Bahrain - Victorious backing Matej Mohoric & Fred Wright for Opening Weekend success: "They’ve already shown they work well together"
Cycling
Across the peloton, teams are preparing themselves for Opening Weekend, filled with hopes and dreams for what could await at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne. If Bahrain - Victorious are to be successful, a lot rests on the shoulders of leadership duo Matej Mohoric and Fred Wright.
“I think we’ve done a great job since December, ticking all the boxes in preparation for these races. We’ve tested equipment, completed recons, and the riders have shown great dedication throughout the winter," previews sports director Michal Golas in a press release on the team's official website. "Hopefully, all the hard work pays off. Our performances in previous races have proven that we’re in good shape and ready to be competitive here."
As mentioned, much of the team's hopes and expectations lay on the shoulders of Matej Mohoric and Fred Wright. "They’ve already shown they work well together, and I hope they can deliver a strong result on Saturday," analyses Golas, confident in his leaders chances. "As the first Classic of the season, it will be a tough and stressful race with extra tension in the peloton, so we need to stay focused and avoid potential issues early on. Our support riders— Roman Ermakov, Matevž Govekar, and Kamil Gradek—will play a crucial role in protecting our leaders through the initial phase. Andrea Pasqualon will also be key in helping us during the middle section of the race, ensuring we stay in a strong position before the decisive moments."
"Once we reach this phase, the race will start to take shape, and we’ll need to be ready to race aggressively, following attacks and responding to key moves," Golas adds. "The final selection will likely happen on the Muur and Bosberg, where we expect Matej, Fred, and Robert Stannard to be in contention for a strong result.”
“For Kuurne, it’s a different scenario, as we have a rider taking on their first Classic. Vlad Van Mechelen will make his classics debut, and I know he’s highly motivated to prove his talent. He’s already demonstrated his abilities, and I believe he will be a great support for the team. Alberto Bruttomesso also joins the team and will be looking to build from his experience last year and support the leaders," Golas continues, casting an eye towards Sunday. "Govekar gives us a good option if it comes down to a reduce bunch sprint. However, we anticipate a tough middle section, where many teams will try to force a selection."
"Matej, Fred, and Robert will need to be alert to follow the key moves. Pasqualon will again be important in helping us maintain position and react to attacks," the DS concludes. "This race will be a battle between the fast finishers and the aggressive riders aiming for a long-range attack. Fortunately, we have strong options for both scenarios, giving us a great chance to secure good results this weekend.”
Bahrain - Victorious for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2025
Matej Mohoric
Fred Wright
Matevz Govekar
Andrea Pasqualon
Kamil Gradek
Roman Ermakov
Robert Stannard
Bahrain - Victorious for Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne 2025
Matej Mohoric
Fred Wright
Matevz Govekar
Andrea Pasqualon
Robert Stannard
Alberto Bruttomesso
Vlad Van Mechelen
Read also
📣 Meet our team for the Opening Weekend 🇧🇪@OmloopHNB & @KuurneBxlKuurne #RideAsOne #rideforGino #OHN #KBK
— Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) February 27, 2025
🔗 https://t.co/tj5oKIexjl pic.twitter.com/kOloHdDj0N
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Too much amatuer psychology. How about this: "he was never as good as when he had not suffered multiple career-threatening injuries." What is happening to him is what happened to Alaphilippe, Bernal, and others. You will notice that his two major peers -- MVDP and Mads - are both at their all time best. You will also note that neither is coming off of anything like the same last 18 months that Wout is. Go back to 2022, then roll the tape forward with Wout remaining healhty and one of them having had multiple traumatic falls. Odds are good he'd be at his dominant best and they would not.MidnightRider31-03-2025
- Raymond Poulidor, Alfredo Binda.... where do we stop. If you want to retitle it is Primoz Roglic the bestr rider never to win the tour in the last ten or 20 years then that might be betterslappers6631-03-2025
- Let me help you. Alfredo BindaUpHill31-03-2025
- He'll certainly last it and prob ride his own race, at the front 😁
leedorney31-03-2025 - Gaio Primus Caesar Roglus, Rome is waiting for you, Imperator :-)).
maria2024202431-03-2025 - And he probably wasn’t even at the limit ;-) Have to wonder how much Mads could catch up if he’d tune his physique to be as sharp as MVDPs’Mistermaumau31-03-2025
- Respect for giving Van Eetvelt credit there.Mistermaumau31-03-2025
- He’s already a star for me for HAVING complained about it, the recent trend having been, let them then try to take advantage by making them sign NDAs ;-)Mistermaumau31-03-2025
- Agreed, but if it was a radio thing then all the riders should have the same story and it would be easy to call anyone out. Kind of surprised this isn’t cleared up half officially afterwards, just like the Alaphilippe divorce, seems like once something spreads on the net it kind of gets accepted that everyone wants to have their own truth so no-one bothers to contest anything that’s verifiable anymore, we all just move on.Mistermaumau31-03-2025
- maybe. what makes that a LITTLE fishy is that they suddenly hit the gas and started hammering it. even mathieu, who i’ve never heard complain about ANYTHING (other than teenage girls waking him up and being spit on by belgians) was pretty hacked off about the race tactics after the split. i think he was upset for what his teammates had to do, not for the fact he ended up isolated as a result.OCexile31-03-2025