Bora-Hansgrohe are set to make the switch from Shimano groupsets to SRAM in 2024, Cyclingnews can reveal.
In a statement, Shimano's head of PR and Relations, Jonathan Davis, confirmed the rumours, which were sparked in recent days when a photo of a SRAM-equipped S-Works Tarmac SL8 bike in Bora-Hansgrohe livery was posted onto social media by rider Emil Herzog, were true.
"I can confirm that Bora-Hansgrohe is moving over to SRAM next season," he said.
That photo, first reported by GCN, was soon deleted, but not before being reposted onto X by Lukáš Ronald Lukács.
Team Bora Hansgrohe will ride on SRAM next season.📷: Emil Herzog pic.twitter.com/UFroJaYJDtDecember 9, 2023
Both SRAM and the team have also been contacted for comment, and are yet to respond.
The move will see the German team switch away from Shimano after a nine year stint using the Japanese brand's groupsets following a switch in the opposite direction (from SRAM to Shimano) back in 2015 as the team morphed from Team Net-App Endura to Bora-Argon 18.
The team then became Bora-Hansgrohe in 2017, and since then, Specialized has provided the bikes, as well as the wheels and various other accessories.
The team's switch from Shimano to SRAM will bring an air of familiarity to Primož Roglič, following his recently-announced transfer from Jumbo-Visma. Interestingly, it will also mean he is still able to take advantage of the gravel groupset hack he employed at the Giro d'Italia, in which he used a SRAM's Red XPLR derailleur paired with a gravel-focussed 10-44 cassette, combined with a 1x chainring to allow a higher, more efficient cadence at the high gradients on the steep gradients of the race's Queen Stage.
In summer of this year, a SRAM representative told Cyclingnews that Roglic's decision to use the XPLR tech was excellent publicity for the brand, but it's unclear whether Roglič's signature and the SRAM switch are connected.
It's also unclear whether the team and SRAM have signed a one- or multi-year partnership.
