Red Bull-BORA’s Giro dilemma is really a test of team hierarchy

The most revealing part of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s 2027 Giro dilemma is not that the team has two plausible leaders. It is that the organization now has to decide what kind of team it wants to be. A squad that can place Remco Evenepoel or Florian Lipowitz at the Giro start has impressive depth; a squad that sends both without a precise hierarchy risks turning abundance into confusion.

Ralph Denk has said that one of Evenepoel or Lipowitz could target the 2027 Giro d’Italia, while the team waits for the routes of all three Grand Tours before distributing its leadership roles. The possibility is linked to Tadej Pogačar’s absence from the Giro, according to CyclingPro. That is an attractive opportunity, but it should not become the organizing principle by itself.

The smart choice will be the rider who best fits the course, the calendar and the support structure—not necessarily the bigger name.

The winner will be the team that chooses one captain early

Evenepoel brings the obvious argument: a rider built for the disciplines that can define a Grand Tour, including time trials, and a headline presence capable of making the Giro a central objective. Lipowitz offers a different kind of appeal. He has already established himself as a serious stage-race contender, and the team believes his ceiling extends beyond the traditional Grand Tour template.

That contrast makes the decision genuinely interesting. It is not simply established star versus rising talent. It is a question of what Red Bull-BORA wants to optimize. Evenepoel could make the team’s ambition unmistakable, while Lipowitz could represent a more integrated project around climbing, endurance and long-term development.

But cycling does not reward a leadership chart designed for public relations. It rewards a group that knows who receives priority when a rival attacks, who gets the best domestiques late in the mountain stages and who is allowed to follow a different race when the original plan breaks down. The team’s 2026 Tour began with Evenepoel and Lipowitz as co-leaders, a model that can work when both riders genuinely share the same tactical reality. It can also create tension when the race demands one center of gravity.

Our view is straightforward: Red Bull-BORA should name a Giro captain, not manufacture another two-headed campaign. The second option should be a protected lieutenant with real freedom, not a nominal co-leader whose ambitions remain undefined.

Lipowitz’s broader calendar makes the choice less obvious

Lipowitz’s case is strengthened by the team’s plans to expand his one-day racing in 2027. He primarily focused on stage races in 2026, including the Tour de France, but Red Bull-BORA now sees harder Classics as part of his development. Denk has argued that the intensity of those races could help Lipowitz in stage races and Grand Tours, as Domestique Cycling reports.

That is a compelling idea, but it creates a scheduling problem. The 2027 World Championships in France are expected to feature approximately 5,000 meters of climbing, a course Denk considers particularly suited to Lipowitz. Adding one or two more one-day races beforehand could prepare him for that target. A full Giro campaign, however, would need to be fitted around that objective rather than treated as a separate prize.

This is where the choice becomes a test of management rather than marketing. If Lipowitz is the Giro leader, the team must decide whether the race is the centerpiece of his season or one stage in a broader progression toward the World Championships. Those are not automatically the same program. A rider cannot be asked to chase every opportunity simply because the roster makes it possible.

Evenepoel should not be selected just because he is the headline

Evenepoel’s name would make the Giro easier to sell. That is precisely why the team should resist choosing him by default. Evenepoel himself has left the door open to the race while saying he wants to examine the route, as Eurosport reported on October 9, 2026.

The route must decide the argument. If the course rewards his time-trialing and overall balance, Evenepoel should be the clear captain. If it is dominated by long, severe climbing and aligns more naturally with Lipowitz’s strengths, the German deserves more than a ceremonial leadership role. The team has earned the luxury of choosing on sporting logic; it should not surrender that advantage to the louder narrative.

With Primož Roglič leaving, the team’s decision about its remaining leaders becomes even more consequential. Red Bull-BORA is not short of ambition; it is short of room for every ambition to be primary. The Giro decision will therefore establish expectations beyond one race. It will tell the riders whether the team values clear specialization or permanent internal competition.

The real upgrade is a support plan, not another star

The danger is assuming that a strong leadership choice automatically creates a strong Giro team. It does not. The captain needs a defined mountain support group, a secondary option whose role is settled and a race strategy that explains when the team attacks and when it protects its position.

That matters especially if Lipowitz’s 2027 program becomes broader. A rider entering the Giro after more Classics may be better prepared for chaotic racing, but the calendar also requires discipline. If Evenepoel starts, Lipowitz must know whether he is a backup, an attacking alternative or a protected rider for a separate classification. Ambiguity is not depth; it is a tax on every tactical decision.

Red Bull-BORA’s rise has created a problem many teams would welcome, but it remains a problem. The organization now has enough leadership options to make one race look like a referendum on its entire future. It should instead make the Giro a demonstration of hierarchy.

The verdict: choose the rider whose strengths match the route, then build the entire race around him. If that is Evenepoel, make Lipowitz’s freedom explicit. If it is Lipowitz, give him genuine priority and let Evenepoel pursue a different Grand Tour target. The winning move is not picking the most famous captain. It is making sure everyone knows who the captain is.