Since MERIDA BIKES joined professional road cycling as a co-sponsor back in 2013, the team names and the sponsoring partners have seen various changes. The Kingdom of Bahrain joined in 2017 as a title sponsor, laying the foundation for today's Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS. What has remained unchanged ever since is our commitment to provide the team with the best equipment possible – closely cooperating with athletes, performance coaches and other suppliers to help drive the team's success and forge our products in the heat of competition. From 2017 to 2021, riders aboard MERIDA BIKES won 94 races and scored a total of 286 podium results – some impressive numbers.
The 2022 season saw the team winning 21 races and adding 31 second and 26 third places. The season's highlight came in March with Matej Mohoric's solo win at Milan-Sanremo following a daredevil descent from the Poggio. This added another monument of cycling to the tally of Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS. Prior to that, Wout Poels had already won the Vuelta a Andalucia, Santiago Buitrago secured a stage at the Saudi Tour, and Dylan Teuns won the semi-classic Flèche Wallone. Other spectacular victories included the overall standings at the Cro Race and the team classification at the Giro d'Italia. In addition, Matevz Govekar won his first pro race at the Vuelta a Burgos. On top of that, Mikel Landa secured third places in the GC at both the Giro d'Italia and Tirreno Adriatico, while Gino Mäder finished the Tour de Romandie in an impressive second position. And despite missing out on a stage win, Fred Wright's attacking riding style at the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España delighted the fans.
The big downer, of course, was seeing the team lose one of its stars, with Sonny Colbrelli being forced off the bike and into a way too early retirement due to severe heart issues. Colbrelli will continue with Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS as part of the staff, and his triumphs in 2021 will surely stay alive in our memories. Grazie Mille and have a good time aboard our MERIDA BIKES, Sonny!
Looking forward, one thing is clear: At MERIDA, we will be putting all our efforts into the upcoming season and provide the team riders with three different frames, allowing them to get their preferred setup and tailor their equipment perfectly for the various terrains, courses, and conditions at hand. Riders will use the MERIDA SCULTURA and REACTO models for stage races and single-day events, depending on whether aerodynamics or weight is key. The TIME WARP-TT DISC has been developed as a dedicated TT bike and has proven its worth.
For 2023, Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS has signed seven new riders. Nikias Arndt adds a lot of experience from both track and road to the sprint train. Andrea Pasqualon and Dusan Rajovic have great speed and are hard to drop on climbs, while Cameron Scott could turn into a similar type of rider. With Fran Miholjevic and Rainer Kepplinger, the team has also added two promising talents to its roster. And finally, 25-year-old Sergio Tu is flying the flag of Taiwan within Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, taking over from his compatriot Chun-kai Feng, who is almost ten years older and who will compete in the Asia Tour for the MERIDA-equipped Japanese team Utsunomiya Blitzen.
The 2023 roster of Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS features 28 riders and can be found on the team's website.
