Tiberi, Martinez and... Bauhaus! Bahrain Victorious name a 'balanced' Tour de France team

Bahrain Victorious announced its team for the 2026 Tour de France on Sunday afternoon. The team made a strong impression at the Giro d'Italia with Afonso Eulálio, who wore the pink jersey for a long time and ultimately finished sixth and claimed the young rider’s jersey. Alec Segaert also won a stage. Strong performances that the team believe can be repeated at the Tour de France.

Bahrain Victorious is building its Tour team around Antonio Tiberi and Lenny Martinez. For Tiberi, this marks his debut in the Tour de France, after he broke through as a general classification contender in 2024 with a fifth-place finish in the Giro. This season, he had a particularly strong start to the year, finishing fourth in the Tour of Valencia and second in the UAE Tour.

Martinez has already ridden the Tour twice, including in 2024 as a sort of punishment with Groupama FDJ United, which had just learned that Martinez was leaving. Last year, the diminutive climber returned and wore the polka-dot jersey for a long time. Martinez has been in excellent form several times this season, as evidenced by his fifth-place finish in Paris-Nice, a second-place finish in the Tour of Catalonia, and a third-place finish in the Tour de Romandie.

"My goal in this Tour de France is to win a stage, and I’d also like to contend for the polka-dot jersey," said Martinez, who is therefore not aiming for the general classification. "Antonio will be our general classification rider; the rest of us will have opportunities to go for stage wins. I’m in good form this year, even though I crashed before the Tour de Suisse. But I improved day by day there, so I feel good now."

In addition to Martinez, Tiberi can count on the support of his regular lead-out man, Damiano Caruso, who, riding as Eulálio’s lead-out man in the Giro d’Italia, casually finished ninth. All-rounders Vlad Van Mechelen and Matej Mohoric are also strong climbers. Sprinter Phil Bauhaus is also on the team, supported by Kamil Gradek and Robert Stannard.

"A balanced team," Bahrain Victorious states in a press release. The release notes that Tiberi is aiming for a spot in the top ten. "Antonio had a good start to the season before he struggled a bit with his form. We now feel he’s back on track, and although he showed what he’s capable of in the Giro two years ago, the Tour de France is a different race. He’ll have experienced support riders with him.”

Signed: Roman Kreuziger, who will be joining the team as a director for the Tour. Why is Bauhaus being included on a team that has ambitions for the general classification, the mountains jersey, and stage wins? “Phil has come close to a stage win many times, and we believe he can do it again. Mohoric got sick during the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, but we think he’ll be at his best in the Tour.”

Pello Bilbao is not in the Tour team in his final professional season.. He also fell ill in the Auvergne and did not recover in time.

In any case, Martinez is looking forward to the Tour de France. “My goal for this Tour de France is to win a stage and, at the same time, compete for the mountains jersey. So those are my two main goals. Antonio will focus on our ambitions in the general classification, while the rest of us will look for the right opportunities to win stages.”

"Overall, I think I'm in good shape this year. I took a fall before the Tour de Suisse, but during the race I felt better day by day. I feel good now, and hopefully I can carry that feeling over to the Tour de France," said the French climber.

But: “It’s not just about me. We have a very strong team with several riders capable of winning stages, and I’m sure we’ll find the right moments during the race to seize our opportunities,” Martinez concludes.