Inside Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s plan to dethrone Tadej Pogacar on the Tour de France

On Jan 1, 2025

EXCLUSIVE Tadej Pogacar was cycling’s all-conquering hero in 2024, but, in 2025, Red Bull’s Aleksandr Vlasov has admitted that ‘somebody can stop him’

20:19, 01 Jan 2025

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe will have to try and stop Tadej Pogacar this season(Image: Maximilian Fries / Red Bull Content Pool)

Storm clouds gathered over Lake Como as leaves turning golden brown fell from the trees.

Tadej Pogacar, clad in the rainbow jersey, looked around at his competition on the ascent of the Colma di Sormano and, with apparent ease, cycled away. The rainbow vanished into the mist; the rest of the peloton wouldn’t see him again until the finish line in Bergamo.

It was his final mark on the season, one in which the Slovenian superstar would become the first rider to win the Triple Crown (Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, and the World Championship) since 1987.

“That’s a difficult question,” Aleksandr Vlasov chuckled when asked by Daily Star Sport about how Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe plan to stop Pogacar in 2025. “As we saw this season, where he was super strong, he was the strongest without any doubt.

“But I think, sooner or later, we can do it, or somebody can do it; I don’t know, but I hope we can find a way to beat him!”

Aleksandr Vlasov joked it will tough to stop Tadej Pogacar(Image: Getty Images)

Vlasov was at the start line of the Tour de France last summer, as Pogacar painted his masterpiece in the Alps, the Pyrenees and the roads into Nice. He added, when asked if there’s a fear lining up alongside Pogacar: “Of course…all eyes on him.”

And Red Bull are now aiming to topple his dynasty this summer. Of course, the Tour de France isn’t the only race on the calendar – but it remains Red Bull’s main goal heading into the new season.

“I’ve already seen a lot of changes in this team,” Vlasov continued. “The team changed completely from the classics team with Peter [Sagan] to a GC team with the GC ambitions. The second change was Red Bull becoming the main sponsor.

UAE Team Emirates team's Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar celebrates his overall victory on the podium with the overall leader's yellow jersey after the 21st and final stage of the 111th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, a 33,7 km individual time-trial between Monaco and Nice, on July 21, 2024.

Tadej Pogacar was cycling’s all-conquering hero last year(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

“So now we have even bigger ambitions in the GC. As a team, we have a lot of good values, guys who can do well in GC and the big dream is to win the Tour [de France].

“They [Red Bull] invest a lot. We have a lot of say, quality staff members who bring new, new knowledge into the team, about nutrition, about air, about everything.”

Red Bull will rock up to Lille in July will all hopes pinned on Primoz Roglic. Roglic looked to be first ever Slovenian winner of the Tour in 2020, when a spectacular penultimate stage saw Pogacar spin the race on its head.

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Jai Hindley of Australia, Aleksander Vlasov of Russia and Primoz Roglic of Slovenia and Team Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe prior to the 111th Tour de France 2024, Stage 1 a 206km stage from Firenze to Rimini / #UCIWT / on June 29, 2024 in Firenze, Italy.

Jai Hindley, Aleksander Vlasov and Primoz Roglic are Red Bull’s three big stars(Image: Getty Images)

“Yeah, for sure, as a helper for Primoz,” Vlasov added when asked about his own ambitions. “I have my own chances too. I have a few stage races where I can show my personal result.

“I will try to be my best as a helper, because it’s very important for team, and for sure, I will do my maximum there and try to show that I can also score a good result in the GC.”

Exclusives Tour de France