![\"matteosobrero](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/matteosobrero-2-669f9c6b09ee0.jpg@webp.webp\")
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\n\u201cThey don\u2019t just want to be among the best \u2014 they want to be the best\u201d<\/p>\n
Sobrero admitted that the search for marginal gains within Red Bull \u2013 BORA \u2013 hansgrohe is relentless, involving an array of specialists brought in from other elite sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really feel that pursuit of the extreme inside the team,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut to be honest \u2014 and this isn\u2019t a criticism \u2014 it\u2019s nothing entirely new. The same thing happens in other top teams. INEOS Grenadiers were the first to invest heavily in nutrition; then Team Visma | Lease a Bike took it another step further with Asker Jeukendrup, and others gradually followed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Red Bull model, he said, reflects the modern philosophy of top-level cycling \u2014 staying not just up to date, but one step ahead. \u201cIt\u2019s the current philosophy in cycling: keeping up with the times, and for the best teams, trying to anticipate them. Red Bull has invested huge amounts in other sports and now it\u2019s doing the same in cycling, focusing on areas where it believes there\u2019s still room to improve. They don\u2019t just want to be among the best, they want to be the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Sobrero noted that the drive for excellence has come with a cost. \u201cCompared to other teams \u2014 even international ones \u2014 there\u2019s a more corporate atmosphere here. That old sense of familiarity has faded. Especially this past year, you could feel that shift. Everyone has their own area of expertise and gives everything within that space.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Sobrero in action<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good part is the level; the bad part is losing the human touch\u201d<\/p>\n
For Sobrero, the investment in people and technology has elevated performance standards across the board \u2014 but also distanced riders from one another. \u201cI worked well with everyone, but that\u2019s how it is in the big teams,\u201d he said. \u201cThe good thing is that huge investment pushes everyone higher; the downside is that the human side gets lost. Teams now have nearly 200 people \u2014 there are staff you meet at the first training camp in October and never see again all year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Behind the scenes, the team\u2019s performance department is headed by renowned former triathlon coach Dan Lorang, with Jeukendrup managing nutrition and other experts like Dan Bigham (aerodynamics) and Peter Kl\u00f6ppel (mental coaching) also involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cLorang comes from triathlon, where he was a real guru,\u201d Sobrero said. \u201cHe organises and supervises all the other coaches. He\u2019s someone who\u2019s constantly researching, studying, updating methods \u2014 a researcher of research. If Red Bull wasn\u2019t performing, he\u2019d step in to find out why.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is measured to the gram\u201d<\/p>\n
That same analytical mindset extends to food. \u201cWe Italians come from a culture that naturally keeps us balanced,\u201d Sobrero explained. \u201cWe eat well and in moderation, and that was something they also recognised at Red Bull. The only difference is that there, balance is measured to the gram.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under Jeukendrup\u2019s guidance, riders use the \u2018Food Coach\u2019 app to log every meal and portion, connecting them directly with their assigned nutritionists. \u201cAsker developed an app that links you to your nutritionist. For every meal, you log what you ate and how much. His methods really work \u2014 especially in Grand Tours, where his system can make a difference. But now, most teams use similar approaches. The whole sport has shifted towards the extreme.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe risk is burnout\u201d<\/p>\n
For a rider like Evenepoel, whose arrival will bring intense scrutiny, Sobrero believes that kind of hyper-controlled environment could be both a blessing and a burden.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can weigh on you \u2014 for some more than others,\u201d he admitted. \u201cIn some ways it makes life easier because you don\u2019t have to think about anything, but for riders who\u2019ve done things their own way for ten years, changing habits isn\u2019t easy. You need the clarity to say: \u2018I\u2019ll do it because it\u2019s an investment in myself.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Mental support, he added, is crucial to keeping that balance. \u201cEveryone makes sacrifices to reach the limit, but the risk is burnout. And that\u2019s becoming increasingly common \u2014 lots of riders end up quitting almost suddenly. It\u2019s up to the psychologist to make sure that fine line between perfection and exhaustion isn\u2019t crossed.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe continues to expand its performance-driven empire with Evenepoel at its core, Sobrero\u2019s reflections offer a rare glimpse into the mindset of a team obsessed with excellence \u2014 and a reminder that even in the world\u2019s most sophisticated setups, the human factor remains the hardest to measure.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThey don\u2019t just want to be among the best \u2014 they want to be the best\u201d Sobrero…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-249525","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}