Bahrain confident in Buitrago GC leadership at Giro: 'Top five is achievable'

Štangelj, a former professional himself, has extensive knowledge of what it takes to ride the Giro, having started the Italian Grand Tour ten times in his career from 1999 to 2011. 

The Slovenian Sports Director will guide Bahrain-Victorious at the upcoming Giro, with a squad spearheaded by Santiago Buitrago. 

The 26-year-old Colombian is a two-time stage winner at the Giro d’Italia in 2022 and 2023. He finished 12th and 13th in the GC during those editions, and more recently finished 10th at the Tour de France in 2024. Buitrago's stage victory in 2023 was the team's most recent at the Giro.

Štangelj explained that the primary ambition for the team is a top 5 finish in the GC with Buitrago, an outcome which he believes is realistic. 

“We say top five is achievable. I believe we will be happy with the places between fifth and eighth,” said Štangelj on the Domestique Hotseat. “This is something where we belong, looking at the start list. Yeah, it's not impossible to be fifth, I would say."

This confidence is boosted by the fact that Bahrain-Victorious have finished in the top 5 at the Giro in every edition since the team’s formation in 2017.

From a GC perspective, Jonas Vingegaard stands tall as the outright favourite for the maglia rosa ahead of his debut at the race. Štangelj was asked if the race is a battle for 2nd behind Vingegaard or if the three-time Grand Tour champion can be beaten. 

“Of course, there is not going to be just him. Of course, teams will fight to beat him. They [Visma] have a big responsibility on their shoulders, and cycling is a really unpredictable sport. Everything can happen,” said Štangelj.

Štangelj acknowledged that Visma’s calculated approach to racing may present more opportunities for other teams to battle for stage wins and wear leader jerseys in the early stages of the race. 

“Visma shows that they are really doing well when they go on GC, they do a great job, they really avoid unnecessary situations with a strong team always in the, let's say, safe place. But anyway, yes, there is a lot of space when the teams like Visma are leading the peloton because there is the space to win the stage, there is the space to go for some jersey,” explained Stangelj.

Additionally, the team will also be hunting for stage victories, with Stangelj highlighting the strengths of the riders in the squad.

“Yeah, we would really try to be involved in as many breakaways as possible. As you mentioned, [Matevž] Govekar is our fastest guy for the bunch sprint, while [Edoardo] Zambanini in these reduced sprints, where he's kind of, let's say, a small group slightly uphill finish line, fits very well to him.”

"You know Alec Segaert, what is he able to do when he's alone with 20 seconds. It's really hard to catch him back and so on and so on. [Afonso] Eulálio mostly climbing, Damiano [Caruso] mostly climbing, [Mathijs] Paasschens for sure 100%, flat support, Fran [Miholjević] mid-mountain and flat support, and that's most of the team behind Santiago Buitrago," explained Stangelj. 

The 2026 Giro d'Italia begins on Friday, May 8 in Bulgaria with a stage that is expected to be for the fast finishers. 

Listen to the full Hotseat episode with Gorazd Stangelj 👇