Sponsors from the Middle East: Denk sees imbalance

According to manager Ralph Denk, the increasing influence of sponsors from the Middle East is leading to an imbalance in cycling.

"If you only want Saudi Arabia to be racing against Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in five years' time, then you can let it go. But if you want medium-sized teams to continue to take part, the UCI needs to think about measures. And not be celebrated when these teams announce another record budget. In the end, you need 18 teams for the World Tour," said the team boss of the Bora-hansgrohe racing team to the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger".

He is very happy about his two main sponsors, said Denk: "But they are medium-sized companies and not global corporations. We now have two options: Either we sign a driver like Pogacar, or we train him ourselves." His team could not keep up with the budgets of Tour runner-up Tadej Pogacar's UAE team, for example. Denk mentioned budget or salary caps as well as draft rules as possible measures.

Time trial champion Politt switches to UAE

Denk has lost German time trial champion Nils Politt to UAE for the coming season. "It will certainly also have been about a better salary," said the Bavarian. It is a pity that the rider from Cologne is leaving the team. Politt was an important rider.

At the same time, however, Denk also indicated that he had not fulfilled expectations with regard to the spring classics. "Nils came to us at the age of 26, he had great results to show, such as second place at Paris-Roubaix and fifth place at the Tour of Flanders. We then thought: Wow, that's a great rider, maybe there's more to come. But unfortunately Nils was never able to confirm these results in the classics."

This apparently also played a role in the contract negotiations. "I always have to think about it at the end of a contract term: What do I spend, what do I get in? In my opinion, the balance was no longer right. Nils is not one of the cheapest drivers," explained Denk.

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