Ralph Denk

Ralph Denk
Personal information
Born (1973-11-01) 1 November 1973 (age 50)
Bad Aibling, Bavaria, Germany
Team information
Current teamRed Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe
DisciplineRoad cycling
RoleGeneral manager
Managerial teams
2000–?Ralph Denk Racing
2010–Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe

Ralph Denk (born 1 November 1973)[1] is a German cycling team manager, and former cyclist, who is the founder and manager of the Bora–Hansgrohe UCI WorldTeam cycling team.[2] As a cyclist, Denk won multiple Bavarian Regional Championships.

Career

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Denk began cycling at the age of twelve. He won multiple Bavarian Regional Championships,[3] and competed in stage races including the Bayern Rundfahrt.[4] Predominately an amateur cyclist, Denk also rode as a professional cyclist in 1999.[4] In 2000, Denk set up a bicycle shop and an eponymously named cycling team, Ralph Denk Racing.[1] Ralph Denk Racing competed at the 2000 and 2001 UCI Mountain Bike World Cups,[5][6] and prior to the 2005 season, Roel Paulissen signed for the team.[7]

In late 2009, Denk founded cycling team Team NetApp (now known as Bora–Hansgrohe);[3] Team NetApp started competing in the 2010 season.[8] In 2012, the team was first awarded a wildcard place at the Giro d'Italia, the team's first Grand Tour entry.[8] In 2013, they received a wildcard entry for the Vuelta a España, and in 2014, the team was awarded its first wildcard place at the Tour de France.[8] In 2019, Denk criticised the World Anti-Doping Agency for granting too many drugs exemptions for cortisone and salbutamol.[9]

After Denk chose to withdraw Bora–Hansgrohe from the 2020 Bretagne Classic Ouest–France due to a positive COVID-19 test, Denk was critical of the COVID-19 testing process, as the rider's turned out to be a false positive. He suggested that the Union Cycliste Internationale should be using A and B sample tests, as they do for drug testing.[10][11] Prior to the 2020 Tour de France, Denk signed a contract extension with Bora–Hansgrohe's sponsors until 2024.[12] In November 2020, Denk was critical of suggestions that the 2021 UCI World Tour would be primarily in Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] In March 2021, Denk was critical of race protocols after Bora-Hansgrohe were forced to miss the Gent–Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen events after 17 members of the team were put into isolation following one positive test at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Team Manager Ralph Denk". Bora–Hansgrohe. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Bora – Hansgrohe". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Tour de France 2020: Buchmann, Sagan und viel Talent – Der Rennstall Bora-hansgrohe im Porträt". Oberbayerisches Volksblatt (in German). 11 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Ralph Denk: "The Tour de France is the greatest good"". Tek Portal. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Tissot/UCI Mountain Bike World Cup - 2000 - Coupe du Monde MTB XC #8 - Lausanne, SUI - 2-3.9.2000". Union Cycliste Internationale. 3 September 2000. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  6. ^ "XC:#5 : DURANGO, COLORADO, USA - 14-15.7.2001". Union Cycliste Internationale. 15 July 2001. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Ralph Denk holt sich auch Roel Paulissen". Mountain Bike Magazine (in German). 27 December 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  8. ^ a b c "Denk: "Ich habe immer an den Tour-Start geglaubt"" (in German). Rad Sport. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Fahrer im Funkschatten". Die Welt (in German). 7 July 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  10. ^ "False positive virus test a concern ahead of Tour". Reuters. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020 – via The Straits Times.
  11. ^ "Positiv? Negativ! – Tour droht das große Corona-Testchaos". T-Online (in German). 26 August 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Bora-hansgrohe hat Planungssicherheit bis 2024". Sportschau (in German). 30 August 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Radsport – überraschend positive Bilanz, ungewisse Zukunft". Sportschau (in German). 10 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Bora-Hansgrohe 'disappointed and angry' after being denied Ghent-Wevelgem start due to Covid-19 quarantine". Cycling Weekly. 28 March 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
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