John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) emerged victorious on the opening day of the Challenge Mallorca, beating Sondre Holst Enger (Israel Cycling Academy) and Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) in a bunch finish in Ses Salines.
Degenkolb delivered a powerful sprint finish to claim a resounding victory on his first race day of 2018, and the German will hope that it is an augury for better things after two seasons blighted by injury.
The 179-kilometre Trofeo Campos-Porreres-Felanitix-Ses Salines marked the beginning of the 2018 European racing season and saw Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) make his first competitive appearance since he crashed out on the opening day of last year’s Tour de France.
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There was a rather bracing start to the year for the peloton, as the road climbed almost immediately after the flag was dropped just outside Porreres. Preben Van Hecke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) attacked on the category 4 Coll Es Monjos, and Eloy Teruel (Spain) bridged across to the Belgian over the top of the climb.
The leading duo were joined shortly afterwards by Gonzalo Serrano (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Álvaro Robredo (Burgos-BH), Aitor González (Euskadi-Murias), Alberto Amici (Biesse Carrera Gavardo), Jon Ander Insausti (Fundacion Euskadi) and Botond Hollo (Pannon Cycling Team), and this eight-man move quickly established a firm lead over the peloton.
After 65 kilometres, their advantage was just shy of two minutes, and though the sprinters’ teams kept close tabs on the escapees, their buffer augmented a little further during a brisk second hour of racing, reaching a maximum of 2:45 with 60 kilometres remaining.
— ChallengeMallorca (@ChallengeMca) January 25, 2018
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/challenge-mallorca-trofeo-porreres-felanitx-ses-salines-campos-2018/results
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