Bahrain - Victorious enters Vuelta a Espana with ambition to land on the final podium with Antonio Tiberi
Cycling
After a rather anonymous Tour de France, Bahrain - Victorious hopes to provide all the good reasons for fans to forget about their French misery as their goal for Vuelta a Espana is no less than GC podium with Antonio Tiberi and ideally a couple stage wins on top of that.
Sports Director Neil Stephens is confident in a press release ahead of the Gran Salida: "We are starting out in Lisboa with a time trial. We are hoping to go well there with a couple different riders, especially Antonio. We circle through Portugal in the next two stages before going to Spain for stage 4. From there, we go down to the south of Spain, where we’ll get some hard, gruelling stages and extreme heat."
Bahrain will bet everything on Giro d'Italia White jersey winner Antonio Tiberi at the Spanish Grand Tour: "We will try to aim for the podium with Antonio Tiberi. He was in 5th in the Giro, and we are hoping for a little better at the Vuelta and get him into the top three," declares Stephens.
Rather surprising is the nomination of the experienced Damiano Caruso who was one of the main victims of the mass Vuelta a Burgos stage 2 crash. However Stephens asssures there's nothing bothering him anymore. "Damiano Caruso had a quite serious injury last week at the Vuelta a Burgos. He seems to have recovered pretty well with the assistance from our medical team. He’s very important for us, not only for his physical talent, but also as a mentor and our road captain. The guys really look up to Damiano and respect him," he highlights Caruso's importance for the team.
Supporting Tiberi's GC ambition in the mountains will be 2021 Vuelta podium finisher Jack Haig, Tour de Suisse stage winner Torstein Traeen and Austrian Rainer Kepplinger. Stephens highlights that while GC podium is number one priority, the team is to be expected to throw themselves in the mix for breakaway victories. For easier stages, most of the work will be on the shoulders of experienced duo Jasha Sütterlin and Kamil Gradek. Completing the roster is the only Grand Tour debutant in this lineup - Fran Miholjević.
Bahrain - Victorious lineup for Vuelta a Espana 2024:
Damiano Caruso
Kamil Gradek
Jack Haig
Rainer Kepplinger
Fran Miholjević
Jasha Sütterlin
Antonio Tiberi
Torstein Traeen
Kamil Gradek
Jack Haig
Rainer Kepplinger
Fran Miholjević
Jasha Sütterlin
Antonio Tiberi
Torstein Traeen
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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📣 Vamos! We’re excited to announce our lineup for @lavuelta 🇮🇹 Antonio Tiberi 🇮🇹 @CarusoDamiano 🇵🇱 @kamilgradek 🇦🇺 @jackhaig93 🇦🇹 @KepplingerRai 🇭🇷 @FranMiholjevic 🇩🇪 @JashaStterlin 🇳🇴 @Torsteintren #RideAsOne #rideforGino #LaVuelta24 🔗 bit.ly/3yCWNks
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