This Sunday, Belgian Gerben Thijssen from Intermarché-Wanty dominated the final sprint, and won the last race of Challenge Mallorca, the Trofeo Palma. Alexander Kristoff, from UNO-X finished in 2nd place, just behind Thijssen, followed by the Dutchman Marijn van den Berg (EF Education EasyPost) who finished in third place.
Initial escape with 6 cyclists
Six cyclists opened the day’s trail, including Yentl Vandevelde (Flanders Baloise), Canadian Laurent Gervais (Project Echelon Racing), local riders Joan Riera (Illes Balears – Arabay Cycling) and Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma), Luxembourg’s Noé Ury (Storck-Metropol) and the Italian Samuele Zoccarato (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè).
With a lead never exceeding two minutes, the teams interested in the sprint, mainly Intermarché-Wanty, Soudal Quick-Step and Tudor, meticulously controlled the progress of the race. Such a strategy, however, ended up being counterproductive.
Final sprint and Thijssen’s victory
When the leaders were caught 40 km from the finish line, numerous escape attempts followed in the peloton from teams that did not necessarily have an elite sprinter.
Movistar, Lotto Dstny and Flanders Baloise attempted to establish new leadership, although the most active team was evidently BORA-hansgrohe. It was in this scenario that Gerben Thijssen appeared with full force and won the Palma Trophy.
Watch the arrival
Challenge Mallorca- Trofeo Palma results
