Never has the famous advertising slogan “Red Bull gives wings” seemed so true, so real. The cycling season has not yet started but the riders of the Red Bull Bora hansgrohe team already seem to be in good shape! We can get a clear idea of this through a spectacular video posted by the German team on its social networks this Wednesday.
Connected to the device by a 150 m cable and a harness specially designed by engineers, nine riders from the team, including the nugget Florian Lipowitz, achieved the feat of towing and taking off a glider. A performance made possible thanks to the strength of the legs and the power developed. Thus propelled, the glider reached an altitude of 100 m.
“A world first” assures the team in a press release which took place on a 1,500 meter runway at Son Bonet airport in Mallorca, Spain. “The riders reached a speed of 54 km/h, with a peak cumulative power of 6,500 watts and an average power of 650 watts while seated for 90 seconds, in order to propel pilot Andy Hediger’s glider into the air,” the press release said.
“I didn’t think it was possible”
“When I first heard about this project, I didn’t think it was possible,” says Lipowitz, 25, white jersey and third in the 2025 Tour de France. Launching a plane? It seemed impossible to me. Nothing like this has ever been done in road cycling. »
Dan Bigham, head of training engineering, describes this project as “revolutionary for the sport”. Perfect teamwork that could come in handy during team time trials.
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