Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) took a third consecutive win at the Challenge Mallorca with a solo victory at Trofeo Andratx-Pollença on Saturday. He remained unbeaten with his new team this season, this time on a hilly route shortened 26km due to inclement weather.
Mathys Rondel (Tudor Pro Cycling) lost the Belgian's wheel on the final ascent and secured second place. In the battle for the final podium spot on the 3.5km ascent to Mirador d'Es Colomer, Evenepoel's teammate Maxim van Gils timed his sprint to outdistance Antonio Morgado (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
The third day of Challenge Mallorca events took place with a hilly route from Andratx to Mirador d'Es Colomer. Weather impacted the race for a second consecutive year, last year cancelling the event due to high winds and heavy rain. This year's impact forced a delayed start, and the distance reduced by 26km to 121.5km, removing an opening loop.
Evenepoel made his presence known at the mid-point of the race when he attacked from the peloton and caused a reshuffling in the lead group, nine riders gathering on the third of the four climbs. One climb remained 46 kilometres later, and it was again Evenepoel who rattled the ranks and dropped two companions once on the final 3.5km approach to the finish.
The Olympic champion made a solid statement for a third day in a row, starting as part of the team time trial victory with Bora on Thursday and then taking a solid solo win at Trofeo Serra Tramuntana on Friday.
"Actually, it was a very good situation like this, because we were in two [groups]. I got the advice to just go flat-out till the [final] climb, and that's where I try to make my move. And it was a good one," Evenepoel told Eurosport at the finish.
"Three victories in three days, 100% success. That's a good year. Yeah, very happy with that, really satisfied. Of course, it's very positive to start like this."
The Olympic champion made a solid statement for a third day in a row, starting as part of the team time trial victory with Bora on Thursday and then taking a solid solo win at Trofeo Serra Tramuntana on Friday. There was wind on Friday's context, but Evenepoel said it made for a distinctly different opponent today.
"The conditions were even harder than yesterday, with a lot of cross and headwinds, which made it difficult to create the difference the way we had planned. But in the end, we managed to win again and also put Maxim on the podium," he said in a team statement.
"Finishing first and third for our third victory this week is a really great way to end the Mallorca Challenge. It’s a big motivational boost. I’ll already be back racing again on Wednesday, and it’s always good to start the season with some early wins."
How it unfolded
Strong winds howled along the south-west coast of Mallorca on Saturday morning, causing organisers to delay the start of Trofeo Andratx-Pollença. Once the flag dropped in Andratx at 1:00 p.m. local time, 35 minutes after the scheduled start, multiple attacks fired off the front.
Across the opening 35km that brought two smaller categorised climbs, all attempts to clear the peloton had been neutralised once riders crested the Coll de Claret, 10.9km at 3.6%.
A handful of kilometres later, renewed energy for a breakaway came from small groups of riders, with Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma) starting the process. Raul Garcia Pierna (Movistar), Felix Englehart (Jayco AlUla), Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility), and Samuel Fernandez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) moved across.
They were also joined by Alexys Brunel (TotalEnergies), Jonathan Klever Caicedo (Petrolike), and, for a short time, had company with Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi).
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe led the chase in the peloton as the group began to fragment on the lower slopes of the 14.2km category 1 Col de Puge Major.
Behind the group, Evenepoel decided it was time for his planned long-range attack. Evenepoel had stated at the race sign-in that he would attack on the climb to Puig Major. His acceleration caused the formation of a group of nine riders at the front.
He was joined by teammate Maxim van Gils as well as Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) on the initial move, and then joined by Mathys Rondel (Tudor Pro), George Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Johannes Kulset (Uno-X Mobility) and Movistar duo Iván Romeo and Diego Pescador.
The group cooperated under sunny skies as the terrain rolled across a series of small descents. A trio of riders gained separation with a surge from Evenepoel and with 15km to go, Pescador struggled to stay on the wheels of Evenepoel and Rondel.
The duo of Evenepoel and Rondel sped away on the slightly downhill mountain ridge leading to a showdown on the final 3.5km uphill to Mirador d'Es Colomer.
Evenepoel launched his attack after the first kilometre of the climb, and with 2.4km to go tried to make a dent on his companion, but Rondel only allowed a small gap to form and he was out of the saddle to keep the Dutchman in his sights. The damage was done, however, and Evenepoel pushed alone to the top of the climb, and the race victory.
Results
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