Bora-Hansgrohe season preview: Transfers, goals & TOUR forecast for Bora-Hansgrohe
Andreas Kublik
· 16.02.2023
Bora-Hansgrohe: Keep up the good work!
The only German World Tour team has successfully completed its reorganisation. Following the departure of classics specialist Peter Sagan, team boss Ralph Denk had Rolf Aldag rebuild the squad to focus on winning tours. Successfully, as Jai Hindley's Giro victory showed. What will happen in 2023?
How 2022 went
Mission accomplished: It was actually a long-term project, but it worked straight away. In the 2022 season, the racing team entered the Giro d'Italia for the first time with the strategy of going all out to achieve at least one podium finish. The very first attempt at the Giro was a success: Jai Hindley decisively overtook rival Richard Carapaz at the final mountain finish in the Dolomites and kicked off a team party in pink around the Arena di Verona.
Stage wins by Hindley (2) and Lennard Kämna as well as seventh place overall for Emanuel Buchmann rounded off the successful project in Italy - even though all the top riders had many problems with illnesses and injuries in preparation. Remarkable. The classics went worse than expected due to the long-term illnesses of Nils Politt and Maximilian Schachmann. The returning sprinter Sam Bennett also got into his stride late, celebrating two stage wins at the Vuelta.
Among Bora-Hansgrohe's 30 victories this season, the Austrian Marco Haller's strong victory at the Cyclassics in Hamburg stood out. The newly signed Russian Aleksandr Vlasov also rode outstandingly over the course of the season, although he fell somewhat short of expectations at the Tour due to injury, but fought hard for fifth place overall.
Transfers at Bora-Hansgrohe
"We don't have money shooting out of the ground in black form," emphasised team owner Ralph Denk ahead of the new season. He has slowly developed his racing team over a decade and is certainly not throwing money around. Overall, the team has not been able to strengthen itself compared to the previous season.
Wilco Kelderman, one of the team's leaders in the long stage races and fifth in the 2021 Tour, was drawn back to his home country to Jumbo-Visma. The Austrian Felix Großschartner, ninth and tenth in the Vuelta in the Bora jersey, will be trying his hand at UAE Team Emirates. His compatriot Lukas Pöstlberger is moving to Australia to join Jayco-AlUla (previously BikeExchange).
Tour stage winner Bob Jungels from Luxembourg (from AG2R) and Nico Denz from the Black Forest (from DSM), who advertised himself with his stage win at the Tour de Suisse. Also new are MTB specialist Victor Koretzky (from the bankruptcy estate of B&B Hotels-KTM) and climber Florian Lipowitz (from Team Tirol).
Additions and departures at a glance
New additions for the 2023 season
- Bob Jungels (AG2R-CITROËN TEAM)
- Nico Denz (Team DSM)
- Florian Lipowitz (Tirol KTM Cycling Team)
- Victor Koretzky (B&B Hotels-KTM)
Departures
- Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates)
- Wilco Kelderman (Jumbo-Visma)
- Lukas Pöstlberger (Jayco-AlUla)
- Martin Laas (Astana Qazaqstan Team)
The goals for 2023
"The Tour is more in our heads than Roubaix or Flanders," says team boss Ralph Denk, looking to the future. The goals are therefore: success in the overall classification of the grand tours and stage wins. Rolf Aldag's team is continuing the GC team project in Italy. Vlasov will start there as captain. Goal: the podium. Lennard Kämna is also set to try his hand as a classification rider for the first time at the Giro.
The Tour is trying a double strategy: sprinter Sam Bennett, after winning two stages and the green jersey during his detour to Quick-Step, is now also set to be successful in France in Bora kit. Giro winner Jai Hindley is set to make his Tour debut; Emanuel Buchmann is also set to make his comeback in France after several years of setbacks, where he finished fourth overall in 2019.
Better than 2022 in the classics. An important project: getting Maximilian Schachmann fit again after his protracted fatigue syndrome. Then the Berlin-born rider will be able to show his class as an explosive all-rounder, especially in the Ardennes - and in Bob Jungels, they have a former Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner in their ranks.
TOUR forecast for Bora-Hansgrohe
Team Bora-Hansgrohe will continue to entertain German fans in the 2023 season. It will be particularly exciting to see how Kämna comes to terms with his new role as a classification rider. However, expectations should not be too high for the 26-year-old from Bremen, who always needs breaks to recover - just like Maximilian Schachmann, who has to overcome a protracted fatigue syndrome.
Vlasov is a podium candidate at the Giro, Bennett is good for many race wins and the Tour green jersey. There is also a lot of talent in the colourful new jerseys - the Belgian Avenir winner Cian Uijtdebroeks in particular is already raising great expectations in his home country of Belgium. Nils Politt, whose contract is coming to an end, will be able to set the course with successes as to whether team boss Ralph Denk will provide him with an escort for the cobblestone classics in the future or whether the collaboration will end after three years.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
