Bahrain Victorious

Team Bahrain-Victorious | Team Website (opens in new tab)

The Bahrain Victorious team started life as Bahrain-Merida and joined the Union Cycliste Internationale's top-flight WorldTour in 2017.

The squad is backed by the Bahrain government and businesses to promote the country worlwide, with Bahrain's Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa a driving force behind the team since creating it in August 2016. 

Bahrain Victorious has a strong roster, featuring 2021 Paris-Roubaix winner Sonny Colbrelli, Mikel Landa and Wout Poels, among plenty of other talented riders. A strong 2021 saw the team finish fifth on the UCI World team ranking, after securing multiple victories through a variety of riders.

Colbrelli is currently the team's most successful rider, winning 18 races as he heads into his sixth season with the Bahrain-based outfit. Matej Mohorič is the team's next best rider, achieving 12 wins during his time.

The team enjoyed success in the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Critérium du Dauphiné, acheiving three stage wins in each event through Damiano Caruso, Gino Mäder, Colbrelli, Mark Padun, Matej Mohorič and Dylan Teuns. 

Mäder also won the young riders classification at the Vuelta a España, displaying signs of a promising future whereby he can build on his sixth stage victory at the Giro. 

However, Bahrain Victorious are still waiting for their first Grand Tour GC win in their short existence, after finishing second twice at the Giro d'Italia in 2019 and 2021 respectively, added to their second-place finish at the Vuelta in 2017. 

In 2022 the team will retain the Bahrain Victorious name it acquired at the beginning of 2021, with Milan Eržen acting as general manager. A British core left the team at the start of last year, with title sponsors McLaren, Rod Ellingworth, Le Col and Mark Cavendish all departing for pastures new.

That didn't seem to hinder the team in any way though, with riders from across the globe joining forces to produce the team's most successful year. The 30 total victories from last year surpassed Bahrain's largest haul of 28 from 2018, and included five Classics wins and three GC wins. 

Bahrain Victorious 2022 squad

Yukiya Arashiro (JPN)
Phil Bauhaus (GER)
Pello Bilbao (ESP)
Santiago Buitrago (COL)
Damiano Caruso (ITA)
Sonny Colbrelli (ITA)
Feng Chun-kai (TWN)
Kamil Gradek (POL)
Jack Haig (AUS)
Heinrich Haussler (AUS)
Mikel Landa (ESP)
Filip Maciejuk (POL)
Ahmed Madan (BHR)
Gino Mäder (SUI)
Jonathan Milan (ITA)
Matej Mohorič (SLO)
Domen Novak (SLO)
Alejandro Osorio (COL)
Hermann Pernsteiner (AUT)
Wout Poels (NED)
Johan Price-Pejtersen (DEN)
Luis León Sánchez (ESP)
Jasha Sütterlin (GER)
Dylan Teuns (BEL)
Jan Tratnik (SLO)
Stephen Williams (GBR)
Fred Wright (GBR)
Edoardo Zambanini (ITA)

Official website: teambahrainmerida.com

Twitter feed: @bahrain_merida

Facebook page: Facebook.com/Bahrain-Merida-Pro-Cycling-Team-592217904262112