Bahrain Victorious announce 2026 bike sponsor

(Image credit: Future)

Five days ago, Bahrain Victorious and bike sponsor, Merida, announced the end of their partnership after nine seasons of collaboration together.

Merida has worked with the team throughout various guises and achieved some huge wins, including Paris-Roubaix with Sonny Colbrelli and Milan San Remo with Matej Mohoric, the latter of which an especially exciting victory for tech fans given his dropper post usage.

Bianchi is a brand that needs little introduction, with a rich history in professional cycling. The brand had supplied bikes to Arkéa-B&B Hotels for several seasons, but that partnership will end soon, due to the team's failed search for a new title sponsor for 2026 and beyond.

Bahrain Victorious' new Bianchi Oltre RC — (Image credit: Bianchi)

Bianchi currently offers two top-tier drop bar road bikes, the aero-focused Oltre RC and the more traditional-looking Specialissima. But team riders will have four models to choose from in total, as alongside the road models are the Aquila time trial bike and Impulso gravel machine, a bike that ex-gravel world champion Matej Mohorič may well use in gravel races.

Bianchi also turned heads earlier this year when it released special edition versions of the two road bikes, making them some of the most expensive on the market at over €21,000 a piece.

Another Bianchi-related rumour swirling around is that there could be a new aero bike in the works. The current Oltre RC is an aero bike that predates the UCI's rule changes regarding frame design, which have helped usher in a new generation of aero bikes like the Ridley Noah. A new Oltre RC or Bianchi aero bike could be in development for the team to use in the future.

Some of cycling's greatest champions have ridden and raced on Bianchi machines over the decades; it seems the brand's history is not lost on Milan Eržen, the team's managing director, when describing the new partnership.

"We have great respect for Bianchi’s history in the sport, and we are confident that together we will innovate, create new iconic moments, and build the future upon their remarkable heritage.”

Cycling fans can probably expect to start seeing images online of team riders on their new bikes, before the 2026 racing season kicks off at the Santos Tour Down Under.

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Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.

He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.

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