There’s one obvious element missing from Team Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe announcement
There is a huge opportunity being lost
The world of pro cycling is all hearts aflutter over the now-confirmed prospect of Red Bull moving into road racing. Or, more specifically, men’s road racing. There’s good reason to be excited. The energy drink company has a decades-long history of moving into new sports and quickly being fiercely competitive with established teams. With Red Bull joining forces with Bora Hansgrohe, already a major player in pro men’s cycling, many expect the new team to rise up and challenge Visma/Lease-a-Bike’s dominance.
But there is one obvious element being overlooked in the official confirmation of the Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe team.
Along with confirming co-title sponsorship of Red Bull and Bora Hansgrohe, today’s announcement included news of a new under-23 squad for RB-BH. That will compliment the team’s existing U19 program. When it starts in 2025, it will give RB-BH, hopefully, a solid talent development pipeline to rival VLAB’s.
There’s one thing Visma/Lease-a-Bike has that, apparently, Red Bull and Borah Hansgrohe have no interest in. A women’s squad.
A glaring oversight
The lack of any women’s program is a glaring oversight for what will be one of the most high-profile and well funded teams on the World Tour. It is also a huge missed opportunity for the brand.
Women’s cycling is, to be clear, on the rise. With improved broadcast coverage, there are growing legions of fans and easy publicity among those thrilled they finally have an easy, or easier way to follow the sport. The top stars, like Demi Vollering, are signing contracts with global brands like Nike. Despite all this, even Vollering’s salary, surely among the highest in the women’s peloton, would be a bargain compared to adding a comparable athlete on the men’s side to join Primoz Roglic.
Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe won’t be alone among top World Tour teams that refuse to meaningfully engage in the women’s side of the sport. INEOS has only signed Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. That worked while she was focused on mountain biking. But, as GCN pointed out her recently stated desire to return to the road will put pressure on the powerhouse team to support her, or let her go.
Entering the sport as an exception, but not exceptional
Both squads are increasingly the exception, too. As mentioned, Visma/Lease-a-Bike includes a top women’s squad, which is currently enjoying the renaissance of of the tireless Marianne Vos. Fenix-Deceuninck isn’t just Mathieu van der Poel. It supports riders at the top of all three major disciplines: road, mountain bike and cyclocross, with its suite of stars including Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and 2023 XCO World Cup winner Puck Pieterse (among many others). Lidl-Trek, Movistar, UAE Team, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL all have matching World Tour and Women’s World Tour teams. EF Education now has a women’s program that is currently Continental but, if Alison Jackson keeps winning, won’t be for long. Jayco Alula has Liv Alula Jayco. Astana Qazakstan has Astana Dewi and Cofidis also has a Continental women’s quad. Groupama FDG has FDJ-Suez. UNO-X Mobility’s women’s squad is higher ranked than its men’s team.
Red Bull getting further into road racing should be exciting. But  I don’t think it’s out of place to expect any new major sponsor to be looking at supporting both halves of the sport. Especially a brand with the size, and public presence of Red Bull. If everyone’s all in a tizzy about what impact RB can have in the men’s peloton, just think of what the could do in the women’s field.
