Bahrain Victorious announced earlier this week that several riders will be leaving the WorldTour team. Torstein Træen will no longer ride for the Middle Eastern squad in 2026. The 30-year-old climber is returning to his old team.
Scandinavian media – including broadcaster TV 2 – report a transfer to Uno-X Mobility. This would mean that the Norwegian will race again next year for the team from his home country. He already spent four seasons (2020–2023) with the squad’s main team. With Træen, the ambitious formation managed by Thor Hushovd adds an additional team leader for the stage races to their roster.
Træen has long been regarded as a more than competent climber – last year he even won a tough mountain stage in the Tour de Suisse – but this year he truly broke through at the highest level. This happened at the recent Vuelta a España.
Several days in red
In the sixth stage of the Spanish stage race, he managed to take the leader’s jersey from a breakaway. The stage win that day went to fellow escapee Jay Vine, but Træen finished second and that proved enough to take over the red jersey from Jonas Vingegaard.
Træen was one of the main protagonists in the recent Vuelta – photo: Fotopersburo
Træen held onto the coveted jersey for three days, but in the tenth stage we saw a change of guard as Vingegaard retook the lead. The Norwegian, however, managed to maintain his position well in the following stages and even secured a top 10 finish in the general classification: Træen placed ninth in Madrid, just under ten minutes behind the Dane from Visma | Lease a Bike.
Bigger story
Træen’s cycling career is certainly not a straight success story; in 2022, abnormal blood values were detected during a doping control. After several follow-up examinations, the rider was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Following treatment and a rehabilitation process, Træen was declared cured in July of the same year.
