CYCLING – TEAM Bahrain Victorious compete in the 2026 Tour of Guangxi, which will be held from today to Sunday in China.
The UCI World Tour race will welcome riders with its revamped routes as the new design features the rolling terrain of the signature Karst topography. It starts from Chongzuo for the very first time and finishes at Nongla for the queen stage to define the general classification (GC). It will be a balanced route suitable for sprinters, classics specialists, and climbers.
The first two stages provide chances for sprinters, while stage three marks the longest stage of this edition at 211.9km. Riders head further east on stages four and five, which creates a better chance for breakaway specialists or sprinters to fight for glory in a reduced bunch sprint at Tian’e and Yizhou, considering the multiple categorised climbs in the middle of the race.
The most decisive GC battle will take place at Nongla to finish the sixth edition of the Tour of Guangxi on a high.
Bahrain Victorious’ lead sports director Aart Vierhouten outlined the team’s ambitions ahead of the race. “In the first two sprint stages, we’re going all in for Zak [Erzen]. We then turn our attention to Afonso [Eulalio] for the GC, whilst looking to Pau [Miquel] in the reduced group sprints.”
Erzen will be the team’s designated sprinter. The 20-year-old Slovenian will make his debut in the Tour of Guangxi, with Daniel Skerl, Matevz Govekar, and Vlad van Mechelen forming part of his lead-out train. Skerl and Govekar were already successful in the last two editions, with the Italian securing two top-five finishes at Jingxi and Bama in 2025, and the Slovenian emerging as the winner at Nanning in 2024.
For the GC, Eulalio will be Bahrain Victorious’ leader after his stellar 2026, supported by Miquel and Max van der Meulen. Alongside their GC ambitions, Eulalio and Miquel will also be contesting stage victories.
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