Bauhaus and Sieberg join forces at Bahrain-Merida for 2019

The Bahrain-Merida team have confirmed the signing of young German sprinter Phil Bauhaus and veteran compatriot Marcel Sieberg - both on two-year deals - as they continue to expand their roster for 2019.

Bauhaus, 24, will move to Bahrain-Merida after two seasons at Team Sunweb. He won a stage at the 2017 Critérium du Dauphiné and a stage at this year’s Abu Dhabi Tour, beating fellow Germans Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe).

Bahrain-Merida have Sonny Colbrelli and Niccolo Bonifazio as current sprint options, the latter of whom is out of contract at the end of this year. 

"Phil is a rider whom we at team Bahrain Merida consider one of the most promising sprinters in the professional peloton," said general manager Brent Copeland.

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"He is a rider that we have been considering closely for the past year and, therefore, we have put a lot of time investment to make this decision as we truly feel his future as a sprinter is something that will surprise the professional cycling world in the near future. We welcome him to the team and looking forward to a strong and good future together."

Bauhaus added: "I’m really looking forward to join Team Bahrain-Merida and I already feel that they believe in me with the project we are planning together. Together we can have successful years."

Sieberg will team up with Bauhaus after dedicating much of his career to helping André Greipel. The 36 year-old rode with Greipel at both HTC and Lotto Soudal, protecting and helping him in sprint lead outs as well as riding the same Classics campaign. Greipel confirmed he will move to French Professional Continental Fortuneo-Samsic after talks with Lotto Soudal broke down. Caleb Ewan is expected to replace Greipel as Lotto Soudal’s lead sprinter next season.

Sieberg has been a professional since 2005, riding for smaller German teams before joining Milram and then Team Columbia, which became HTC in 2010. He joined Lotto in 2011. Sieberg has won just two minor races in his career but has played a key role in many of Greipel’s 153 career victories.

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