Podium results in three countries

This weekend the riders of Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS raced at the UAE Tour, the Tour des Alpes Maritimes and the Volta ao Algarve. The team’s selections were performing strongly in all three races. And even if they only won the team classification at one race, the riders got to celebrate a number of podium results in all three countries. 

The UAE Tour is the only top-tier Worldtour stage race held in the Near East. As the captain of Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS Pello Bilbao had already finished this race in 3rd in the overall classification twice. Rainer Kepplinger and Torstein Traeen were riding in his support while Andrea Pasqualon acted as the conduit between the team car and the riders and also joined forces with Daniel Skerl to form the sprint train for Phil Bauhaus. Due to the strong competition, the bunch sprints were frantic and hard-fought, with Phil Bauhaus scoring two 8th places and a 9th pace. Daniel Skerl did slightly better on the penultimate day when he sprinted to 7th place. As for the first mountaintop finish at Jebel Jais, Pello Bilbao had conceded 4 seconds mostly due to being positioned a bit too far to the back in the finale. The Basque rider was determined not to make the same mistake again on the final day and the climb to Jebel Hafeet.

Just as on the previous days crosswinds provoked the formation of echelons. Pello Bilbao was riding attentively and reached the bottom of the final climb in a group of just over 40 riders. While there was no match for Tadej Pogacar, Bilbao was the only rider who managed to react to a counterattack by Giulio Ciccone. He continued to climb at a fast pace only to be beaten by the Italian in the sprint for 2nd. But his 3rd place and the time put into all other rivals was good enough to move up from 7th to 3rd in the overall classification on the conclusive day. „The team worked hard for my opportunity all week, keeping me out of crashes and protecting me from the wind. So it’s an incredible feeling to make it to the podium. I am glad I could follow the instructions from the team car, be patient and then go for my chance and get that podium result,“ Pello Bilbao commented after the race.

In France, Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS fielded a strong selection of riders for the 57th Tour des Alpes Maritimes. This race, held in the backcountry of Nice, only features two stages but serves up plenty of climbs, and the team was riding in support of its co-captains Santiago Buitrago and Lenny Martinez. These two could rely on the support of Jack Haig, Edoardo Zambanini and the young trio of Roman Ermakov, Finlay Pickering and Oliver Stockwell. In the finale of the first stage Santiago Buitrago attacked an elite group of pre-race favourites with 6.7kms to go. Christian Scaroni and Lenny Martinez were the only riders who could get back to him. On the way to the finish line, this trio extended its lead to over 45 seconds, but Scaroni was too strong in the sprint for the stage win. At least Buitrago scored a 2nd place and Lenny Martinez a 3rd place. On the following day, Buitrago tried again to drop Scaroni in the finale, but to no avail. Thus the second stage of the race ended in a sprint of a small group.

As for the overall standings, Santiago Buitrago finished the race in 2nd on GC and Lenny Martinez in 3rd, with the Frenchman winning the young riders classification and Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS winning the team classification ahead of the strong XDS Astana Team and the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team. The same seven riders had already been competing at the Classic Var one-day race on Friday, showing a strong performance in the South of France that would not pay off in full in the end. The riders in White, Black and Cyan did a lot of pacing in the peloton to make sure the day's breakaway was brought back before the Mur de Fayence as the steep final climb. Both Santiago Buitrago and Lenny Martinez, who had won last year's edition of this race, looked good and matched the pace of their strongest rivals on the steep slopes, but they lacked the extra punch needed in the sprint for the win and finished in 5th and 8th, respectively. 

With Antonio Tiberi and Damiano Caruso, two strong Italian riders of Team BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, lined up for their first races of the season at the Volta ao Algarve. Afonso Eulalio was looking to double up on his strong performances from the Down Under on home turf, and Alberto Bruttomesso and Nicolo Buratti were the protected riders for sprint finishes. Two young talents completed the line-up with Vlad van Mechelen and Bryan Olivo, who normally rides for the BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS Development Team. Sadly, all ambitions for a top 5 result on GC were shattered when Antonio Tiberi lost almost two minutes early on at the first mountaintop finish of Alto da Foia. As for the bunch sprints a 7th place was the best result, but on the final day it was up to Antonio Tiberi to save the race for the team in the conclusive individual time trial up to Alto do Malhao. The young Italian paced his effort to perfection, rode the third-fastest time of the day on the final ascent and posted the third-fastest time as well, adding another podium result to the team's tally.

RESULTS:
7TH UAE TOUR
STAGE 7: AL AIN HAZZA BIN ZAYED STADIUM - JEBEL HAFEET, 176KM 
1. Tadej Pogacar, SVN, in 3:44.04 hours
2. Giulio Ciccone, ITA, + 0.33
3. Pello Bilbao, ESP/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, + 0.35

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION:
1. Tadej Pogacar, SVN, in 23:08.42 hours
2. Giulio Ciccone, ITA, + 1.14
3. Pello Bilbao, ESP/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, + 1.19

57TH TOUR DES ALPES MARITIMES, STAGE 1: CONTES - GOURDON, 162.4KM
1. Christian Scaroni, ITA, in 4:19.45 hours
2. Santiago Buitrago, COL/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, st
3. Lenny Martinez, FRA/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, + 0.04

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION:
1. Christian Scaroni, ITA, in 7:28.47 hours
2. Santiago Buitrago, COL/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, + 0.10
3. Lenny Martinez, FRA/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, + 0.12

YOUNG RIDERS CLASSIFICATION:
1. Lenny Martinez, FRA/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, in 7:28.59 hours
2. Joseph Blackmore, GBR, + 0.45
3. Jarno Widar, BEL, + 0.47

TEAM CLASSIFICATION:
1. TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, BHR, in 22:28.28 hours
2. XDS Astana Team, KAZ, + 0.38
3. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, FRA, + 6.38

51ST VOLTA AO ALGARVE, STAGE 5: SALIR - ALTO DO MALHAO, 19.6KM (ITT)
1. Jonas Vingegaard, DEN, in 28.25,60 minutes
2. Wout van Aert, BEL, + 11,10
3. Antonio Tiberi, ITA/TEAM BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS, + 14,68

Photos: Sprint Cycling Agency