Cycling
Primož Roglič leads Red Bull’s Tour hopes as a German rider makes his debut
Florian Lipowitz debuts at the Tour de France, with Primož Roglič leading the charge – can they achieve the team’s big goal?
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe have unveiled their eight-rider squad for the 2025 Tour de France, with the team focused on securing a podium finish for GC hope Primož Roglič.
The Slovenian – who already has four La Vuelta titles and a Giro d’Italia pink jersey, as well as three more Grand Tour podiums – is targeting his ninth Grand Tour top-three finish, and has a team hand-picked specifically to help him achieve his aims.
"With Primož, we have the luxury of having one of the most successful Grand Tour riders in our team. He’s focused, motivated, and in top form," said Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe’s Chief of Sports, Rolf Aldag. "When Primož Roglič lines up for a Grand Tour, the podium is always the goal.
With Primož, we have the luxury of having one of the most successful Grand Tour riders in our team
"Our team strength will be especially critical in the first half of the race – five riders are dedicated to guiding our three climbers safely toward the Pyrenees. In the high mountains, individual class will make the difference. That’s our race plan – and our guiding principle for the next three weeks.
"To get there, we’ve taken a very individualised approach to preparing all eight riders. Everyone is arriving in the best possible shape."
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Red Bull - BORA – hansgrohe announce 2025 Tour de France squad
Florian Lipowitz will be taking on the Tour de France for the first time
© Oriol Castello/Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe made their Tour de France 2025 team announcement last Friday (June 27), eight days before the Grand Tour’s Grand Départ in Lille on July 5. From Lille, the race’s course will stay completely in France for the first time since 2020, taking in iconic climbs in the Pyrenees and the Alps like the Col du Galibier and Mont Ventoux before concluding on the cobbled circuit of the Champs-Élysées in Paris on July 27.
The eight-strong Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe line-up tackling this year’s Tour de France are:
- Primož Roglič
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Primož Roglič leads GC ambitions at the Tour de France
Primož Roglič has his sights set on the top of the GC
© RCS Sports & Events/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe’s GC strategy at the Tour de France is centred around team leader Primož Roglič. The 35-year-old Slovenian is one of the most successful general classification riders in the peloton – winning a Giro d’Italia and four La Vueltas a España (including one with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe in 2024) – and he is targeting another Tour de France podium with the ultimate dream the yellow jersey – completing his Grand Tour set, and becoming only the eighth rider in history to do so.
He has six Tours de France under his belt already, and has come close in the past, finishing fourth in 2018 and second behind compatriot Tadej Pogacar in 2020. He also has three stage wins at the iconic race, and has worn the yellow jersey numerous times already – so knows what it takes to secure and defend the lead.
After crashing out of this year’s Giro d’Italia, there became only one goal for the rest of the season – Primož Roglič: Tour de France 2025 podium finisher.
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Florian Lipowitz and Aleksandr Vlasov anchor the mountain support
Aleksandr Vlasov will hope to shine at high altitude
© Kristof Ramon/Red Bull Content Pool
To assist Roglič’s GC bid, the team leader needs support when the race reaches the mountains. Here, mountain domestiques – riders who specialise in climbing – will play a vital role in assisting the Slovenian in a number of ways. If defending the yellow jersey, they can be used to chase down rival teams’ attacks and provide shelter and a wheel to follow on a climb; if on the attack, they can set a ferocious pace in an attempt to burn out other GC contenders’ mountain domestiques, leaving the competition on their own and exposed.
The mountain domestiques for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe have a mix of experience that should serve Roglič well in both the Pyrenees and the Alps. Aleksandr Vlasov will be making his third Tour start, and has shown he can compete himself on the biggest stage with a best finish of fifth in 2022. Meanwhile, Florian Lipowitz’s Tour de France debut comes after a breakthrough 12 months for the young German, which includes seventh in 2024’s La Vuelta, second at Paris-Nice and third in the Tour de France warm-up, Critérium du Dauphiné.
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Jordi Meeus brings sprint firepower to the 2025 line-up
Jordi Meeus is the squad's sprint specialist
© Sebastian Marko/Red Bull Content Pool
While the main focus for the team will be protecting Roglič and his GC bid, there will also be something to play for on the race’s seven flat stages, with Belgian sprinter Jordi Meeus part of the squad.
The 27-year-old has already proven himself at the French Grand Tour, winning on the Champs-Élysées in 2023, and will be targeting a second stage win as early as the Grand Départ in Lille. He is the next big hope of Tour de France sprinters for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, and will be looking to emulate Peter Sagan’s five career victories for the team.
To help him, Jordi Meeus’s sprint train will include Classics specialist Gianni Moscon, all-rounder Mick van Djick and lead-out man Danny van Poppel.
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From Sagan to Roglič: BORA – hansgrohe’s Tour de France legacy
Jai Hindley won Stage 5 in 2023; one of the team's 11 Tour de France wins
© RCS Sports & Events/Red Bull Content Pool
While Red Bull’s cycling team history only started when it became a main sponsor of Ralph Denk’s team at last year’s Tour de France, the squad itself first competed in the iconic Grand Tour in 2014 – when it was then called Team NetApp - Endura and its GC hope, Leopold König, came seventh.
After disappointing Tours in 2015 and 2016, Peter Sagan’s signing in 2017 shifted the team’s focus to the points jersey, and the Slovenian secured the first of BORA - hansgrohe’s Tour de France wins on stage three. Disqualification the following day prevented him from winning any more that year, but it wasn’t long before Maciej Bodnar secured the team’s second, winning stage 20’s individual time trial.
The following year, Sagan secured the teams’ third, fourth and fifth Tour de France wins en route to the green jersey, and added his fifth and final victory for BORA - hansgrohe (and the team’s six) when successfully defending the points classification in 2019.
From 2020, the team’s focus shifted back to the GC, but stage wins have continued to come in all shapes and forms – from Nils Politt and Patrick Konrad’s solo attacks in 2022 to Jai Hindley’s mountain escape and Jordi Meeus’s sprint finish in 2023. With 11 Tour de France wins to date, and Red Bull firmly on board, expect the team to crack a dozen by the end of July.