CYCLING – Team Bahrain Victorious head to the Tour de Romandie with a motivated line-up, aiming for stage success and a podium finish in the general classification (GC) at the six-day Swiss WorldTour race.
Starting today and concluding on May 4, the 2025 edition of the Tour de Romandie kicks off with a short but technical 3.5-kilometre prologue in Saint-Imier, followed by five challenging stages covering a total of 668.5km and 12,971 metres of elevation.
A key GC battleground awaits on stage four with a summit finish atop Thyon 2000 after 4,120m of climbing across just 127km, before the race concludes with a decisive 17km individual time trial in Geneva.
Leading the line-up for Bahrain Victorious is Lenny Martinez, fresh off an impressive fourth-place finish at La Fleche Wallonne and strong performances throughout the spring, including a stage win at Paris-Nice. The 20-year-old Frenchman will be supported by a team built to guide him through the varied Romandie terrain.
Joining Martinez is Jack Haig, whose leadership will be vital across the stages, particularly in navigating the critical mountain battles and setting up key moments. Kamil Gradek, Nicolo Buratti, and Mathijs Paasschens will provide crucial support on the flat and rolling stages, ensuring Martinez stays well-positioned throughout the race.
Meanwhile, Finlay Pickering, the recent King of the Mountains winner at the Tour of the Alps, and Max Van der Meulen will play key roles on the climbs, offering strong support in the decisive mountain stages.
Bahrain Victorious sports director for Romandie Michal Golas commented: “Tour de Romandie is a great opportunity for Lenny to build momentum ahead of the Tour de France.
“The prologue and the final ITT will be crucial – it’s important to perform well there and then look to gain time on the mountains.
“There are some really strong riders on the start list, but we believe in our group. We have a solid line-up capable of matching those ambitions. Lenny has shown his ability on steep climbs both at Fleche Wallonne and Paris-Nice, and we’re excited to see what he can achieve here.”
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