Ben Zwiehoff extends his contract: Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe is backing him

According to a press release, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe has secured Ben Zwiehoff’s long-term future with the team. However, the exact duration has not been specified. The 32-year-old’s contract runs beyond 2026. Zwiehoff switched from mountain biking to road cycling in 2021 and completed his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España, where he finished 47th overall.

Ben Zwiehoff: Role as a helper

Zwiehoff has made a name for himself as a domestique. He makes a difference in stages of races that are often not shown on television. In 2022, he was part of the support team for Jai Hindley at the Giro d’Italia, where Hindley went on to win the race. Zwiehoff himself finished 51st in the general classification. In 2026, he once again supported Hindley at the Giro, where the Australian finished on the podium. Across five Grand Tours, the German demonstrated his importance to the team’s leaders.

Zwiehoff himself says: “I feel extremely at home here, which is why extending my contract means so much to me. Cycling is a highly team-oriented sport: you can have the strongest leader in the race – but if the team doesn’t manage certain situations, things will eventually get difficult for the captain. It’s precisely this work that I really enjoy – and I’ve still got plenty of plans for this team.”

Zak Dempster, Chief of Sports at Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, explains: "Ben is exactly the sort of rider every successful team needs. He is experienced, extremely reliable and looks after his team-mates both on and off the bike. This work often doesn’t show up in the results, but for our captains it’s crucial every single day. We’re all the more delighted that we’re continuing on this path together.”

Ben Zwiehoff’s own results

Zwiehoff finished eighth overall in the 2023 UAE Tour. It was his best result to date in a UCI WorldTour race. At the 2023 Czech Tour, he finished second on the final stage and also moved up to second place in the general classification, behind his team-mate Florian Lipowitz. At the 2023 Presidential Cycling Tour of Türkiye, he finished second in the general classification and took second place on one stage. In 2025, he won the mountains classification at the Tour de Romandie.

Other results: Fifth place in the 2024 Giro della Toscana, seventh place in the general classification of the 2023 Tour of Slovenia and the 2023 Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, ninth place in the 2025 Tour of Guangxi, and 13th place in the 2024 Tour Down Under. He won a stage at the 2026 Sauerland Tour.

​From mountain biking to road cycling

Born in Essen, he studied law at Ruhr University Bochum whilst competing in cross-country races. In 2015, he won the European Championship title in the relay alongside Manuel Fumic, Helen Grobert and Maximilian Brandl. At the 2014 and 2016 European Championships, the German relay team won silver and bronze. In the cross-country event at the 2016 U23 European Championships, Zwiehoff finished fourth; at the U23 World Championships that same year, he came seventh. In 2019, he won silver at the German Cross-Country Championships.

In autumn 2019, contact was established with Bora-hansgrohe. Following an assessment of his performance data and a training camp, both sides agreed that Zwiehoff should initially prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games with the Centurion-Vaude MTB team. A stint as a stagiaire on the road was then planned. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented both plans from going ahead. The team management saw Zwiehoff as a climber and, at the age of 26, offered him a full contract for the 2021 season.