It's time to turn the page at home Bahrain Victorious. 2026 is approaching and the team is ready to inaugurate a new phase, built on a mix of young talents and experienced leaders. While on the one hand they say goodbye to key figures such as Andrea Pasqualon and Torstein Traen, on the other the team continues to focus decisively on a youth system which in recent years has begun to bear important fruit.
To understand how the group is preparing and what the key points of next season will be, we talked with Franco Pellizotti, sporting director and central figure in building this new course. With him, we tried to shed some light on the plans, ambitions, and technical identity that Bahrain wants to consolidate in 2026.
We were saying, Franco, a slightly different Bahrain, the one in 2026: is that so?
A few young riders are coming in. We've been investing heavily in them in recent years because recruiting experienced riders is very expensive. We have a good youth team from the juniors to the I have to team up and it's right to draw from there. In my opinion, these guys are excellent athletes, and we'll place them alongside the experienced ones. It's clear that maybe the victories won't be very high at the end of the year, but if we look to the future, we have some very promising young players. There's no need to rush: they need to be helped to develop properly, alongside our "older" players, so to speak.
Also because you have very few old people anymore, except for the “super old”!
In the end we have Damian Caruso, who is really old… but only anagraphically. We could also say that Matej Mohoric he is old, but he is 31-32 years old: he is a relative old man.
When these very young 18-20 year olds arrive, is it still worth placing them alongside the "old" players, or perhaps do they interact better with 23-24 year old pros?
It's true that many young people think they know everything when they turn pro, but there are others who know what they want, trust, and listen. It's hard to find young people who truly want to learn: this is the real challenge of this historical period.
Apart from Caruso, who we know well as a rider and as a person, who is a guy you see as particularly sensitive to the new young arrivals?
I'd say Mohoric. Matej dispenses advice left and right, especially in races in Belgium or stage races. If I were a young man I would trust him blindly. Mohoric gives 100 percent for the team and the young players. Damiano is another player who has no problems: just look at what he's doing with Antonio Tiberi.
And then Tiberi isn't even that young anymore...
True. Ten years ago he would have been very young, today with the different cycling we are experiencing he is ready. He's already in his third year with us, his fourth as a pro. He's put a lot of trust in Damiano: I'm not saying he's lost without him, but he's definitely finding an important mentor. There are young players who want to listen and others who think they already know everything, but...
But?
Ma after a few races they realize that real cycling starts there, when you pass. Everything you've done before has helped you make the transition, but it can all be reset. As a professional, you have to prove your worth.
This is the time when people start talking about plans. Some rumors say Tiberi wants to ride the Tour de France. Is that true?
Of course, repeating the same things over and over again isn't encouraging. 2024 was very good for him, especially at the Giro d'Italia, while 2025 was below expectations. Perhaps he has a little more retaliatory spirit. Before deciding, we were waiting to see how the new Giro was structured. You know, In October, saying: you do the Giro and you do the Tour is often premature if you don't know the routes.
We asked you exactly this: after watching the Giro, has anything changed? There's a very long time trial and no climbs like the Mortirolo or Zoncolan…
With such a long time trial, everything changes for someone like Tiberi. We'll now spend two weeks in Spain and study the Giro and Tour in depth. We'll decide based on the routes and the athletes' wishes. It's right to listen to what the rider wants: in the end, he'll get on the bike.
Among the new signings is Jakob Omrzel: what can we expect from him?
Jakob would already like to do important races. He is talented and has demonstrated uncommon things. Bahrain, rightly, shielded him for years, and that's why we need to let him grow without overstepping his limits. In the end, he only played one year with the Under-23s: He hasn't had a taste of real cycling yet. We will insert him in some important race, perhaps close to an equally important leader. But we will certainly also field him in less tough races, not WorldTour ones.
Why?
So that he can get satisfaction and so that he doesn't lose his ability to win. This year he proved at the Tour of Slovenia, with a fourth place overall, and in Croatia that he is a reliable rider for this level of racing.
Franco, you said it before: Bahrain-Victorious's season hasn't been great. Since next year we'll be starting from scratch with WorldTour points, how will you race? "Astana-style" or in the traditional way, trying to win?
In the traditional management meeting we hold after the Lombardy meeting, we repeated it: This is our way of competing: trying to win. Then it's clear that you also have to look at the points because that's important, but we won't completely change our racing style. We'll race as we always have... as a team. We'll try to do well in the important races. If you look at the number of victories, it's clear that it's not very high, but who has won that much? The only one UAE Emirates he picked almost 100, another 50 and passes the Soudal-Quick Step which has experienced and very strong sprinters. Red Bull – Bora which has a huge budget, even if it didn't have a super season, it has shown that it has riders of absolute value who have been consistent.
Let's also add that some of your leaders have had various misfortunes...
Mohoric has been struggling to find consistency for a couple of years due to various physical reasons, But we know his value. Tiberi is coming off a subpar season. Martinez, in my opinion, did very well, except for the ending. But his story is different.
In what sense?
A Frenchman leaving a French team: moving abroad isn't easy for a Frenchman. It's harder for the French to leave their country: that's historically the case. We're talking about a boy who literally left his nest. I'm sure next year will be even better.
What does Martinez need to improve on?
A bit in terms of consistency, we're more or less there on the performance side, but I think that will come naturally. He, more than others, has had to adapt: he's found a different language. He speaks English, but not as well as the French he used at Groupama-FDJ. And for someone as shy as he is, that can be an additional obstacle. We, too, needed to understand what the boy was like. See how he moved, how he thought, how he interacted with his teammates. Lenny is a treasure that must be protected without haste.
A question we're asking more to Pellizotti, a former rider than a sports director: you've switched bikes, from Merida to Bianchi. What was the approach like?
When you change such an important partner company after nine years, you can't help but be hesitant: you know what you had, but not what you'll find. Instead, we found an ambitious company with a strong desire to improve. Bianchi has no problem investing; in addition to supplying us with materials, they are also willing to work directly to improve themselves and develop their products. She's ambitious.
Do the boys already have both bikes?
No, just the road bike. But they'll also come back from training camp with the time trial bike and the second road bike. Anyway, going back to Bianchi, I told the guys: "It's a historic brand; I've raced with it a lot and even won an Italian championship. In cycling, which is a passion and a sport more closely tied to its history than any other, for me it's an added value. In short, Bianchi was the bike of Coppi, Gimondi and Pantani».
