The official part of the conference started with a beautiful video of the stunning country of Bahrain, the country that BAHRAIN MERIDA Team represents in the cycling world. Mr. Yousef Alkhan, representative of Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority presented Bahrain as a touristic and business friendly destination and emphasized: “BAHRAIN MERIDA Pro Cycling team is a very important project for Bahrain, one from which we expect better recognition of our country and greater interest from potential visitors and businesses.” He stated the importance of supporting such an international team in the professional cycling for their country and especially for their tourism and economic development. The team was honoured to have at the press conference two more representatives from Bahrain - Mrs. Amal Almurbati from Falyaat Management Company and Mr. Majeed Al Majid from BAHRAIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD.

After this intro the focus shifted to the team and their preparations for one of the greatest races in the world of cycling – Giro d’Italia. A short film, with BAHRAIN MERIDA riders in the leading role, showed some moments of the Team’s “Road to Giro”. Mr. Brent Copeland, General Manager of the team, additionally stated the importance of this race for the BAHRAIN MERIDA Team: “It’s the first Grand Tour for our new team. We will start the race with a two times winner and our ambition is to get to the podium. We are prepared for this challenge.”

In the next three weeks all eyes will be on the two times winner of this prestigious race – Vincenzo Nibali. Since the race will take him through his hometown Messina, it has an even more special meaning for him. “I’ve been preparing for this through the whole year; I can hardly wait for the start, counting down the days. I have a great team behind me, providing excellent support. Two stages are especially important for me: the one in my hometown Messina and another one, dedicated to my friend and former teammate, Michele Scarponi,” the Team’s star Vincenzo Nibali expressed his feelings before the 100th edition Giro.

Mr. Gorazd Štangelj, Head of Sports directors gave some insights of the preparations for Giro: “The whole team has been preparing for this race. Our goal is not to lose anything prior to the deciding stages in the Dolomites.”

Sponsors and partners of BAHRAIN MERIDA Team of course share the excitement for this monumental 100th Giro d’Italia. Special edition accessories - jersey and helmet - were designed for this occasion, together with partners Sportful and Rudy Roject. The classic red-gold-blue color combination of BAHRAIN MERIDA riders was enriched on the back with 100 stars. The title-holder of this prestigious race of course deserves special attention so the co-title sponsor and top bicycle producer MERIDA prepared a special bicycle for Vincenzo Nibali, with names of all the 99 winners of previous Giro Tours. The cooperation with sponsors was elaborated by Mr. Alex Carera, Marketing and Business Manager of the Team, who uncovered golden-black bike together with Vincenzo Nibali. Manuele Boaro also came on the stage, wearing special edition jersey.

For all additional questions the riders and management of the team were available to journalists after the official part. For those who wanted to learn more about the beautiful country of Bahrain, a special promotional stand was prepared in the lobby.

On the terrace with a stunning view of the sea all the guests were offered a fresh drink and delicious sea canapes and they had the option to take photos with BAHRAIN MERIDA new member – funny and friendly Falcon mascot.

As we could see, BAHRAIN MERIDA Team is ready for Giro and looking forward to the whole experience in the next few weeks. We are sure that some spectacular cycling moments are ahead of us and we can hardly wait for the start!