Bahrain Victorious secured another podium finish at the Tour Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes as Phil Bauhaus sprinted to third place on Stage 5 (Saint-Chamond – Parc des Oiseaux Villars-les-Dombes, 195.8 km), behind stage winner Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Hugo Hofstetter (NSN Cycling Team).
After several days dominated by successful breakaways, Stage 5 finally offered the sprinters a long-awaited opportunity. The stage had been marked as one of the key chances for the fast men, and the peloton ensured it would end in a bunch sprint.
A strong collective effort from the sprint teams, including excellent teamwork from Bahrain Victorious, brought back the six-man breakaway inside the final 12km, setting up the sprint finish.
Bauhaus rewarded the team’s work with a solid third place, an encouraging result ahead of the Tour de France.
“First of all, I’m super proud of the team. We controlled the race from the start and everybody worked really, really well. Of course, we missed Matej today and we all wish him a speedy recovery. Unfortunately, Matevž didn’t feel good either, so we were missing another important rider, but we still made the best of the situation.
Nikias did a great job pulling strongly, especially towards the end. Then Pello took over and positioned Vlad and me inside the final 3 km. As I’ve seen before, Vlad is incredibly talented and strong. I feel our relationship in the sprint is really good. He listens well and executes everything perfectly.
He gave me a lot of slipstream and brought me onto Van Aert’s wheel with about 1 km to go. I had to fight a bit to stay there and spent some energy, but I managed to follow him. I tried to come around him, but I quickly realised my legs weren’t strong enough today. Then I started running out of energy towards the finish and Hofstetter came past me.
I’m happy with third place. It was the maximum possible today. I couldn’t have done more. We can all be satisfied with what we achieved.”
The day began with a setback for Bahrain Victorious as Matej Mohorič did not start the stage after feeling unwell overnight, depriving the team of one of its key riders for the race.
Despite this, the team remained fully committed to its objective. On a stage that was not entirely flat, Bauhaus and his teammates handled the early rolling terrain well before taking responsibility for controlling the race and chasing the breakaway during the final 50 kilometres.
With the gap steadily decreasing, the attackers fought hard to stay clear, but the peloton eventually brought them back, paving the way for the sprinters to contest what was likely their final opportunity before the race heads into its decisive mountain stages.
Sports Director Michal Golas praised the team’s performance:
“I think the guys did really well in controlling the race. It wasn’t easy. We also had a dangerous counterattack in the early phase, but in the end we stayed committed to the plan.
Obviously, it’s not easy without Matej and with Matevž not feeling great during the stage, but the guys did a really good job. They positioned Phil perfectly on Van Aert’s wheel. We couldn’t have asked for more.
Phil tried to come around him, but Van Aert was simply stronger today. It’s a good result, we’re happy, and we’ll keep fighting this week as we continue to chase a victory.”
