'Maybe there was not proper leadership' - Red Bull's Evenepoel project highlights Ineos issues

Remco Evenepoel was repeatedly linked with a move to Ineos Grenadiers over the years, but when he finally made the decision to leave Soudal-QuickStep this summer, Dave Brailsford’s team was no longer in the picture. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe had long since won the Remco sweepstakes. 

As well as carrying off Ineos’ long-coveted transfer target, however, Red Bull have also been stockpiling former members of the British squad’s staff. The brain drain started in earnest last year, with aerodynamics expert Dan Bigham leaving Ineos for Red Bull along with performance scientist Jonny Wale.

This winter, Zak Dempster has been named Red Bull’s Head of Sport, while Oliver Cookson joins him as a sports director at the team. In recent days, it has emerged that Xabier Artetxe – head coach at Ineos until the end of last season – will be part of the Red Bull set-up in 2026.

Denk smiled when the question was put to him at Red Bull’s media day in Binissalem on Wednesday, pointing out that he first launched his team, with the relatively modest sponsorship of NetApp, back in 2010, the same year that Team Sky entered the sport with the biggest budget in the peloton.

“Ineos, and before, Sky, was for me always a benchmark team,” Denk said, “When I entered pro cycling in 2010, it was also the first year for Team Sky. We had totally different budgets, my team and the Team Sky in 2010. First, I had to do my homework to raise my budget, but I can say now that we are more or less comparable, so this is the good thing.”

But while Denk’s interest in snapping up knowledge from Ineos might be obvious – “They won the Tour de France a lot of times, so definitely they did something very good and right” – can he explain why Dempster et al have been willing to leave Brailsford’s court in the first place?

“Maybe, and this is just a feeling from my side, there was not really a proper leadership in the last years there, and that's why the guys decided to move on and join another project,” Denk said. “I cannot really give you an answer why they left Ineos, but the fact is that they were considering to leave Ineos – and so it’s nice for us that guys with this high quality want to join our project.”

The same question was put to Dempster, who was sitting alongside Denk. The Australian opted for a diplomatic response, gently dismissing the idea that there had been an “exodus” from Ineos.

“I think it’s less about an Ineos exodus and more about this whole new performance team, with all different ideas, so we’re in a position where we can create our way,” Dempster said. “I think it’s a testament to the strength of this project.”

The new intake at Red Bull is not limited to the Ineos cohort, of course. Evenepoel’s arrival has also seen former Soudal-QuickStep directeur sportif Klaas Lodewyck and former Belgian national coach Sven Vanthourenhout join the squad, while Allan Peiper has come on board in an advisory capacity.

“I loved being a sport director at Ineos, but when the first initial chats with Ralph happened, it was clear my role was going to be different,” Dempster told Domestique after the press conference. “It’s really more of a helicopter view, looking at the big picture, including recruitment and liaising with the coaching department. I still have a passion for being a sport director, but it was a decision I had to take.” 

Decision-making is, of course, a key factor in Dempster’s new role, and one of the first tasks on his in-tray was dividing up the Grand Tour calendar between Red Bull’s arsenal of talent. Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz will share leadership at the Tour de France, Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari lead the line at the Giro d’Italia, while Primoz Roglic’s lone Grand Tour will come at the Vuelta a España.

“In high-performance sport, there’s tough conversations to be had and my style is never to shy away from them. In the end, you’ve all got to own that plan,” said Dempster. “We’re not looking to be the happiest or most comfortable team in the world, that wouldn’t play out how we want. There’s definitely decisions to be made and part of my role is making them.”