Gaia Tormena looks back on a hugely impressive 2023 season, highlighted by her decisive win at the UCI Mountain Bike Eliminator World Champion in Palangkaraya, Indonesia. To honour her achievements, we have created another ONE OF A KIND design to help her stay ahead of the pack in the 2024 season. Her carbon BIG.NINE features a lightning-inspired design in the World Championship colours, referencing Gaia’s incredible power and acceleration, key ingredients in her outstanding 2023 season. Gaia’s frame also carries the famous word FORZA (Italian for strength or power and often used as words of encouragement such as "come on" or "you can do it") on the top tube, giving her that extra bit of encouragement as she hits the fishing straight. To underline her hugely successful 'golden' season, the model’s name, logos and rider name are in gold. And for the eagle-eyed, there’s a golden 'Tormena Tornado' graphic, a reference to Gaia’s ability to tear through the field like a whirlwind, on the rear tyre-facing side of the seat tube…visible only to the riders she leaves behind.
Matej Mohorič’s decisive victory last year on the then-unreleased SILEX was a real milestone in Matej’s racing career and in the history of the MERIDA product. With such an important win on its shoulders, we went back to the design drawing board and created a very special one-off SILEX to celebrate this outstanding achievement.
The World Championship SILEX features the famous five colours, but in a spiral shape, positioned on the top tube and inside the fork. Instead of being rounded, the spiral has sharp edges and straight lines, reflecting the modern and hard-edged design of the new SILEX. In addition, the rear end of the bike has a stone-like finish, once again referring to the object that gave the SILEX its name. (Note: SILEX is the Latin word for stone, pebble or flint).
While it is not uncommon that the riders of Team Bahrain Victorious tackle some of the most demanding races on machines that are not yet released, it was ‘perfect timing’ for Matej Mohoric to win the 2nd ever UCI World Gravel Championships just days before his bike of choice, the new SILEX, would be released. Having the choice between the then-unreleased SILEX and the SCULTURA ENDURANCE GR, Matej went for the long-distance gravel race, adventure and bike-packing-biased SILEX to benefit from its more stable and off-road proven geometry. It also offered him plenty of reserves and stability on the more demanding sections of the 2023 course.
After winning Japan’s National Road Cycling title in 2007 and 2013, Yukiya Arashiro returned to the Japanese championships at the age of 37 to leave his mark once more. The 12.3km course in Mihara, which had to be completed 15 times, would undoubtedly show who the strongest rider would be. After fighting alone throughout the race, Yukiya managed to beat his namesake Yudai Arashiro in a two-man sprint. To honour this incredible and well-deserved win, as well as to acknowledge his impressive and long-lasting career, we created this simple yet striking design showcasing the national flag of Japan and a caricature of Arashiro’s pet dog, Colin.
To honour another great rider and his huge commitment to the team, Heinrich Haussler also received his own 'one-off' REACTO, decorated in the national colours of Australia and wearing his nickname 'Heino'. With the 2022 World Road Championships taking place in Wollongong, in his home country Australia, Heinrich Haussler was able to line up at this start line with this beautiful creation. As one of the real all-rounders of the team, Heinrich is known for his tireless efforts to support his teammates and his ability to bring the team together, regardless of how challenging the task ahead might be. As a real team player and role model for the younger members of the team, he is a deserving recipient of such a special bike.
Sometimes, it is not about focusing on one incredible win but honouring an outstanding contribution and the tireless efforts of a rider to put his teammates into the perfect position for the sprint. This is the reason that made us create a very special bike for a very special rider. After more than 20 years in the professional peloton, the most successful 'Edelhelfer' or 'Top end domestique' Marcel Sieberg brought his racing career to an end, finishing his racing years in the colours of Team Bahrain Victorious. As an appreciation of his impressive career with unrivalled effort and undisputed commitment, creating this special bike was the least we could do. Key areas of the bike, such as the underside of the downtube, the front part of the top tube and the area behind the headtube, carry vital moments from Marcel’s career as well as his 'Edelhelfer' inscription, serving as a lasting reminder of what he achieved for Team Bahrain Victorious and previous teams he has raced for.
Enjoying some great personal form as well as a superb backup by the rest of the team, Sonny Colbrellis’s 2021 season was filled with success. Besides the Italian Championships, another stand-out moment for the Italian sprinter was his victory in the European Championships, which took place in Trento, in his home country. In a nail-biter of a finale, the Italian national champion of Team Bahrain Victorious would neither be caught off guard nor get dropped by Remco Evenepoel, taking the sprint for the win against the Belgian by multiple bike lengths. Just a few weeks after his victory in Trento, Sonny would first secure the win in the Memorial Marco Pantani, before heading to the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix. In the cold and wet conditions of that race, Sonny was able to outsprint the competition after entering the Velodrome of Roubaix. With this win at one of cycling’s monuments, the reigning European road champion made a childhood dream come true.
After finishing the Italian National Championships in third in 2020 and second position in 2019, Sonny Colbrelli managed to stay ahead of the pack in the 2021 championships to secure a well overdue victory. Taking place around the famous Imola Formula 1 circuit, Sonny managed to stay out of trouble for the entirety of the race before battling it out with Fausto Masnada all the way to the finish line. A flawless final sprint with a perfectly timed acceleration gave Sonny a significant margin when crossing the line and secured him his first Italian championship jersey – and also this beautifully designed REACTO, featuring the colours of the Italian Tricolour. It was the start of an incredible season for Sonny, who later on would secure some of the most memorable victories in the history of the team.
One of the first and most widely documented 'one of a kind' paint jobs we have created was former BAHRAIN MERIDA’s team captain Vincenzo Nibali’s black and gold SCULTURA. The bike was created to be the two times champion’s bike for the 100th edition of the Giro d’Italia in 2017. Taking inspiration from the famous spiral-shaped trophy of the Giro, the super light carbon frame featured a black and golden paint job that mirrored the shape of the event’s trophy and used real gold leaf rather than paint to create this unique look. As an additional special feature, every winner of the Giro d’Italia was mentioned by name on the gold spiral of the bike; most importantly, the rider of this 'one of a kind' SCULTURA used during the centennial edition of this famous Italian road race.
