Rod Ellingworth returns to Bahrain with big hopes for Tiberi, Buitrago & Martinez: "To have all three of them together is really exciting"

For 2025, the well-respected Rod Ellingworth is back at Bahrain - Victorious following a three-year spell with the INEOS Grenadiers and the Brit is excited for the future, seeing three young stars in particular stand out. 

"Coming here and also leaving was an opportunity of a lifetime. It seems like a long time ago, it all happened with the pandemic in the middle. When I first came here, I was working for McLaren, not Bahrain. I said at the time that I was leaving mainly for a personal reason, more related to health and safety. It was after that strange period we had with COVID and being re-employed at INEOS was something that, at that point in my life, was quite important to me. It had nothing to do with the team or anything," Ellingworth explains of the situation to Bici.Pro. "That's why I was able to come back, because we always had a good relationship and no problems."

Read also

"I have to do sprints of 25 seconds all the time" - Matej Mohoric takes on completely new winter training to battle Pogacar and van der Poel in Flanders

As mentioned, Ellingworth is also very excited for the future of the Bahrain - Victorious team. "Every year the teams find the next goal they want to reach . The roster has completely changed. Few of that team are still here and that makes it quite different. But I think the arrival of Lenny Martinez is really exciting," he says. "There is a really young group, with him, Antonio Tiberi and Santiago Buitrago, who was there back then. He had just arrived, he was a young guy and we knew there was a lot of work to do. And you can see that he has progressed very well within this group. The other two are new to me. To have all three of them together is really exciting."

"I am not working with Tiberi specifically, like with Lenny and the others. I was involved in the French project, but I think that in parallel to that, the other aspects will follow their course. In the end, things will all work the same, so I think that indirectly there will be a change. The whole team will change, I am quite sure of it," he adds. "And I think that already this year, in this area, people can feel a certain difference. I am not saying that it will be me. There are other new people who have arrived in this team and I think they are making a difference."

Read also

Bahrain - Victorious don't hold back with expectations of Lenny Martinez: "We want to make him the best French rider of the decade"

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Unlock your ultimate cycling experience—subscribe today for access to the latest cycling news

Subscribe