| Team Bahrain Victorious | |
| Current: | 2024 Bahrain Victorious season |
| Code: | TBV |
| Registered: | Bahrain |
| Founded: | 2017 |
| Discipline: | Road |
| Status: | UCI WorldTeam |
| Bicycles: | Merida |
| Components: | Shimano |
| Website: | https://bahraincyclingteam.com/ |
| Generalmanager: | Milan Eržen |
Team Bahrain Victorious ([1]) is a UCI WorldTeam cycling team from Bahrain which was founded in 2017.[2] Its title sponsor is the government of Bahrain.
The idea for a Bahrain pro cycling team was started in August 2016 by Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.[3] The team is financed by the government of Bahrain to promote the country worldwide.
On 5 September 2018, the UCI announced that an out-of-competition test had resulted in an adverse analytical finding of erythropoietin in a sample collected 31 July 2018. Kanstantsin Sivtsov was provisionally suspended pending the result of any B sample test.[4]
Following Stage 17 of the 2021 Tour de France, French police raided the team's hotel and bus on the suspicion of doping.[5] The Police confirmed they conducted the raids and have the riders' training files in their possession, and "A preliminary enquiry has been opened to see if there has been, or not, acquisition, transport or possession of banned substances".[6]
On 27 June 2022, four days before the first stage of the 2022 Tour de France, Europol raided residences of several Team Bahrain Victorious staff and riders in several countries including Slovenia, Poland, and Spain. The team stated that the raids were directly linked to the hotel searches that took place at the previous year’s Tour, while Matej Mohorič and Jan Tratnik denied that their properties had been searched.[7]
During the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse on 15 June 2023, Swiss rider Gino Mäder fell in a turn when descending from the stage's highest point at Albula Pass. Mäder, 26, was found to be unconscious and submerged in water. He was resuscitated and airlifted to a hospital in Chur. Mäder died from his injuries a day later.[8] [9] Bahrain Victorious, along with two other teams, withdrew from the Tour on the next stage of competitive racing on 17 June 2023.[10]
See main article: List of wins by Bahrain–Merida and its successors.