Red Bull appears to be targeting road cycling as its next major sporting conquest after reports the company has acquired a controlling 51% stake in the BORA-hansgrohe team were confirmed by Austria’s Federal Competition Authority (FCA).
BORA-hansgrohe manager Ralph Denk previously owned the controlling stake in the company.
The move will come as a surprise to few cycling insiders following the energy drinks company’s reported involvement in the move that brought Slovenian superstar Primož Roglič to BORA-hansgrohe on a multi-year deal at the close of the 2023 season.
Red Bull also previously sponsored a scouting program (Red Bull Junior Brothers) for BORA-hansgrohe’s junior team, and individually endorses one of the senior team’s riders, Anton Palzer.
Red Bull has long been actively involved in mountain biking as the title sponsor of Red Bull Rampage, but it appears the Austrian firm is now targeting road cycling as the next major project in its sporting empire.
Previously, Red Bull’s involvement in road cycling was limited to its minor projects with BORA-hansgrohe and Palzer, plus an individual sponsorship with Visma-Lease A Bike’s Belgian star Wout van Aert.
INEOS’ Tom Pidcock also has a deal with Red Bull, but exclusively for his cyclocross and mountain biking activities.
Credit: Kristof Ramon/Red Bull Content Pool
What does Red Bull’s involvement mean for BORA-hansgrohe?
As yet it is unclear whether BORA-hansgrohe will retain its current name, or undergo a rebrand to reflect the new ownership.
However, based on Red Bull’s track record of molding the sports teams it acquires to its image, it appears likely BORA-hansgrohe will be renamed in the near future. These moves have often proved controversial for Red Bull in the past.
Red Bull’s history of renaming sports teams
- Jaguar Formula 1 Team → Red Bull Racing (2004)
- SV Austria Salzburg (soccer club) → Red Bull Salzburg (2005)
- Minardi (Formula 1 team) → Scuderia Toro Rosso [Red Bull] (2006)
- New York MetroStars (soccer club) → New York Red Bulls (2006)
- SSV Markranstädt (soccer club) → Red Bull Leipzig (2009)
- Eishockeyclub München (ice hockey club) → EHC Red Bull München (2012)
- Clube Atlético Bragantino (soccer club) → Red Bull Bragantino (2020)
However, the rebrand is yet to be confirmed, and there have been cases in which Red Bull have refrained from major changes to a team’s image in the past, such as its sponsorship of rallying outfit Team Peugeot-Hansen.
BORA-hansgrohe also released a statement asserting that “Red Bull strives to complement the team’s portfolio of existing long-term main sponsors, who will remain on a long-term basis”, suggesting current title sponsors BORA and hansgrohe are in no hurry for the exit door.
While the team’s signing of Roglič all but confirmed their intention to be major players at the Tour de France in 2024, it was assumed that their focus on the spring Classics and other races would be diminished as a result, given their relatively limited resources.
While this investment likely comes too late to make a difference to BORA’s planning for the 2024 season, it may help beef up the squad for 2025 to compete across the entire cycling calendar.
