"The strength of our team as a unit will be key" - 2025 has to be better for Bahrain - Victorious and Matej Mohoric

Bahrain - Victorious endured a disappointing 2024 season, struggling to compensate for Jonathan Milan’s departure. They dropped six places in the UCI WorldTour rankings, winning only 13 races, finishing ahead of only Astana, Cofidis, and Arkéa. The team knows that in 2025, it has to be better.

IDLProCycling recently spoke to Aart Vierhouten, who joined Bahrain Victorious as a sports director after working with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. "We have 12 riders for the classics, and we’ll mix and match our line ups," says the Dutch sports director.

"We have a fantastic team villa for the classics, located somewhere between Waregem and Kortrijk. It allows us to stay together as a family and create a relaxed atmosphere. And that brings peace of mind." Vierhouten believes that team selection for key races will happen naturally and based on performance.

"The selection for the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix takes shape naturally. It just happens, those who are in form will rise to the occasion," he explains, highlighting the importance of balancing youth with experience. "It’s also up to us to mix the younger generation with the more experienced riders."

Vierhouten is particularly excited about the team’s rising talent. "For example, we have Zak Erzen, a 19-year-old talent. These are exciting surprises, especially when you see how eager he is. But we also know that racing in Belgium is tougher than what they’ve experienced so far—and their teammates warn them too: ‘Just wait until you get there.’

"We approach it with confidence, and we’ll enter races like Nokere Koerse and Le Samyn with a young squad, purely to gain experience for the bigger races ahead."

Matej Mohoric will be central to the team’s ambitions after missing much of last year’s spring campaign due to a crash. "He knows everything, so you have to be well-prepared. That’s a real challenge," Vierhouten says, expressing admiration for the Slovenian.

"We’ve already had several discussions about his ambitions, and now his dreams are in my head too. We’re working hard on them, and we need to keep them alive, that’s why we stay in close contact."

Mohorič has set his sights on winning either the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix. "But we also have a Mathieu van der Poel, a Tadej Pogacar, and Wout van Aert is still dreaming as well. So we’ll need to be smart because we know our position in the field. The strength of our team as a unit will be key."

The Slovenian leader remains a key figure within the squad, inspiring those around him. "Matej is an anchor for everyone, and the team rallies around him. They see that there are opportunities. They train with him and witness firsthand how hard he works. That motivates everyone else as well. When there’s a gap to close, everyone knows exactly who they’re doing it for, someone who has already won a Monument, like he did with Milano-Sanremo."

However, Mohorič’s 2024 season was hampered by injuries that were worse than initially thought. "Last year, he struggled with injuries after a crash. He tried to come back too soon, and in the end, it turned out more was broken than he initially thought.

"That set him back even further. When you want to win so badly, you sometimes make the same mistakes that every top athlete makes. That’s why he didn’t perform at his best last season."

To help him reset mentally, the team encouraged Mohorič to step away from road racing at the end of the season. "We told him to go gravel racing, do different things. Just to clear his head, because that’s crucial as we head into the spring classics."