Luka Mezgec reveals new role at Red Bull ahead of final race

Luka Mezgec is set to join Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe as a sports director in 2027. The Slovenian revealed the news ahead of his final race as a pro rider, which will take place on home roads at the European Championships on Sunday.

“I have signed for the Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe team, where I will be the sports director. I want to share the experience I have gained over the last 17 years,” Mezgec told Slovenian broadcaster Radio 1.

Red Bull have yet to make a formal announcement on Mezgec’s arrival, but he is set to join compatriot Jan Tratnik, who is under contract until 2028, though Primož Roglič is about to leave the team after a three-year stint. 

Roglič has yet to confirm his plans for 2027, but he will line up as Slovenia’s team leader on Sunday in the absence of the injured Tadej Pogačar.

The 38-year-old Mezgec spent 14 seasons in the WorldTour, starting his career at the top level with Argos-Shimano in 2013. He scored the biggest win of his career the following season, sprinting to victory in Trieste on the final day of the Giro d’Italia.

Mezgec joined GreenEdge – now Jayco-AlUla – in 2016, and he remained with the Australian team for the remainder of his career. He won 19 races in total across his career, including the Slovenian title in 2017 and two stages of the Tour de Pologne in 2019. 

Having started out as a sprinter, Mezgec developed into a lead-out man and road captain during his time at Jayco-AlUla. He suggested that he would work closely with Red Bull’s sprinters, and particularly the young Italian talent Alessio Magagnotti. The 19-year-old highlighted his quality by claiming a stage win at the recent Deutschland Tour.

“This was one of the biggest challenges for me,” Mezgec told Slovenian publication Sportal. “Alessio is a very young sprinter who will move from the development team to the pros next year, and I can offer him all the experience I have gained over the years as a sprinter and later as a lead-out.”

Before taking on his new role at Red Bull, Mezgec will compete against the team’s star rider one last time, with Remco Evenepoel the clear favourite for victory at the European Championships. He joked that he would not be in a position to offer tactical advice to Evenepoel when they link up at Red Bull.

“It would be difficult for me to pass on my experiences to Remco because I don’t know what it’s like if there are three of us left at the end of the race. I only know what it’s like if there's a group left…” Mezgec said.

“In short, it would be difficult for me to explain to someone things that I’ve never experienced myself. But I know what it’s like in a peloton, how the preparation for a sprint goes and what a sprinter needs. I can pass on these experiences. I’d like to do things that I’m familiar with.”