Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) won day two of the Challenge Mallorca, beating Gianni Moscon (Team Sky) in a sprint to the line after a short climb up to the finish in Deia.
Wellens always performs well in the rain and he made sure he was part of a quality five-rider break that decided the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, joining Moscon, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Gregor Mühlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) in the decisive move.
Valverde was riding in only his second race since suffering a broken kneecap and talus bone in a crash on the opening day of the 2017 Tour de France, and the Spaniard was especially aggressive in the finale of the hilly 139km race. He paid for those efforts on the climb to Deia, however, and finished third, a few seconds behind Wellens. Brambilla was fourth on his debut with Trek-Segafredo, while Mühlberger placed fifth.
It was Wellens’ second consecutive win in the Trofeo Serra Tramuntana, despite hinting beforehand that he had planned a more gradual start to his 2018 season. The 26-year-old Belgian ended his 2017 campaign late in October, winning the Tour of Guangxi WorldTour race. He recently questioned the need for salbutamol inhalers in races, suggesting they can give a performance boost.
The Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana is the second of the four races that make up the Challenge Mallorca and is arguably the hardest. The 139km route starts in Soller and covers a hilly, twisting figure of eight route in the north of the Balearic island.
Despite rain and wet roads, the race started quickly, but attacks were chased down and kept under control until the 45km mark.
Sondre Holst Enger (Israel Cycling Academy) finished second behind John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) in the flat opening race on Thursday, but was not afraid to try again on different terrain. He blasted clear alone and opened a gap of four minutes, holding off an initial chase by Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Fortuneo-Samsic), Jordi Simon (Burgos-BH) and Elmar Reinders (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij).
A 30-strong peloton took up the chase as the serious climbs in the final 30km approached, with Movistar pulling back time on Enger to set up Valverde, despite Rojas, Roson and Amador crashing. Enger cracked at the start of the Sa Batalla climb and the race exploded with Valverde Wellens, Moscon, Brambilla and Mühlberger going clear. Mühlberger, the 23-year-old Austrian champion, was perhaps the surprise in the quality attack, but his win at the 2017 Rund um Koln race indicated his potential.
Valverde was especially aggressive on the Sa Batalla and subsequent Puig Major climbs that overlook Soller, but the others eventually closed him down on the descent to Soller before the decisive final 10km of racing inland to Deia.
Moscon, Wellens and Brambilla managed to distance Valverde and Mühlberger as they approached the Coll d’en Bleda towards the finish, but the two got back on and Valverde even tried an attack. Wellens had raced intelligently, however, and was strong for the finale. He chased down Valverde and pushed on to the finish, holding off Moscon on the twisting road to raise his arms in celebration at the line.
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The four-day Challenge Mallorca race series continues during the weekend, with teams allowed to select different line-ups for each event.
Victoria para @Tim_Wellens !!! pic.twitter.com/Jv5JUrbVTD
— ChallengeMallorca (@ChallengeMca) January 26, 2018
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via Cyclingnews Latest Race Results http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/challenge-mallorca-trofeo-serra-de-tramuntana-2018/results
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