Saturday was another successful day for Bahrain Victorious at the second stage of the 2025 Tour de la Provence, as Matej Mohorič and Fred Wright both finished on the podium in Manosque.

The 167km route from Forcalquier had been predicted to end with a bunch sprint, but with over 2,400 metres of climbing, it was also an ideal day for a breakaway to stay away. Both Wright and Mohorič were amongst the riders to ride clear from the peloton, along with eventual winner Mads Pedersen (LTK).

The gap would reach almost four minutes before starting to close, and with 18km to go there were nine riders around 20 seconds ahead of the chasers. Matej was the first to attack from that group, but was quickly followed by Pedersen, as the peloton absorbed the others.

When the two leaders pulled 45 seconds clear, it became increasingly likely that it would be ‘mano-a-mano’ to the line, and so it proved. The Dane is a far more specialist sprinter than our Slovenian, so it was always going to be difficult task to defeat him, despite the uphill drag to the finish.

On the run in to the line Mohorič sat on the wheel of Pedersen, but as he prepared to start his sprint, the former World Champion increased his cadence and took the victory. Matej finished a very creditable second, and from the bunch behind, Wright accelerated to take third place.

The stage classification means that with one day remaining, Pedersen goes into the lead overall, 13 seconds ahead of Mohorič, with Wright lying third, 24 seconds back.

Sports Director Michal Golaś was pleased with how the team rode, and knows that on the final stage (190.6km from Rognac to Arles), everything is still to play for:

“The guys really committed 100% today. Everybody contributed to this result and we can be very satisfied because Pedersen was really strong. In the key moments the guys were in the right place and in the right moves and I’m super happy with how the team performed. In the final, what’s really nice to see is the cooperation between Fred and Matej, and I think that’s the way we need to continue. Tomorrow is the last day and the race is not over. The GC is still close, the gaps are small, and we need to concentrate to defend our positions. It’s not over, so we need to be ready tomorrow to continue the good work of the team so far”