Worlds ticked off, the future in sight

(texte original: Merida International)

At cycling’s road World championships in the British Yorkshire region Sonny Colbrelli and Dylan Theuns rode strong races in support off their national teams. At the same time the management of the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM is working at full stretch to set up and reinforce the team for the seasons ahead. Two prominent signings have already been confirmed.

The race calendar might get less crowded at the end of September, but it still features a race of the highest level and prestige with the road World championships. A seizable number of riders from the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM made the trip to the British Yorkshire region to compete for their national teams. With Grega Bole, Matej Mohoric, Luka Pibernik and Jan Tratnik no less than four riders were competing in the colours of Slovenia. Add to that Ivan Cortina, Dylan Teuns, Sonny Colbrelli, Hermann Pernsteiner, Yukiya Arashiro and Taiwan’s Chun-kai Feng who only competed in the individual time trial. Mark Padun pulled out of the World championship race on short notice due to health reasons, and Ivan Cortina was forced to abandon early on due to stomach issues. Apart from the race distance of 261.8 kilometers and the steady up and down on narrow roads, the wind and steady rain were the main challenges for the competitors.

Early on in the race a group of eleven riders containing some big names went up the road, but this group was caught with more than 100 kilometers to go. As for the final hour of the race, Dylan Teuns was the first rider to move into the spot lights: With about 35 kilometers to go he accelerated in an attempt to pull back a small group of attackers. But he did not manage to do so as Sonny Colbrelli was doing his best to slow down any chasing effort as two fellow Italians were up the road, fighting for the World champion title and the medals. The World championships ended with the surprise win of young Danish rider Mads Pedersen. Sonny Colbrelli crossed the finish line in 11th in the group of favourites, 1.10 minutes behind the winner. Apart from him the only other rider of the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM to finish the World championships race was Dylan Teuns in 37th.

Behind the screens the preparations for the next seasons are in full swing: With the Basque rider Mikel Landa and Dutchman Wout Poels two strong stage racers have been signed for two seasons. The contracts of Damiano Caruso, Sonny Colbrelli, Yukiya Arashiro, Chun-kai Feng, Luka Pibernik and Domen Novak have been extended this week, so they will continue riding for the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM.