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Stephen Farrand

Bora-Hansgrohe to roll out Red Bull branded kits, bikes before Tour de France

Red Bull athlete Anton Palzer of Bora-Hansgrohe.

Red Bull will become a title sponsor of the Bora-Hansgrohe team and unveil new red colours before this year's Tour de France, Cyclingnews understands.

The new kit and bikes are expected to be revealed before the biggest race of the season to give Red Bull maximum visibility as they begin their plans to become a major super team in the sport.

Several sources have told Cyclingnews and La Gazzetta dello Sport that Red Bull will join the team's new title sponsors Bora and Hansgrohe in the summer, with a new team identity and colours based on Red Bull's branding.

UCI rules allow a team to have three title sponsors, and Bora and Hansgrohe have agreed to accept Red Bull as a title sponsor and stay with the team due to their close relationship with Team Manager Ralph Denk.

The Red Bull logo includes two red fighting Red Bulls clashing their horns with a yellow sun in the background and the logo is expected to dominate the new look currently being designed for the team.

The team use Specialized bikes and the US brand is keen to provide new red bikes in a throwback to Specialized's original bike colours and branding.

Italian brand Sportful produces the racing clothing for the team and are apparently already working on the new design, so the new kit can be produced in time for the Tour de France.

Red Bull was given the green light by Austrian antitrust authorities to buy a 51% stake in the men's WorldTour team at the end of January.

Denk, who successfully developed the team from his bike shop and mountain bike team in southern Germany, apparently secured several million euros from Red Bull from the sale of 51% of the team but will remain as team manager for a number of years.

Primož Roglič joined the team from Jumbo-Visma for 2024 and will target the Tour de France. The team's 2024 roster also includes Australian sprinter Sam Welsford, Aleksandr Vlasov, Dani Martínez, Jai Hindley, Lennard Kämna and Bob Jungels.

The arrival of Red Bull in professional cycling is predicted to have a 'major impact' on the rider transfer market for 2025, according to leading rider agent Alex Carera.

Reports in Germany suggest that Oliver Mintzlaff, the managing director of sports sponsorship at Red Bull, expects the team will be strengthened and rebuilt for 2025 with the aim of winning the Tour de France.

"The arrival of Lidl as a title sponsor changed a lot for the 2024 rider market, raising team budgets, and so has the more recent arrival of Decathlon. The arrival of Red Bull will only raise the value of the biggest riders even more," Carera told Cyclingnews recently.

Denk spoke cautiously before the Austrian antitrust authorities had approved the deal but hinted that Red Bull could be a game changer.

"It could be a strategic and big partnership that will help us to grow and reach our goals," Denk said.

"In the last few years cycling has changed a lot and Arabian countries have more influence. If you look at the budgets of the teams, the average grows and grows every year, so we have to react.

"My goal is to run a team that is really competitive. The arrival of Red Bull looks like it could be the next step forward for us."

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