Team Bahrain Victorious are back in action again this week as the autumn racing continues with the 2024 Tour of Luxembourg, an event which dates back to 1935. Leading the team in a challenge for overall victory is Antonio Tiberi, winner of the young riders’ classification at this year’s Giro d’Italia. The GC battle starts from the first day, with 158 testing kilometres and 2,555 metres of elevation gain, two ‘first category’ & two ‘Hors Categorie’ climbs, and an uphill finish.

The start list is impressive, and includes current World Champion Mathieu van der Poel, who will be hoping to defend the rainbow jersey the following week in Switzerland. With four hilly stages and a time trial, any day could be decisive in the fight for victory.

Just as at the Giro in May, Damiano Caruso will be supporting Tiberi as both road captain and protection. He will be tasked with shadowing his compatriot throughout. The Italian duo will have Briton Fred Wright for additional assistance until the final phase of each stage.

The second day is marginally easier, and ends with three laps of a circuit before the finish in Schifflange. The longest and toughest stage will come on Friday. There is climbing throughout the  201 km from Rosport to Diekirch, and the final 30 km is one short, explosive ascent after another.

More protection and support for our GC hopeful comes in the form of a combination of youth and experience. Belgian Vlad Van Mechelen performed impressively at the Tour of Britain recently, and his role will be to protect the leaders for as long as he can. That responsibility will be shared by Australian Robert Stannard, who made his debut for the team at the Bemer Cyclassics on Sunday.

At 15.6 km, Saturday’s individual time trial isn’t long enough to create significant time gaps, but does contain some climbing, which is likely to shape the result.

Completing our line-up for the week is seasoned Polish rider Łukasz Wiśniowski. The 32 year old will be close at hand to ensure good position in key moments, and his years in the pro peloton should be the ideal balance for the five days.

Sunday’s conclusion is another challenging parcours. There are more than 3,100 vertical metres over 177 km, and an 800m section with a gradient of 9.2% to finish.

The nature of the terrain and the route should make for a close-fought contest for the title, and Bahrain go to the start with a strong team and high hopes for the week.