2017 is the inaugural season for the Bahrain-Merida team, which holds a Bahrain-based UCI license and is financed by the government of Bahrain. Bahrain-Merida ride in red and blue jerseys with blue bibs, and ride Merida bikes.
The most noteworthy signing for the first-year team was the Italian veteran Vincenzo Nibali. Nibali has been a professional rider since 2005 and has become one of the world's most deocrated and recognizable names in cycling. Nibali has twice won the Giro d'Italia, in 2013 and 2016, won the Vuelta a Espana in 2010, and won the Tour de France in 2014. In this year's Giro d'Italia, Nibali finished 3rd in the general classification, and won the Tour of Croatia.
Vincenzo Nibali's primary goal for this season was the Giro d'Italia, and a 3rd place finish likely left him dissatisfied. Bahrain-Merida has only announced four riders for their 2017 Tour de France squad; Grega Bole, Sonny Colbrelli, Tsgabu Grmay, and Ion Izagirre. While one would expect Vincenzo Nibali to be included in Bahrain-Merida's TDF squad, and put Nibali in the best position to capture the Maillot Jaune, there is a chance we could see another rider be team's focal point in the general classification for the 2017 edition of the Tour de France.
Spanish rider Ion Izagirre has proven to be a strong time-trialist and tour rider, and has produced strong finishes in the Classics as well. Izagirre had a breakout year in 2016 after winning Stage 20 of the Tour de France, alongside notable results that included winning the Spanish National Time Trial Championships and GP Miguel Indurain. Izagirre also posted 2nd place finishes at the Volta ao Algarve and Tour de Suisse, a 3rd place finish at the Tour de Romandie, and a 5th place showing at Paris-Nice. In 2017, Izagirre posted top-10 finishes in three of the Classics, and four tours. There is still a chance that Bahrain-Merida could decide 2017 may be Ion Izagirre's true breakout year, and will look to make him the rider they will support in the general classification at this year's Tour de France.
Bahrain-Merida currently rank 12th in the UCI WorldTour Team Ranking with 3050 UCI points.
The complete list of riders for Bahrain-Merida includes:
Riders
| AGNOLI Valerio | 06.01.1985 | ITA | |
| ARASHIRO Yukiya | 22.09.1984 | JPN | |
| BOARO Manuele | 12.03.1987 | ITA | |
| BOLE Grega | 13.08.1985 | SLO | |
| BONIFAZIO Niccolo' | 29.10.1993 | ITA | |
| BOZIC Borut | 08.08.1980 | SLO | |
| BRAJKOVIC Janez | 18.12.1983 | SLO | |
| CINK Ondrej | 07.12.1990 | CZE | |
| COLBRELLI Sonny | 17.05.1990 | ITA | |
| FENG Chun Kai | 02.11.1988 | TPE | |
| GASPAROTTO Enrico | 22.03.1982 | ITA | |
| GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam | 25.08.1991 | ETH | |
| HAUSSLER Heinrich | 25.02.1984 | AUS | |
| INSAUSTI IRASTORZA Ion Ander | 13.12.1992 | ESP | |
| IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Ion | 04.02.1989 | ESP | |
| MORENO BAZAN Javier | 18.07.1984 | ESP | |
| NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas | 30.01.1988 | LTU | |
| NIBALI Antonio | 23.09.1992 | ITA | |
| NIBALI Vincenzo | 14.11.1984 | ITA | |
| PELLIZOTTI Franco | 15.01.1978 | ITA | |
| PIBERNIK Luka | 23.10.1993 | SLO | |
| SUITSOU Kanstantsin | 09.08.1982 | BLR | |
| VISCONTI Giovanni | 13.01.1983 | ITA | |
| WANG Meiyin | 26.12.1988 | CHN |
Neo-Pros
| GARCIA CORTINA Ivan | 20.11.1995 | ESP | |
| NOVAK Domen | 12.07.1995 | SLO | |
| PER David | 13.02.1995 | SLO |
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