Bora-Green in the forefront at the Giro d’Italia: On the 2nd stage, Daniel Martinez (m.) and Thomas Lipowitz (l.) came second and fifth.
Photo: imago/Sirotti
The professional cycling team Bora-hansgrohe started the Giro d’Italia with two second places. This is one of the best starts to a Grand Tour in the team’s history. Previously, in the early stages of the Giro, Tour de France or Vuelta a España, Peter Sagan, Sam Bennett or Pascal Ackermann were more likely to achieve sprint victories. The second places were first achieved by Maximilian Schachmann on a moderately difficult part of the day in Turin and by Daniel Felipe Martínez the following day at the mountain finish in Oropa. This is a leap in quality.
That wasn’t enough to earn the title of the best racing team in the world. However, this has definitely become the declared goal of the Raubling racing team, which can increase the annual budget from around 25 million euros to a good 45 million with the entry of the energy drink producer Red Bull. The measure of all things is currently the UAE Emirates team with the Giro favorite Tadej Pogačar in its ranks. The Slovenian already took the pink jersey of the overall leader with one of his feared starts.
Team Ineos, the dominant racing team of the previous decade as Team Sky, is currently even more successful. Ineos professional Jhonatan Narváez grabbed the first pink jersey of this edition of the Giro. And in the overall ranking, his captain Geraint Thomas is in second place. At the same time as the leader of the Bora troupe, Martínez, but still ahead of him. These two top teams already have around 45 million euros annually.
What is remarkable is that Bora achieved the respectable successes at the Giro before the big money from the new majority owner could even take effect. The drivers are now in a correspondingly good mood. “Our performances give us more self-confidence as a team,” said Martínez. In his second place on the stage behind Pogačar on the climb to the Santuario di Oropa, he also benefited from strong help from debutant Florian Lipowitz.
The team strength is undisputed. Maximilian Schachmann was also satisfied. “You can see what you can achieve if you stay healthy and build up your form properly,” said the Berliner, referring to the past year and a half, in which injuries had repeatedly set him back.
Does the competition now fear that with an even more powerful sponsor behind them, a new dominance will soon arise in Upper Bavaria? None of the main rivals are yet to express any major concerns. The joy that prevails is that another global company is discovering cycling. »No, I’m not afraid of anything. It’s good that such a big brand is coming into cycling,” said the Dutchman Richard Plugge, team boss of Visma, to “nd”. »You will also bring in a lot of expertise from other sports, especially from Formula 1. Everyone can benefit from this. And competition is always good in a competitive sport.« His racing team won all three major national tours in Italy, France and Spain last season. However, after the crashes of Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert and the departure of Primož Roglič to Bora, the Giro is without a real captain at the start.
The current industry leader UAE is also particularly excited about the broadening economic basis for the entire field. »Red Bull’s commitment shows that cycling has become global. I think that they will also have a good return on investment,” said UAE manager Mauro Gianetti, referring to the well-known high advertising value of cycling, especially at the Tour de France.
They don’t have to be afraid that their squad will now be bought out by their German opponents. At least that’s what Bora’s team manager Ralph Denk assures: “We won’t waste the money and go on a big shopping spree. Rather, our approach is to improve the infrastructure and thus become attractive. This may even lead to one or two racing drivers signing with us at slightly below market value because they recognize such a good environment in which they can improve themselves.
A squad restructuring is still due in the winter. Denk assumes there will be “a good handful of new arrivals”. He has leeway. Only 12 of 29 drivers have contracts beyond the end of the year. So 17 have to worry about their places in the team. And given the higher budget, some are apparently starting to gamble for higher salaries through their agents. “There have already been such requests,” confirmed Denk. “But we will say categorically: “No,” he announced in the nd conversation. The money should flow primarily into structures and not excessively into higher salaries.
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