Retiring Slovenian pro appointed as team director at Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe from 2027, but not for Evenepoel

Mezgec turned pro with Giant-Shimano in 2013. With the Dutch team, he emerged as a very dangerous sprinter. In his early years, he won the Bredene Koksijde Classic, three stages in the Tour of Catalonia, and the final stage of the 2014 Giro d'Italia, among other races. After four years with the Dutch team, he joined ORICA-BikeExchange, now Jayco AlUla. He has never left the Australian team.

After eleven years with that team, he will retire from professional cycling this year. In recent years, the Slovenian has primarily served as a key lead-out man, drawing on all his experience. He will still compete in the European Cycling Championships in his home country this weekend, but in an interview with Sportal, he says he already knows what he’ll be doing in 2027. He’s becoming a team director—though not with his beloved Jayco AlUla.

The adventure with Red Bull is a new one. “I’ve been hoping for a while now to stay active as a team manager after my cycling career ends. In the end, I had three options, and of those, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe seemed the most interesting,” he says. At the team, he’ll be reunited with fellow Slovenian Jan Tratnik. It’s not yet clear whether Primož Roglič will still be riding for the team next year.

Evenepoel is the team’s biggest star, but Mezgec will focus primarily on developing young sprinters. Alessio Magagnotti will be the main project. The 19-year-old Italian was still racing at the club level last year, but as a Red Bull trainee, he surprisingly beat Paul Magnier in the Deutschland Tour.

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe believes it has a gem on its hands, so Mezgec will have to prove his worth right away. “This was one of the biggest challenges for me. Alessio is a very young sprinter who will move up from the development team to the pros next year, and I can offer him all the experience I’ve gained over the years as a sprinter and later as a lead-out man.”

So the Slovenian won’t have much to do with Evenepoel. “It would be hard for me to pass on my experiences to Remco, because I don’t know what it’s like when there are only three of us left at the end of the race,” he laughs. “I only know what it’s like when there’s still a ‘group’ left.” In short, it would be hard for me to explain things to someone that I’ve never experienced myself.”