Cycling: After many good years, Bahrain – Victorious has suffered a slight setback in the 2024 season. 14 victories and 44 other podium finishes sound good at first glance, but the top results in important races are limited. Things should get better again in 2025. Hopes are resting on Lenny Martinez.
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Bahrain – Victorious 2024: Fall from #6 to #17
Thanks to numerous top results in one-day races and tours, the Bahrain – Victorious team has developed into one of the best teams in the world in recent years. In 2024, however, everything went anything but as planned. Too many of the top performers have aged and the development of the younger professionals has stagnated in some cases. Only four victories at WorldTour level remain. Santiago Buitrago won a stage at Paris Nice, Phil Bauhaus a section near Tirreno – Adriatico, Torstein Traeen celebrated at the Tour de Suisse and Matevz Govekar managed a conciliatory end to the season at the Tour of Guangxi. Lots of second and third places make the statistics look better, but the really big coup did not happen in 2024. At least the young GC riders are giving us hope. Santiago Buitrago finished tenth in the Tour de France, Antonio Tiberi at the Giro d'Italia, they even finished fifth. Despite this, the team slipped from sixth to 6th place in the UCI rankings - a clear sign that the team management is not satisfied this year either.
The future is called Lenny Martinez
Although the good results from previous years could not be repeated, the Bahrain – Victorious team did not lose its nerve in the transfer market. Quite the opposite: the transfers seem extremely well thought out and will take the team to the next level. Star signing is undoubtedly Lenny Martinez. The young Frenchman is expected to develop into a GC captain at Bahrain – Victorious. Alongside Tiberi and Buitrago, there would then be three younger professionals who have the potential to attack at the top of a Grand Tour. Among the nine newcomers, Martinez and three other absolute top talents are among them. Max van der Meulen from the Netherlands, Vlad van Mechelen from Belgium and Zak Erzen from Slovenia has been said to be a huge talent for some time. As of now, eight drivers will be leaving the team. With Wout poels is also someone who has scored points every season. But the Dutchman is now 37 years old. The German Jasha Sutterlin is leaving the team. Overall, the team is getting younger and it is clear that they want to attack in the GC in the future.