Phil Bauhaus wins Coppa Bernocchi

Phil Bauhaus got to celebrate his first win in an official UCI race in the colours of the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM at the 101st edition of the Coppa Bernocchi. After almost 200 kilometers he won the bunch sprint in Legnano. At the Vuelta a España two riders of the team rode into the top15 of the overall standings with Dylan Teuns and Hermann Pernsteiner. 

The winning streak of the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM at the Italian one-day race Coppa Bernocchi continues. In 2017 and 2018, Sonny Colbrelli had sprinted to wins, and this year it was up to Phil Bauhaus to fly the colours of the team. As the designated captain the young German could rely on the support of his experienced compatriot Marcel Sieberg, Chun-kai Feng, Andrea Garosio, Antonio Nibali and Jan Tratnik. The course around Legnano offered opportunities for attackers as well however, as the race went over the Morazzone climb six times. At first an eight-rider lead group took charge of things in the race.

The peloton kept the lead of this group in check, and it brought them back in the finale. From there the team work within the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM worked flawlessly: Marcel Sieberg led Phil Bauhaus into the final kilometer, and with about 500 meters to go a couple of riders went down right behind them. Phil Bauhaus got away unscathed, jumped to the wheel of an opponent and then timed his acceleration perfectly to beat Italian Simone Consonni to the line in Legnano. Thus he got to celebrate his first win for the team in an official UCI race, since his win at the Adriatica Ionica Race’s city criterium does not count due to the circuit being too short.

At the Vuelta a España Belgian Dylan Teuns and Austrian Hermann Pernsteiner were the strongest and the most active riders of the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM in the race’s demanding mountain stages. A prime example for this was the penultimate stage when Pernsteiner finished in 4th and Teuns in 7th. Thanks to a couple of top5 finishes in the stages these two moved up to the top15 of the overall standings: Teuns finished the Vuelta a España in 12th in the overall standings with Hermann Pernsteiner in 15th. Another rider who repeatedly made his way into lead groups thanks to his attentative riding was Ukrainian Mark Padun. And Yukiya Arashiro got to finish his 12th career Grand Tour after having suffered serious injuries in a training crash back in spring.  

101ST COPPA BERNOCCHI: LEGNANO - LEGNANO, 198.24KM
1. Phil Bauhaus, GER/BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM, in 4:34.25 hours
2. Simone Consonni, ITA, st
3. Imerio Cima, ITA, + 0.01