2023 was a tumultuous year for Bahrain Victorious. From a sports perspective, great successes were quickly followed by quite significant disappointments. Add to that the passing of Gino Mäder, and the whirlwind of emotions is complete. As 2023 draws to a close, IDLProCycling.com looks back at the Middle Eastern team's year one last time.
One-day races 2023: Bahrain Victorious
In 2023, Bahrain Victorious achieved a total of nineteen victories, only four of which related to one-day races. Interestingly, all these victories were in national championships. If we exclude these, the team led by Milan Erzen didn't celebrate any victories in one-day races. Fran Miholjevic became the Croatian national time trial champion, while Fred Wright and Dusan Rajovic won the national road titles in Great Britain and Serbia, respectively. Later in the year, Sergio Tu added a fourth victory to the list with a time trial win in Taiwan.
Alright, so there were no 'real' victories in classic races. Jonathan Milan (more on him later) had a very promising start to the season, but didn't meet expectations in the Flemish and Italian spring races, with a twelfth place in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne being his best result. Fred Wright, expected by some to place in the top ten, achieved this with an eighth place in the Tour of Flanders, although the rest of his spring campaign was unremarkable.
However, it definitely wasn't all doom and gloom for the team. Matej Mohoric performed excellently during the spring classics, with top ten finishes in KBK, Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo and the E3 Saxo Classic. He also performed well in the Canadian autumn races and won a gold medal at the Gravel World Championships. Mikel Landa, not often participating in classics, managed a commendable third place in the Flèche Wallonne. Santiago Buitrago finished third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Pello Bilbao was second in the Clasica San Sebastián. Overall, a respectable performance in terms of one-day races!
(Grand) tours 2023: Bahrain Victorious
Hardly any victories in one-day races, but a total of nineteen wins - that indicates the Bahraini team's strength in stage races. Right off the bat, the team had a successful start to the season at the Tour Down Under, with Phil Bauhaus winning the opening stage and Bilbao claiming victory in the third stage. The tone had been set.
At the end of January, Milan secured a third victory for the team. The rider from the south of Europe, who will be switching to Lidl-Trek next year, won the second stage of the Saudi Tour, beating riders such as Dylan Groenewegen. The Saudi win for Milan marked the start of a dry spell that would last until May, when he triumphed in the second stage of the Giro d'Italia, confirming his status as revelation of the season, and defeating Kaden Groves, Pascal Ackermann and Fernando Gaviria in San Salvo. Milan continued to perform well in the Giro, finishing in the top five several times and winning the points classification, although he team did not secure any more wins in the Italian tour. Meanwhile, Buitrago also claimed a stage win in Italy.
After the Giro, the focus shifted to the Tour. However, this period was overshadowed by the death of Mäder, who crashed in stage five of the Tour of Switzerland and succumbed to his injuries. The cycling world mourned him for months. Bahrain Victorious decided to start in the Tour de France and to fight together in unity. For Gino. And successfully so: three stage victories - and what beautiful victories they were - was the final tally for the team in 'La Grande Boucle'. All for Gino. Quite understandably, this made for many very emotional interviews. Interviews that left no one untouched. We can hardly think of a more beautiful tribute to the fallen Swiss rider.
Especially noteworthy was Mohoric's performance in the Tour de France. He continued this form in subsequent races. This resulted in a stage win and the overall victory in the Tour of Poland, a stage win in the Renewi Tour, a triumph in the CRO Race and - as we already mentioned - the gold medal at the Gravel World Championships in Veneto. The icing on the cake, if you will. The performances of the 36-year-old Poels also deserve praise. The rider from Limburg had never won a stage in a grand tour in his long career, but this year he managed to contribute significantly in both the Tour and the Vuelta. Hats off!
Final grade 2023: Bahrain Victorious
When you achieve nineteen victories, including three in the Tour de France, compete for the top ten in the classics and have the Gravel World Champion in your ranks - one can say that Bahrain Victorious deserves a solid grade. The IDLProCycling.com editorial team rates them an average final score of 7.9.
Transfers 2023/2024: Bahrain Victorious
Incoming: Torstein Træen (Uno-X), Alberto Bruttomesso (Cycling Team Friuli ASD) and Finlay Pickering (Trinity)
Outgoing: Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step), Heinrich Haussler (retired), Hermann Pernsteiner (not yet known), Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Filip Maciejuk (BORA-hansgrohe)
Ones to watch 2024: Bahrain Victorious
As we mentioned above, Bahrain Victorious has not been very active in the transfer market. With the departure of Landa and Milan, the team loses two significant and key players, while no major reinforcements have been acquired (though there might be future stars on the rise). However, the squad remains largely intact, so the focus is on what the 2023 protagonists can achieve in 2024.
Will Mohoric snag a major win in the spring via the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix, his two main goals? It's quite possible. Will Poels join the exclusive group of riders who have won a stage in all three grand tours? It could happen. Will Wright finally display his innate talent and secure a victory in the classics? You guessed it: it could happen. Moreover, watching the development of young talents such as Buitrago, Finlay Pickering, Edoardo Zambanini and Miholjevic will be interesting. And what more can seasoned pros such as Damiano Caruso, Jack Haig and Bilbao achieve? Especially from the latter, much is once again expected!
Selection Bahrain Victorious 2024
- Yukiya Arashiro
- Nikias Arndt
- Phil Bauhaus
- Pello Bilbao
- Alberto Bruttomesso
- Santiago Buitrago
- Nicolò Buratti
- Damiano Caruso
- Matevz Govekar
- Kamil Gradek
- Jack Haig
- Rainer Kepplinger
- Ahmed Madan
- Fran Miholjevic
- Matej Mohoric
- Andrea Pasqualon
- Finlay Pickering
- Wout Poels
- Johan Price-Pejtersen
- Dusan Rajovic
- Cameron Scott
- Jasha Sütterlin
- Antonio Tiberi
- Torstein Træen
- Sergio Tu
- Fred Wright
- Edoardo Zambanini
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