Following a very successful Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, winning two stages and the overall classification, Bahrain Victorious return to action this week at the Tour de la Provence, which runs between February 14th & 16th.

Bahrain have only competed once in the event, in 2021, when Phil Bauhaus won the final stage into Salon-de-Provence.

The race will start in the city of Marseille, and tackle three stages on the way to a finale in Arles. Traditionally suited to sprinters and classics riders, this year is no exception. With that in mind, our GC leader in the South of France will be Matevž Govekar. The Slovenian finished 2024 in style, winning stages at the Tours of Britain and Guangxi, having also taken the Girona leg of the UCI gravel World Championships. Govekar carried his good form into the new year, with victory in the Al Salam Championship in January.

By his side will be his compatriot Matej Mohorič, returning to Provence for the first time since 2017, when he was runner up in the youth classification. The third member of a headlining triumvirate is former British champion Fred Wright, who was part of Bahrain’s team four years ago.

Michal Golaś is lead Sports Director, and believes that having those three top riders offers plenty of possibilities.

“We have Matevž as our GC leader, and Matej will definitely support him if the race gets a bit more crazy and out of control. 

Plus Fred is another good option, who we will keep until the last part of the stages.

So we are well-covered, and the 3 of them are in really good shape, & excited to be here.

I think we have a very competitive line-up, and listening to the guys they seem really motivated and driven after what we saw from the team in Valenciana.”

Riders will cover 169km from Marseille on Friday on the opening stage, which also promises to be the hardest. The road goes up from kilometre zero, and the rollercoaster-like profile includes 2,600 metres of climbing spread across three 2nd category ascents. After 35 hilly kilometres is the Col de l’Espigoulier (11.1km at 5.2%). 30km after cresting that first test comes the Côte de Mazaugues (5.1km at 5.3%). The final third of the route contains the Col de Belcodène (3.3km at 5.6%), before several small climbs and plenty of descending into the small finish town of Saint-Victoret.

Day two is less demanding, and – on paper at least – appears likely to end in a sprint of some kind. However, anyone hoping to fight for the stage will first need to get over 2400 vertical metres in the 167km from Forcalquier to Manosque. After the ‘flamme rouge’, the final kilometre is a strength-sapping 4% drag to the line.

The race concludes with a very flat 190km between Rognac & Arles, which will almost inevitably be decided by a pure sprint. The lack of climbing doesn’t necessarily mean that the day will be devoid of action however, as the proximity of the course to the sea could well result in wind and echelons.

Golaś likes the look of this year’s route.

“There’s a nice dynamic, hilly parcours for the first 2 stages which means we will have a reduced bunch sprint or finishes involving big breakaways. The third day is a proper flat echelon day, although at the moment it seems like there isn’t any wind there at all, so it might be a bunch sprint.

We need to be ready for all the possible scenarios, especially because racing in France is always a bit different, with different dynamics.

Supporting our trio of Govekar, Mohorič and Wright will be four talented young riders: Oliver Stockwell, Roman Ermakov, Nicolò Buratti, and Alessandro Borgo, making the step up from Bahrain Victorious’ Development Team. Their role is simply to help and protect the leaders, as well as using the time to learn from their more experienced teammates.

Golaś is confident about the contribution each of them can make:

“We have Oli Stockwell, Roman Ermakov and Nicolò Buratti, who will give great support, but I also see chances for them to ride aggressively from the start. They will also have to cover some moves from the beginning, but their biggest goal is just to support our main guys, especially Matevž in the sprints.

We also have a new development rider, Alessandro Borgo, who will join our team. I think he has a great future; he’s already shown his skills in the younger categories, so I’m also happy to have him here and give him the chance to grow and to develop.”

It’s been a successful start to the 2025 campaign for Bahrain Victorious, and Golaś is hoping for more good results in the South of France this weekend:

“Our objectives for the 3 days are to win a stage and fight for the GC podium.

We really want to keep the momentum the team has from Valenciana and build this group before the classics campaign.”

The ninth Tour de la Provence starts from Marseille on Friday at 11:45am CET