After two seasons away, Basque climber Pero Bilbao will return to the Giro d'Italia in 2025.

Bahrain Victorious won 13 races in 2024, the third fewest wins in team history. The team had won six Grand Tour stages the previous season and 12 World Tour victories.

Bilbao will be one of the most experienced members of the youthful team in 2025, with half of the riders under the age of 25. Although he is disappointed with the way the team has fared this season, he is confident that the team can turn things around next year.

“The timers are down to zero,” he said. The atmosphere within the team is much better.” The lack of results left us a little stressed last year, but now we can put that behind us and focus on what's to come.”

“Of course, this season was a disappointment compared to the previous season. 'In 2023 we performed better than expected as a unit and everything went our way. On the other hand, last year we had a lot of problems and key riders suffered injuries and illnesses at critical junctures.”

Bahrain Victorious welcomed a large amount of up-and-coming talent for the 2025 season, with a total of nine new riders. The standout among them is Groupama-FDJ's Frenchman Lenny Martinez, with whom the team has been developing its Tour de France plans. Former Ineos Grenadiers coach Rod Ellingworth has been invited to take the helm at La Grande Boucle for Martinez.

Whether Bilbao will be included in the 2025 Tour plans is undecided; the 33-year-old won a stage at the 2023 Tour de France, but his main focus for the 2025 season will be on the races he believes suit him best.

“I'm really motivated to get back to the Giro,” Bilbao said. “This Grand Tour is where I feel most comfortable.

In 2022, Bilbao finished fifth in the Giro d'Italia. Three years before that, he won stages 7 and 20 of the 2019 race. Bilbao has suggested that he may compete in the 2025 Giro as a freebie for a stage win, rather than chasing GC as his top priority.

“The Tour has given me so much, and winning a stage two years ago was probably the strongest emotion I have ever experienced in cycling.

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“Still, the Giro will always be special to me, and I think it's a race that gives me more opportunity to run my own race, to move from afar as second place and not be tied to the overall classification, to go for the stage win.”

Bilbao won just one stage in 2024, the fourth stage of the Tour of Slovenia, his fewest victories since the pandemic-plagued 2020 season. He also finished on the podium at the UAE Tour, Tour of Slovenia, and GP Montreal.

He said that he was sick several times throughout the year and that his lack of consistency cost him the chance to achieve better results. He hopes to overcome these setbacks and have a clean slate for 2025.

“For me, I want to change what didn't work. 'It lacked that continuity of not being plagued by physical problems and not getting sick from time to time. Cyclists are very delicate in that sense.

“It's almost a miracle to be able to complete a season without falling behind and to make the most of your physical condition in each race. This year I wasn't able to do that, and what's more, I lacked the instinct to fine-tune my shot and make it shine when I was at the highest level.”