New recruits: the latest additions to the BORA – hansgrohe team 2024 Part 2

Sam Welsford 

The Australian, Sam Welsford, is a new sprinter in the BORA – hansgrohe team, and together with Jordi Meeus, he’s the go-to rider for sprint finishes. During his first race he certainly proved that teamwork at the sprint finish works well, not only in theory but also in practice: he scooped three stage wins and the points classification – all in front of his family on home turf at the Tour Down Under... what a great start! There’s no doubt that Sam has powerful legs. Like many sprinters, he used to be a track cyclist and has only been consistently riding on the road since 2022. In his private life, the 28-year-old is by no means an early riser. Once the first steps of the day are over with, Sam has a coffee, but always with milk. This Perth-born sushi fan always makes sure to shave his legs precisely two days before a race. At training camps he particularly loves the simple way of life: eating, training, sleeping. 

Daniel Felipe Martínez 

With Daniel, the Band of Brothers now has a flexible rider for all kinds of stage races. He can shine as a captain, but he’s also happy to work for others. He has already won three one-week races and he finished the Giro d’Italia 2021 in fifth place while working hard for his leader and overall winner, Egan Bernal. Another of his achievements was a stage victory at the Tour de France, funnily enough ahead of two of his current team mates, Lennard Kämna and Maximilian Schachmann. What’s more he’s a four-time Colombian time trial champion and he has already completed a total of nine Grand Tours – all at the tender age of 27. His older brother introduced him to cycling. In his private life, this father of two is a real ray of sunshine and his positive nature is infectious. In his free time he likes swimming and reading (preferably psychology books).  

Matteo Sobrero 

This 26-year old Italian is a real all-rounder for stage races. He does well in the mountains, he fights for victory in time trials, he works loyally for his captains, but he can also ride on his own account. Matteo has already notched up one Giro stage win, one national time-trial title and achieved several top 10 results in one-week races. What luck that this little boy from Piedmont who didn’t like playing football took to cycling like a duck to water. In fact, he enjoyed riding his bike so much that his father signed him up at the local cycling club. The rest is history... but it’s far from over. When he’s not on his bike, Matteo likes watching Quentin Tarantino films. On training rides in the local wine-growing area, where his family also owns a vineyard, he prefers eating crostata, a kind of baked tart, but for special evening meals, he enjoys ‘carne cruda all'albese’, the Italian version of beef tartare. As a lucky charm he wears a necklace featuring a wolf, a native to his homeland. 

Alexander Hajek 

Despite his grandfather almost making it as a professional cyclist and his father participating in smaller races, Alex started out as a runner, then a triathlete, before fully focusing on cycling. After joining Team Auto Eder (now called Team GRENKE – Auto Eder), the BORA – hansgrohe junior team, in 2021, he is now moving on to the WorldTour. He already knows his current team mates Luis-Joe Lührs and Emil Herzog from his Auto Eder days. The talented trio illustrates the successful work being carried out with youngsters in Raubling. The 20-year-old lightweight rider mainly takes part in demanding classics and mountain stages. When his training schedule allows, he likes playing table tennis or going skiing in winter. Between seasons, when he doesn’t have to watch what he eats as closely, he likes whipping up pancakes. But one thing you’ll never catch him eating is cold salmon.  

You’d like to find out about the four other newcomers? We introduced Primož Roglič, Filip Maciejuk, Emil Herzog and Roger Adriá in Part 1.