Fünf Fast Faktoren Mit… Bora Hansgrohe

A year ago I got fired up to see Bora Hansgrohe try to make their move out of what I was calling the “muddled middle” of the World Tour, the teams a big step (or two) below the Jumbos and Quick Steps… and Bora made me look, if not prescient then at least semi-conscious, when they went on to take a very impressive individual and team win at the Giro d’Italia, the centerpiece of a season which saw them fifth overall, trailing only the biggest elephants in the World Tour room.

Like I said then, they are a bit heavily oriented around grand tours or at least stage racing, even by the sport’s standards, and that will continue to be the case this season. Which is not an easy way to make a living. It’s nice that they made it to the second tier, but it might be hard to stay there too.

1. Can Hindley Make the Tour More Interesting?

Ah, cutting right to the chase. We have seen time and time again riders win the Giro d’Italia and then immediately set out to take the next step up to the Tour. And time and time again, we see that there are guys who can win the Giro… full stop. Nothing in Hindley’s history suggests he can go beyond this level. He’s 27, he won a Giro against Richard Carapaz and Mikel Landa, he lost one previously to Tao Hart, and he hasn’t had the kind of career that suggests he’s about to get to that level. His only victories in Europe at the elite level have been in the Giro. That’s all.

I want to believe though. His climbing has been outstanding, and there aren’t enough ITT miles in this Tour to put Hindley off his game. But if Hindley is a player at the Tour, it’s going to take something very special. Sergio Higuita should be alongside, and the rest of his helpers will be interesting to see, but they won’t include the departed Wilco Kelderman, who was critical in Hindley’s Giro win.

Is this exciting? I want to say it is. Maybe it will be! Maybe Hindley will get to say that they “aren’t here to put socks on centipedes” again, like he did last May, only this time we might get a reasonable interpretation of what that means. But the heavy favorites will still be Pogs and Vingegaard, who were so far above the field last year that… well, Bora have some serious ground to make up.

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