Ralph Denk (born 1 November 1973) is a German cycling team manager, and former cyclist, who is the founder and manager of the

Bora–Hansgrohe Bora–Hansgrohe (''UCI Code'': BOH) is a UCI WorldTeam cycling team established in 2010 with a German license, founded and managed by Ralph Denk. It is sponsored by BORA, a German manufacturer of extractor hoods and cooktops, and Hansgrohe, a ...

UCI WorldTeam cycling team. As a cyclist, Denk won multiple Bavarian Regional Championships.

Career

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

Roel Paulissen Roel Paulissen (born 27 April 1976 in Hasselt) is a Belgian former professional mountain biker. Throughout his sporting career since 1993, he has won more than ten Belgian national championship titles, mounted top-five finishes at both the Europe ...

signed for the team. In late 2009, Denk founded cycling team

Team NetApp A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to info ...

(now known as

); Team NetApp started competing in the 2010 season. In 2012, the team was first awarded a wildcard place at the Giro d'Italia, the team's first Grand Tour entry. 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. In 2019, Denk criticised the World Anti-Doping Agency for granting too many drugs exemptions for cortisone and

salbutamol Salbutamol, also known as albuterol and sold under the brand name Ventolin among others, is a medication that opens up the medium and large airways in the lungs. It is a short-acting β2 adrenergic receptor agonist which works by causing rel ...

. After Denk chose to withdraw Bora–Hansgrohe from the

2020 Bretagne Classic Ouest–France The 2020 Bretagne Classic Ouest–France was a road cycling one-day race that took place on 25 August 2020 in France. It was the 84th edition of Bretagne Classic Ouest–France and the 11th event of the 2020 UCI World Tour. Teams Twenty-five t ...

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. Prior to the

2020 Tour de France The 2020 Tour de France was the 107th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. Originally scheduled to start on 27 June 2020, it was postponed until 29 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in F ...

, Denk signed a contract extension with Bora–Hansgrohe's sponsors until 2024. In November 2020, Denk was critical of suggestions that the

2021 UCI World Tour The 2021 UCI World Tour was a series of races that included twenty-nine road cycling events throughout the 2021 cycling season. The tour started with the opening stage of the UAE Tour on 21 February, and concluded with Il Lombardia on 9 Octobe ...

would be primarily in Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 kil ...

References

External links

Bora–Hansgrohe team profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denk, Ralph 1973 births Living people German cycling coaches German male cyclists People from Bad Aibling Sportspeople from Upper Bavaria Cyclists from Bavaria Directeur sportifs