Bike manufacturer Merida "joined forces with the Bahrain cycling project to create the Bahrain-Merida Pro Cycling Team," according to CYCLING NEWS. Lampre-Merida Manager Brent Copeland "will manage the team next season with Vincenzo Nibali widely expected to be the team’s general classification leader." There "has been much speculation as to whether or not the team backed by the Bahrain royal family would go ahead." Proposed announcements regarding the team’s future had been postponed, "leading to speculation that the team might not be ready for the 2017 season." However, "news last week that the Kingdom of Bahrain has officially lent its support to the project put this to bed." The Bahrain project "has been linked with the Lampre-Merida team in the past and, with Merida now on-board, it is expected that several of the Italian team’s riders will move across." Since the project was announced in May, human rights organizations Bahrain Institute for Rights & Democracy and the European Center for Constitutional & Human Rights "have raised concerns about its backers in a letter" sent to the Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) (CYCLING NEWS, 8/1).
