António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) triumphed on his birthday a damp and dingy opening day of the Challenge Mallorca, winning the Trofeo Calvià in a two-up sprint finish against Héctor Alvarez (Spain).
The pair had attacked from the peloton 33km from the finish of the 148km race, jumping clear on the race’s final major climb of the Coll de sa Gramola, before catching and passing the remains of the breakaway and racing into the final 15km together.
Third place went to Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility), who beat out fellow breakaway rider Adrien Boichis (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), the pair finishing 40 seconds down.
How it unfolded
The 25th Trofeo Calvià would take the riders on a familiar 148km route into the hills around Palmanova, starting and ending in the town after a lumpy finish. 146 riders took the start in chilly and wet conditions, including eight WorldTour squads, though defending champion Jan Christen wasn’t on the start line.
The race’s opening 30km, including the Coll des Tords (6.6km at 2.5%), passed without much incident as the riders eased into the day. It took the Coll den Claret (5km at 4.7%) with 115km to go for an attack to get clear off the front.
On the way up, the quintet of Adne Holter (Uno-X Mobility), Andrea Pietrobon (Polti-VisitMalta), Adrien…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…