrohe in 2022 as stagiaire, rose through its development program, and packs the passport to match the team’s German-Austrian identity.
His rise has stoked a fire in German cycling fans after the nation’s long disillusionment with the sport. He’s already being hyped as the nation’s first Tour de France winner since Jan Ullrich.
But there’s only so much room for sentiment.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe wants to win the Tour de France, fast.
Evenepoel and Lipowitz will toe the party line: ‘You have a job to do, you do it’
Denk told Sport am Samstag it’s too early to say how – or if – Evenepoel, Roglič, and Lipowitz would dovetail next year at the Tour.
“We need to discuss internally how we’re going to approach the Tour de France and other races,” Denk said.
“Are we going for a single leader strategy, or are we going to choose a different approach?”
In likelihood, the very mild-mannered Lipowitz will have to trade outright TDF leadership for a role as Remco’s superdomestique.
The German will settle for a top role at the Giro d’Italia or Vuelta a España in return.
“Both Florian and Remco are super professional. They know what they need to do,” said Lipowitz’s trainer Wakefield.
“It [riding with others] has never been a problem for Florian. It wasn’t a problem last year at the Vuelta with Primož. Florian just did his job. At this level, you’re professional. You have a job to do, and you do it,” Wakefield told Velo.
“And there will be other races where they’ll get their own individual opportunities.”
Monuments, grand tours: Red Bull wants it all with Evenepoel
Denk and Wakefield wouldn’t be drawn into discussing potential intra-team polemica.
Heck, Evenepoel hasn’t even been sized-up for his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe skinsuit.
However, the two staffers are already relishing the blockbuster arrival of “Golden Remco” from his current team Soudal Quick-Step.
“You always want that type of rider on the team,” Wakefield said. “When you bring more good riders on, the whole level of the team picks up.
“That effect filters all the way down to riders, to staff, to everyone. Having someone like that elevates everyone.”
For Remco-era Red Bull, it’s super team status or bust.
“Remco is not just here for the Tour de France,” Denk told Sport am Samstag. “He’s also there for many one-day races, for the classics, where he’s achieved his greatest successes.
“We want to win one of them again, but we also want to have a lot of victories. I think Remco can help us with that.”
@EvenepoelRemco to ride for #redbullborahansgrohe starting 2026
➡️ Read the full story here: https://t.co/BCn55Rd8zU pic.twitter.com/vhwrgONknl
— Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe (@RBH_ProCycling) August 5, 2025
Roglič pushed Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe one step forward last season, but the squad’s all-new cobbles division punctured hard this spring.
Denk will be hoping Evenepoel’s hyper-profile arrival gives Red Bull the wings for a full lift-off.
“We want to become the most attractive team in the peloton and inspire many children. That’s our mission,” Denk said.
“We want to win a monument in 2026 and do well in the grand tours. We’d love to win a grand tour, like we did in 2024.”