Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe is pushing back against cycling’s youth rush with its Red Bull Rookies U23 squad, built as a complete team and guided by a clear rule: talent isn’t a guarantee. John Wakefield says growth comes from patience, balance, and long-term planning shown in how they’re developing Lorenzo Finn without rushing him into the WorldTour.
Professional cycling continues to skew younger. Teams are investing earlier, signing earlier, and promoting earlier.
But inside Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, the message from leadership is clear: potential is only potential.
John Wakefield, Director of Coaching at the Red Bull Austrian-German WorldTour team shed light on the new structure of the team.
At the centre of that structure is the Red Bull Rookies programme, launched last year as a dedicated U23 development squad designed to bridge the gap to the WorldTour.
According to Wakefield, the Rookies are built as a complete team, not a single-star pipeline.
The structure includes one or two general classification prospects, several additional candidates, and riders developed to win across different race profiles, including races like Paris-Roubaix.
But the performance model comes with a caution.
Wakefield, who works with riders as young as sixteen, rejects the idea that teenage physiological data can guarantee future Tour de France victories. “To say that with confidence is just selling a story,” he explained.
His concern extends beyond training metrics. “A lot of those guys are so focused they have no life outside cycling. For me, that’s an unbalanced life.”
Wakefield pointed to 2025 U23 road world champion Lorenzo Finn as a clear example of how the team applies that philosophy in practice.
Despite having the level to already compete in the WorldTour, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe have deliberately resisted accelerating his rise.
“He could easily be racing in the WorldTour already,” Wakefield said. “But we don’t want to hurry it, and we have good reasons for the path he’s on.”
The focus, he explained, is on long-term development rather than short-term exposure, ensuring Finn builds physically and mentally within the U23 structure before stepping into the sport’s highest tier.
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