The Bora-hansgrohe team is confident at the start of the tour: the Russian Alexander Vlasov wants to get involved in the fight for yellow. Questions about the war in Ukraine are undesirable.
On Wednesday (06/29/2022) in Copenhagen – or more precisely in a video press conference from Copenhagen – one could witness the boldness with which the Bora-hansgrohe team is now cycling through the world of cycling. The Russian Alexander Vlasov is of course like all drivers who compete in the Tour de France want to land well up in the overall ranking, rather narrow-chested on the way. But the captain of the German world tour–teams goes into his tour debut with great self-confidence.
Vlasov wants to drive for victory
“I hope I can fight for victory here”, Vlasov explained from the team hotel to the international journalists from the press center or from elsewhere. An announcement that the most recent two-time tour winner Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic make at best. A duel between the two Slovenians for the yellow jersey is expected in the next three weeks.
Everyone else – like Geraint Thomaswho won the tour in 2018 – tend to hold back. “We don’t have the favorites in the team here”said the Welshman from the team Ineos Grenadiersfrom whose ranks seven out of eight times the tour winner came between 2012 and 2019.
Completely-updates in the winter
That Vlasov and his German team this year with great ambitions to Grand Depart have traveled to Denmark and are also announcing this should not come as a surprise. The team has a complete winter updates subjected. Three-time world champion Peter Sagan – since 2018 Bora’s poster child during the rise to the top world tour – and his entourage had to go.
That team mainly brought in drivers who should shine in the tours. Above all the Australians Jay Hindleythe Colombian Sergio Higuita and Vlasov. In addition, the new sport director Rolf Aldag and team boss Ralph Denk promised an aggressive and attractive driving style.
The remodeling was not without risk, but – one has to admit after half a year – extremely successful. hindley won the in May Giro d’Italia and thus the first major tour for Bora-hansgrohe. A triumph that Ralph Denk, who founded the team 13 years ago, has been working towards for a long time. And the team a self-confidenceboost has given.
Giro victory boosts self-confidence
And now at the Tour, the team will once again be fully focused on the overall standings. That’s why you have the Sprinter Sam Benett2020 Best Points Green Jersey Winner, left at home. “Turn pink into yellow – the goal is a bit ambitious. But we wouldn’t fight back if it was a podium.”Denk told the sports information service. “Our line-up shows that we want to concentrate fully on the overall standings.”
Hindley’s Giro victory strengthened the team’s belief in it. “It was a huge boost in motivation for everyone who didn’t ride the Giro and were in the training camps. They saw that: Okay, if we all train really well, we can achieve that. And I think there was a really big one Boost in the team, also in terms of self-confidence and our setup. That everything is somehow consistent and fits.”says Lennard Kämna, who plays a large part in helping out Hindley’s success at giro would have.
Kämna will be at the Tour de France play a similar role. He gets his liberties but is also said to support Vlasov. The same applies to the other two German professional cyclists in the team, the newly crowned national champions Nils Politt and Maximilian Schachmann. The latter had the Tour de Suisse had to leave in the run-up to the Tour of France due to a corona infection, but this time – unlike in winter – without health problems.
Corona and the war
Vlasov was also at the Tour de Suisse tested positive for the virus and had to finish the tour in the lead. That hardly affected his preparation, he reported. “I only worried for one day that I wouldn’t be able to come here. But then I felt good and was confident that I could do the Tour de France.”
Similarly nonchalantly, the team tried to brush aside the other big issue of the time – the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. A written via chat asked how Vlasov judged that Russian tennis professionals in Wimbledon are excluded, but he as a Russian professional cyclist at the Tour de France allowed to start, the press spokesman for the team initially ignored. And when he was verbally asked to put the question to Vlasov, the answer was just: “Nope!”
Alexander Vlasov from Bora-hansgrohe at the team presentation.
The question would be quite easy to answer. Unlike tennis pros, cyclists are not sole proprietors, but contractually committed to a team. After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the world cycling association UCI therefore announced the Russian team Gazprom-RusVelo was suspended, although only nine of its 21 riders were Russians. All Russian national teams were also excluded.
teams fear lawsuits
The suspension of Russian professionals would therefore be a matter for the teams with which they are under contract. With the result that there would probably be claims for damages for breach of contract. That goes for lengthy and probably costly litigation teams but better out of the way.
Vlasov is the only Russian professional cyclist at the start of the tour in Copenhagen. In March he once commented on the subject via Instagram. “Like many Russians, I just want peace”he wrote at the time. “I’m not a political person and people like me weren’t asked if we wanted a war. It was a shock to everyone and I hope it will end soon.”
However, the issue will continue to haunt Vlasov, no matter how hard his team will try to keep it away from him so that he can concentrate on his race. But the Tour de France is the biggest stage that cycling has to offer. And that’s where the big questions are always discussed. Especially when a rider wants to get close to the yellow jersey.