This previous summer season, once we visited their Italian bike meeting manufacturing facility to preview a nonetheless unreleased Infinito CV highway bike and two new gravel bikes, Bianchi additionally teased their return to the WorldTour. After a number of years out of the highest echelon {of professional} highway racing, Bianchi’s new management promised the model deliberate to “reassert its rightful place” on the entrance of the professional peloton.
They even teased that we’d see a brand new MY27 Bianchi raced in 2026, flashing solely this define to whet our appetites.
We’ll, now we all know who can be piloting the brand new Bianchi bikes – Workforce Bahrain Victorious.
Workforce Bahrain Victorious racing Bianchi highway bikes in 2026
Merida just lately shared that Bahrain Victorious would cut up with their earlier bike accomplice after 9 years. And now, we see Bianchi take over as their new bike supplier and technical sponsor, in what’s described as a “landmark multi-year settlement”.
“On the core of the sporting challenge envisioned by Bianchi and Workforce Bahrain Victorious is the creation of an built-in ecosystem between athletes and high-performance merchandise with Italian design, developed by Bianchi Reparto Corse. This mannequin is pushed by knowledge, steady athlete suggestions, and a shared ambition to specific most efficiency in each race state of affairs, with the clear objective of focusing on a number of the most prestigious competitions on the UCI calendar.”
For now, Bahrain Victorious are on customized darkish clear blue-to-Celeste fade painted Oltre RC bikes, revealing the feel of the carbon materials layup of Bianchi’s “hyperbike” that debuted in 2022.
Solely, simply minus the bolt-on headtube air deflectors, which the UCI didn’t approve of.
The wild one-piece swoopy carbon cockpit with its personal aero scoop gap continues to be there, plus the airflow directing ribs on the handlebar and fork legs.
In any other case, it seems to be just like the group continues to be racing Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets, Imaginative and prescient Metron 60 RS carbon-spoked aero wheels, and Continental GP 5000 TT tubeless tires. Breaking from Shimano, this group bike construct options an ultralight Elilee X310 carbon crankset with a Sigeyi AXO energy meter spider.
Bianchi says an Oltre RC Workforce Bahrain Victorious duplicate version will go on sale in 2026, so followers can get that very same look.
What’s subsequent?
As for the unreleased Oltre, Bianchi hasn’t acquired UCI approval for any new bikes in 2025. So not even the approaching quickly 2026 Infinito CV is accredited but (though that bike I photographed in July did have already got a UCI sticker on it.)
In addition to the obscure however unsurprising hints in that sketch of a brand new built-in cockpit, angular fork to border transitions, a rear wheel cutout, and wide-set seatstays… we all know little else about what we will solely assume is the following era Oltre Reparto Corse. Shut down by the UCI over the bolt-on air deflectors, Bianchi seemingly will incorporate any new aero tech instantly into the brand new frameset. So the UCI can’t inform them to easily take it off to race.
Within the meantime, we’ll be retaining our eyes peeled for a brand new bike within the Bahrain Victorious group paddock at highway races within the new 12 months.
Bianchi.com
