Coup with German cycling team
Red Bull is about to take over Bora-hansgrohe
January 3, 2024, 5:39 p.m
A cycling coup is on the horizon: Red Bull is about to take over the majority of the German racing team Bora-hansgrohe. The cycling team confirms the desired partnership – and hopes to be able to close the gap to the top teams with a financially strong sponsor.
The German professional cycling racing team Bora-hansgrohe is facing a majority takeover by Red Bull. As a statement from the Austrian Federal Competition Authority shows, a “planned acquisition process” was registered on December 29, 2023.
Accordingly, the energy drink manufacturer, which is omnipresent in sports sponsorship, is planning to purchase 51 percent of RD pro cycling GmbH & Co. KG, run by Bora-hansgrohe team boss Ralph Denk, and RD Beteiligungs GmbH. Before the deal is completed, the takeover will be subject to antitrust review.
The currently best German team around drivers like Lennard Kämna, Emanuel Buchmann and newcomer Primoz Roglic confirmed the desired partnership in the afternoon. “As a partner of team manager Ralph Denk’s operating company, Red Bull will complement the portfolio of existing long-term main sponsors who continue to be committed to the team in the long term,” it said in a statement. The planned joint venture has been registered with the responsible competition authority. No further comment will be made on the subject for the time being, “as we do not want to pre-empt the ongoing review by the Federal Competition Authority.”
It would be the next coup for the German team after the team had just been able to sign the Giro d’Italia winner Roglic from Slovenia for the new season. With the entry of the financially strong sponsor, Denk may also be able to close the gap to the top teams such as Visma-Lease a Bike, UAE or Ineos, which have dominated cycling in recent years.
Red Bull, which acts as a major sponsor in Formula 1 (its own racing team) and football (including the RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg teams), has so far operated partnerships with individual drivers in cycling. In addition to the German Bora-hansgrohe professional Anton Palzer, these also include the top stars Wout van Aert (Belgium) and Thomas Pidcock (Great Britain).