{"id":66018,"date":"2025-08-13T07:45:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T07:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/66018\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T07:45:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T07:45:07","slug":"vanthourenhout-set-for-incredibly-specific-role-supporting-remco-evenepoel-at-red-bull-bora-hansgrohe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/66018\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanthourenhout set for incredibly specific role supporting Remco Evenepoel at Red Bull \u2013 BORA \u2013 hansgrohe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, cycling\u2019s worst kept secret was finally
\nconfirmed: Remco Evenepoel<\/a> will join Red Bull \u2013 BORA \u2013 hansgrohe in 2026. The
\nBelgian star will not be making the move alone. Mattia Cattaneo, sports
\ndirector Klaas Lodewyck, and two other staff members from Soudal \u2013 Quick-Step
\nare also expected to join him. Perhaps the most notable name among the incoming
\nstaff is Sven Vanthourenhout<\/a>, the former Belgian national coach. Yet, according
\nto La Gazzetta dello Sport, his position may be more limited than originally
\nanticipated. Instead of taking on a broad leadership role, Vanthourenhout is
\nexpected to serve primarily as a sporting director, focusing closely on
\nEvenepoel\u2019s race program.<\/p>\n

Vanthourenhout, 44, comes into the role with an accomplished
\nbackground in cyclocross. Born in Bruges, Belgium, he won bronze medals at the
\ncyclocross world championships in 2004 and 2005. His tenure as Belgian national
\ncoach yielded 99 medals across both cyclocross and road cycling, cementing his
\nreputation as a successful and influential figure in the sport. Following his
\ndeparture from the Belgian cycling federation, he was linked with multiple
\nhigh-profile teams. At the end of last year, discussions took place with both
\nSoudal Quick-Step and BORA, but only recently did he finalize an agreement with
\nthe German WorldTour outfit.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Sporza, Vanthourenhout confirmed the
\nmove, saying, \u201cI will indeed be joining Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe straight away.
\nI\u2019ll be involved in all departments, from the development team to the WorldTour
\nteam.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

His initial remarks suggested a wide-ranging role within the
\norganization, supporting riders across multiple levels of the team. However, La
\nGazzetta now reports that BORA intends to appoint Briton Zak Dempster,
\ncurrently at INEOS Grenadiers, as the team\u2019s sporting manager.<\/p>\n

Importantly, Dempster\u2019s position would give him broader
\noversight of the squad\u2019s sporting operations, enabling him to maintain impartiality
\nwhen managing top leaders like Evenepoel, Lipowitz, and Roglic. Given Roglic is
\na five time grand tour winner, and Lipowitz just won the white jersey and
\nfinished third at the 2025 Tour, there could very well be internal tensions
\nover leadership at the team.<\/p>\n

Under this structure, Vanthourenhout\u2019s work would shift
\ntoward a more specialised role. Rather than being deeply involved in the
\noverall strategy for every rider, he would concentrate on guiding Evenepoel
\nthrough targeted races. Evenepoel is coming off of a difficult summer, where
\ndespite winning stage 5 of the Tour and spending time in the white jersey, he
\nwas forced to abandon after 3 hellish days in the Pyrenees. More than anything,
\nEvenepoel needs a smooth winter to acclimatise with his new team, preferably
\nwithout crashing into any vans\u2026<\/p>\n

This arrangement could prove beneficial for the Belgian
\nstar, giving him a dedicated figure within the team to refine his race approach
\nwhile leaving the broader strategic balance to Dempster. For BORA, it
\nrepresents a move to balance the needs of multiple high-profile leaders without
\ncompromising the attention given to each.<\/p>\n

Overall, it\u2019s a positive headache for a team to have
\nmultiple riders capable of leadership. And, for Evenepoel, it is a huge
\ncontrast from his situation at Quick-Step, where there were simply not enough
\nstrong riders to support him in the high mountains.<\/p>\n

The confirmation of Evenepoel\u2019s transfer and the
\naccompanying staff shake-up signals a significant restructuring for Red Bull \u2013
\nBORA \u2013 hansgrohe. The team appears intent on building a support system tailored
\nto maximizing the potential of its leaders, while also managing the dynamics
\nbetween them. With the arrival of Evenepoel, Vanthourenhout, and other key
\nfigures, they look set to be the team to watch in the early part of the season.
\nCan Vanthourenhout help Evenepoel take his game to the next level in 2026?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this month, cycling\u2019s worst kept secret was finally confirmed: Remco Evenepoel will join Red Bull \u2013 BORA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-66018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}