| VICTORY TAKERS, HISTORY MAKERS. BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS SWEEP THE BOARD ON A WONDEREFUL WEDNESDAY |
| Wednesday 6th March 2024 will go down in history for Team Bahrain Victorious, as they took victory in both of the day’s World Tour stage races. Whether in the realms of History, Dreams, ‘Fairy Tales’, or ‘Myths & Legends’ … this double will live long in the memory. Santiago Buitrago soloed to his win at stage 4 of Paris-Nice; the first real test of the race, less than an hour after Phil Bauhaus had sprinted to Tirreno Adriatico triumph. |
| Bauhaus roared back to victory with a commanding win on stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico, covering 220km from Volterra to Gualdo Tadino. Battling through the challenging hills around Siena and a 4% uphill finish on a cold, wet day, Bauhaus showcased his sprinting prowess. Despite the demanding course and a day that seemed favourable to attackers, the breakaway succumbed to the peloton in the end. In a hard-fought sprint, Bauhaus, perfectly positioned by Bahrain Victorious in the finale, unleashed a powerful acceleration to secure his first win of the season, outpacing his former teammate Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek). |
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| Reflecting on the victory, Bauhaus expressed his joy, saying, “I’m more than happy to have my first win of the year, and also the first after more than a year, as the last one was at the Tour Down Under in 2023. Today for the sprinters was really hard, but the team always believed in me. They were convinced I can get a good result and It gives me big motivation. In the end I was strong enough and they were right in believing in me. We made a good plan with the team how to fuel as it was a long stage and we spent lots of energy. You need power especially in such a hard final for the sprinters. I guess this was the key, and actually I had enough energy in the final. Also without my teammates it would not have been possible. I was a little bit doubting maybe that it was too hard for me, but already yesterday evening they were believing in me and this gave me a lot of confidence.” |
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| TBV Sports Director Gorazd Stangelj praised Bauhaus and the team’s exceptional performance, stating, “ It’s always a great result to win in a stage in race like Tirreno and today more than ever for how we took it. It was a tough stage and a tough final. All day in the cold, with rain. Phil was our man, but seen the course we also had a plan B. Achieving a win that it’s not 100% expected is even more sweet. With three guys in the top ten – Caruso 7th and Arndt 10th – it means they did an exceptional job. It was not needed to say nothing as everybody knows exactly what to do and they did it without any mistake. Chapeau to our boys.” |
| Once the team in France heard that it was a Buitrago-Bauhaus double, the smiles were even wider. Pello Bilbao reacted, “What a day for the team! Congrats to everyone here, and in Italy!” Buitrago was evidently moved by winning at a race that is dear to his heart. “It’s a very very special day for me, you know. I’ve invested a lot for this race, and to take a stage win the first time I enter Paris-Nice, and in the way that I did, it’s really memorable.” |
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| Having ridden through the line once, on the finishing circuit Luke Plapp (Jayco-Alula) attacked from the GC bunch, and Buitrago was the only rival to catch, and match, the Australian. Bilbao was also in the reduced group, and explains how things developed from there: “We were both in the front, so we chatted about how to play it, as I also had good legs today. Santi went first, but it looked like UAE had everything under control. But at the moment Santi was going to drop back, nobody wanted to take the responsibility, and that was the key moment. The gap grew to 30 seconds and I said “Santi you need to go full; this is a good move.” The last corners were also a bit wet and they [Buitrago & Plapp] had a good rhythm, and then Santi did an amazing last climb. Incredible legs today.” |
| The stage from Chalon-sur-Saône had started in bright sunshine, but the weather soon changed once the peloton had started the 183 kilometres to the fabled Mont Brouilly. Battling through rain, hailstones, and even some remnants of snow in the highest sections, along with temperatures as low as 4°C, the riders tackled seven categorised climbs, including twice up Brouilly itself. As well as raising his arms on the line, Buitrago also reduced his GC deficit from 42” to 13”, as he noted at the end of the day: “I was with Pello, and the rest of the guys, always fighting at the front for position. We decided I should have a go, and it turned out pretty well! It’s a great day for us because we also got time back in the GC. A super day here at Paris-Nice. Jasha, Fred, Kamil, Dušan – they were all just spectacular; always protecting Pello & me, always helping us, and putting us in the best position. Jack at the end was exceptional. I couldn’t have done this today without everything that all the guys did all day. What a team!“ |
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| At the heart of the Beajoulais wine region, and passing some of the appellation’s most famous ‘Domaines’, this finish was exactly Santi’s ‘domain’. It was a tactically complex day with over 3300 vertical metres, and the field is packed with some of procycling’s biggest names. But neither the terrain nor the competition could stop our Colombian superstar from taking victory in the first major stage race of the European season. “I only knew I had a real chance of winning when we got to 3k from the finish! My confidence grew once we got onto that last climb; I knew there was an opportunity presenting itself so I said “Let’s Go!” Plus we got time back on Remco and Roglic on what was a tricky route.” |
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| Bahrain Victorious’ Performance Manager, Vladimir Miholjević was understandably delighted at what was achieved today – winning two UCI World Tour races on the same day for the first time in the team’s history: “What can we say about today? … I’m almost speechless! This is the day that every team dreams about, having two victories on the two biggest races of the year so far. These are races we prepare for all winter, and we won two completely different types of stage, with two completely different types of rider: a sprint with Phil and a summit finish with Santi. These results will give us confidence for the next races of course, but also there is an enormous satisfaction that all the hard work we put in over the past weeks and months, has paid off. There are so many individual elements that go towards achieving something as beautiful, as amazing, as what we achieved today. We are proud and we are grateful.” |
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| The last words of the day should go to our two winners, Phil and Santi, who in the midst of their the celebrations, both remembered that now and always, we #RideForGino Buitrago ended by saying, “It’s a victory for all the team, all the staff, everyone at TBV whose work means we can have days like this. And of course when we ride, Gino is with us for every pedal stroke.” |
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