Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe secures another successful sports director and welcomes him back to his old stomping ground

The usually well-informed Ciro Scognamiglio of the pink sports newspaper reports on X that Zak Dempster is coming from INEOS Grenadiers. On paper, this is a logical step, as the New Zealander himself raced between 2013 and 2016 for the then small NetApp-Endura and BORA-Argon teams, the predecessors of the current Red Bull-BORA-hangrohe.

While Dempster was still in a team that enjoyed an absolute highlight with Leopold König's Vuelta stage victory in 2013, he had to leave after 2016 when the team moved to the WorldTour. The sprinter then moved to Israel Cycling Academy, where he scored his most significant victory in his final year in 2019 with Veenendaal-Veenendaal.

The same team appreciated Dempster's insight, and so he was able to start working as a team leader immediately after his career in 2020. After three years, INEOS Grenadiers came looking for him, and Dempster has now been one of the most respected sports directors there for three seasons. In both 2024 and 2025, he participated in the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, where he was at the base of the victories of Thymen Arensman.

At Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, which has already recruited several key staff members from other major teams in recent years, Dempster could be the next newcomer. Sven Vanthourenhout and Klaas Lodewyck already joined the team as part of Remco Evenepoel's entourage, forcing sports director Rolf Aldag and team manager Enrico Gasparotto to leave the team.