CYCLING – Team Bahrain Victorious superstar Pello Bilbao came one spot shy of the podium yesterday in the 63rd Eschborn-Frankfurt elite men’s road race in Germany.
The one-day event featured a 211.4-kilometre course distance with over 3,300 metres of climbing.
It was part of the 2026 calendar of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Tour.
Bilbao, competing in the ride for the first time in his final season as a professional, was part of a large group in a sprint to the finish.
He crossed the line in fourth place with a similar time as winner Georg Zimmermann of Lotto Intermarche, who clocked a mark of four hours 59 minutes and 34 seconds.
Tom Pidcock of Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team and Ben Tulett of Team Visma-Lease a Bike were just ahead of Bilbao at the end to climb the podium.
Amongst Bahrain Victorious’ other riders, Edoardo Zambanini came 29th, Afonso Eulalio was 37th, Jakob Omrzel finished 38th, and Mathijs Paasschens took 84th.
Teammates Pau Miquel and Rainer Kepplinger did not finish.
Meanwhile, Lenny Martinez continued to star for Bahrain Victorious in the 79th Tour de Romandie yesterday in Switzerland.
Martinez finished just outside of the top 10 in 11th in the event’s third stage, held over 176.6km.
He was part of a bunch sprint to the finish along with teammate Damiano Caruso.
They were led by Dorian Godon of Ineos Grenadiers, who won in 3:58:18.
With his strong performance, Martinez maintained his lead in the best young rider ranking, where he is ahead by seven from Jorgen Nordhagen of Team Visma-Lease a Bike.
Martinez also remained in a podium place on the race’s general classification (GC), where he is 26 seconds behind overall leader Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
Furthermore, Martinez is second on the King of the Mountains standings and fifth in the points ranking.
Also amongst Bahrain Victorious’ members yesterday, Antonio Tiberi finished 52nd, Vlad van Mechelen came 61st, Robert Stannard was 67th, Attila Valter took 69th, and Kamil Gradek finished 78th.
The Tour de Romandie continues today with the 149.6km fourth leg.
The UCI World Tour event continues until tomorrow, with riders competing over a total of 851.9km across its five stages.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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