Haimar Etxeberria will be teammates next year with the likes of Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic. The 22-year-old Basque, who last season rode for the modest Equipo Kern Pharma, recently signed a contract with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. It still feels a bit unreal to him to be racing for 'the Real Madrid of cycling.'
“My name has become known worldwide," Etxeberria told Marca about the new situation. "I have signed with the Real Madrid of cycling. You have to learn how to handle that. But I am a simple person: I stay close to my family, my partner, and my friends. I don’t want to change, and I won’t."
Jayco AlUla
Etxeberria became a stagiaire at Equipo Kern Pharma in August 2024, after already riding for the development squad of the Spanish ProTeam. In 2025 he turned fully professional and immediately scored his first victory. At the end of July, he took the overall win at the Vuelta a Castilla y León (1.1), beating Jesús Herrada, Christian Scaroni and Lukas Kubis in a sprint from a small group. During the same period, he also achieved top placings in the Prueba Villafranca (eighth), Circuito de Getxo (fourth), and the Circuit Franco-Belge (seventh).
“After my win in Castilla y León and a month of excellent performances, my manager began to see opportunities to step up to the WorldTour," Etxeberria explained. "Several teams showed interest. Everything seemed to point towards a move to Jayco AlUla, but then I had a conversation with Red Bull where from the very first moment I felt a special connection. They understood my goals. I didn’t hesitate to sign."
“I have followed Red Bull–BORA–Hansgrohe since the Peter Sagan era. I fell in love with cycling when he reinvented the sport. And, as luck would have it, Evenepoel, my big role model, is joining too. Everything is coming together."
