Podium results at the Tour Down Under

At the six-stage Tour Down Under, Phil Bauhaus finished in 2nd and 3rd, scoring two podium results for Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS. On Sunday, Santiago Buitrago showed a strong performance as well, finishing the one-day Classica Comunitat Valenciana in 4th place.

For Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, the racing season 2025 started in Australia. Since the Tour Down Under featured up to four potential sprint stages, the team fielded Phil Bauhaus and his lead-out rider, Nikias Arndt. As a co-captain, Robert Stannard was free to chase a top 10 result in the overall standings on home turf. These three could rely on the support of four fresh signings for the 2025 season: Mathijs Paasschens, Afonso Eulalio, Roman Ermakov and Daniel Skerl. On the weekend before the Tour Down Under started, the Villawood Men’s Classic was held as a criterium-style warm-up event. While Phil Bauhaus had to slam the brakes of his MERIDA bike in the finale to avoid a crash, Robert Stannard took over and secured a top 10 finish in the chaotic sprint, crossing the finish line in 8th place.

The finale of the opening stage of the Tour Down Under was marred by a crash as well, and many riders of Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS got caught up behind it. As a consequence, Phil Bauhaus had to fend for himself in the finale, sprinting to 9th place without assistance from a lead-out. One day later, Nikias Arndt could deliver his signature support, but this time, the lead-out rider of the stage winner shut the door in front of Phil Bauhaus, ruining a potential podium result and putting him in 11th place instead. With a total of 2650 vertical meters of ascending, stage 3 was set to be a first test for the overall contenders. While Robert Stannard could not keep up with the pace of the fastest climbers, young Portuguese rider Afonso Eulalio filled the void bravely and crossed the finish line just 5 seconds adrift of the solo stage winner in 15th place.

Stage 4 was another opportunity for the sprinter, and this time, the lead-out of Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS worked as planned, riding Phil Bauhaus into a very promising position deep into the finale. Crossing the finish line in 2nd, Bauhaus was only beaten by Bryan Coquard by a wheel length. The next day featured the traditional, scaled-down mountaintop finish of Willunga Hill and the impressions from stage 3 got confirmed: Afonso Eulalio was the strongest climber of his team, keeping himself at the sharp end of the race deep into the finale and crossing the finish line in 17th, thus securing his 15th place in the overall standings. A short, intense stage in the streets of Adelaide capped off the Tour Down Under, and as expected, things came down to a bunch sprint, with Phil Bauhaus finishing in 3rd and scoring a second podium result.

The final weekend of January also saw a number of one-day races being contested in Spain, with Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS fielding a mix of climbers, allrounders and sprint specialists. As for the GC, Castellon Matevz Govekar may have missed out on a top 5 result, but with his long sprint, he managed to get back to a six-rider breakaway on the finish line and snatch 6th place. The next day's Classica Comunitat Valenciana featured a tougher course, and after some impressive work by the team, Colombian Santiago Buitrago was part of a strong four-men lead group on the final ascent of the day. Despite getting dropped on the last kilometre of the climb, Buitrago did not give up, got some company while chasing the race leaders and crossed the finish line in 4th place, scoring a top 5 result just a couple of seconds adrift from the day's winner Marc Hirschi.

RESULTS:
25TH SANTOS TOUR DOWN UNDER
STAGE 4: GLENELG - VICTOR HARBOR, 157.2KM
1. Bryan Coquard, FRA, in 3:55.15 hours
2. Phil Bauhaus, GER/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, st
3. Jonathan Narvaez, ECU, st

STAGE 6: ADELAIDE - ADELAIDE, 90.2KM
1. Sam Welsford, AUS, in 1:53.14 hours
2. Bryan Coquard, FRA, st
3. Phil Bauhaus, GER/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, st

Photos: Sprint Cycling Agency