Eleven pros from Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe will compete in their first race of the season this week. From Wednesday to Sunday the team has a double racing schedule. While the GC riders will be preparing for the year's tasks at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (2.Pro) in Spain, some of the classics riders will be competing at the Etoile de Bessèges (2.1) in France.
This is only the second time in the team's history that a selection has competed in the small, five-day tour in the south of France. Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe will not only be represented by newcomers Jan Tratnik, Oier Lazkano and Maxim Van Gils, who will all be racing for the team for the first time. Jordi Meeus and Jonas Koch will also be making their season debut. They will be joined by Emil Herzog and Alexander Hajek, who have already raced in Mallorca last week. The race covers everything from potential sprint finishes to a mini mountaintop finish and a short individual time trial in the final stage.
Meanwhile, the tasks for the suqad racing in Spain are quite different. While Frederik Wandahl has already achieved a fourth place in Mallorca, the first days of racing await newcomer Gianni Moscon as well as Aleksandr Vlasov, Jai Hindley, Nico Denz, Giovanni Aleotti and Matteo Sobrero. And the first day of racing will be particularly challenging, with one of the few team time trials of the season awaiting the seven pros. While the queen stage, with a finish at over 1000 meters, follows immediately, the GC challenges ease off in the following days. Vlasov in particular has fond memories of the race. In 2022, he celebrated not only a stage win but also his first ever GC victory. He finished third a year ago, with Hindley fifth and Aleotti 13th to complete a strong team result.
