Bahrain Victorious are the latest team to announce a major equipment chance for 2027, swapping to Factor bikes after just one year on Bianchi machines.
Factor will be Bahrain’s third bike sponsor in as many years after they spent the 2026 season riding Bianchi, following nine years on Merida, which acted as co-title sponsor for three of those seasons. Merida was recently announced as the new bike partner of Soudal-Safety Jogger and AG Insurance-Soudal.
Factor has retained a place in the men’s peloton, with US ProTeam Modern Adventure riding the brand’s bikes – and the brand will step up as a title sponsor in 2027 – while Women's WorldTour team Human Powered Health have been riding Factor since 2024, a partnership which will continue into next season.
The length of Bahrain’s deal with Factor is unspecified, with press releases from both the team and the brand stating "from 2027".
Factor have been around for 10 years and recently launched their new Factor One, which is highly likely to be Bahrain’s bike of choice, though they will also have access to the brand’s climbing bike the Ostro VAM, with the One SP for time trials. And should they follow Modern Adventure's example from this year, they may even choose the Monza for Paris-Roubaix.
"We have found a fantastic partner in Factor, a brand that shares our performance ethos and our ambition to be the best," said Bahrain Victorious managing director Milan Eržen.
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"Factor is continuously innovating on the bike, with a huge focus on performance, which will enable our riders to have one of the best setups in the peloton.
"For us, it was important to find a partner that shares the same drive to continuously improve. We believe that by combining Factor’s engineering expertise with the knowledge and feedback of our riders and performance team, we can push the boundaries of performance together and give our riders every opportunity to win at the very highest level."
Rob Gitelis, Factor's founder, also expressed his pleasure with the partnership, saying: "At Factor, we have always believed that racing at the pinnacle of the sport is fundamental to who we are. It’s where our ideas are challenged, where our engineering is tested, and where we continue to push ourselves forward.
"Bahrain Victorious shares our ambition and our belief that performance comes from challenging what is possible. We see this partnership as much more than supplying bikes to a professional team. It’s an opportunity to work together, to innovate, and to compete against the very best. We are incredibly excited about what we can achieve together from 2027."
Bahrain’s one-year partnership with Bianchi yielded only nine victories for the team, their fewest since the Covid affected 2020 season, so Matej Mohorič, Lenny Martinez and co. will be hoping for more success atop their Factor steeds.
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A recent addition to the Cyclingnews staff, Owen Rogers is an experienced journalist, working as a freelancer covering the sport for various magazines and websites for more than 10 years.
Initially concentrating mainly on the women's sport, he has covered hundreds of race days on the ground and interviewed some of the sport's biggest names.
Living near Cambridge in the UK, when he's not working you'll find him either riding his bike or playing drums.
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