Description
February 2, 2025
22nd Trofeo Palma 🇪🇸 (1.1) ME – Palma – Palma: 149,9 km
The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca (English: Tour of Majorca, Catalan: Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or early February.
Show more...
February 2, 2025
22nd Trofeo Palma 🇪🇸 (1.1) ME – Palma – Palma: 149,9 km
The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca (English: Tour of Majorca, Catalan: Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or early February. The event is used as an early season preparatory event by many of the top teams in readiness for the bigger races later in the season. The five races are ranked 1.1 on the UCI Europe Tour.
Iúri Leitão (Caja Rural – Seguros RGA) stole a march on the field to take victory at the Challenge Mallorca-Trofeo Palma, putting in a huge attack at the final corner and holding on all the way to the line.
The Portuguese rider, known for his Track cycling prowess as the reigning Olympic Madison champion and a former world champion in the Omnium, showed off all of his power and endurance as he pipped the chasing sprinters to the win.
Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis) took second, unable to overtake Leitão despite strong closing speed, while Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility) was third.
“We started the last circuit very well, and we knew the last corners were the key to the win. The floor is very slippery, but we have to take some risks sometimes,” said Leitão as he described the finale.
“I gave everything I had on the hill for the U-turn, and then I was in second position. The last corner was very fast, but I saw I did it faster than the others, so I just tried. I don’t know how long it was but it was a long one and a hard one.”
The Portuguese rider confirmed that this late move wasn’t the team’s original idea for the finish but an instinctive move when he found himself in a good position.
“It was not the plan to attack so early, of course,” said Leitão.
“With the big teams prepared for the lead-out, I wanted to be on the front which the guys helped me to do in the last two laps. The plan was to be in a good position on the u-turn, get a good wheel and try to get the space to sprint because, on the second day, I didn’t have that because it was very crazy.
“But I saw myself in a good position, and I thought it was a good opportunity to try it, and sometimes you have to take the risk. This time, it went very well. It’s really good to start the season with a victory, especially in a race at this level. For me, it’s a really good entry for this season.”
How it unfolded
After a ride-led cancellation due to ‘dangerous conditions’ on the penultimate day of racing at the Challenge Mallorca, the final race – Trofeo Palma – got underway with dry roads and clearer skies from the island’s main city, Palma.
Supposed to be a day for the sprinters, a brutal fight for the day’s breakaway ensued on the road out of Palma and into the inland undulating terrain. Several riders tried to get away, including junior world champion Lorenzo Finn (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and the USA’s Colby Simmons (EF Education-EasyPost).
It took 37km of racing until an attempt finally stuck, with Colby Lange (Project Echelon Racing) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) forming the two-man break of the day.
As they approached the 100km to-go mark of the 149.9km route, their gap had increased significantly and went out to over three minutes as the peloton allowed them to.
Several teams got involved in the chase throughout the run back to Palma for the finale, notably Intermarché-Wanty, Euskaltel-Euskadi and Q36.5, all contributing to bringing back the break.
An untimely need for a bike change left Lange in no man’s land between his former fellow escapee Lipowitz and the charging main group. He was back in the peloton with 48km to go.
Lipowitz lasted much longer, holding his three-minute deficit until the racing got back to Palma and only being reeled back in fully with just under 13 km to go. By then, XDS Astana had taken over control of the peloton alongside UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
The final 10km run to the line was frantic and rapid, with slippery roads from rain on previous days making several of the corners in the city circuit more treacherous than they appeared.
A big fit played out for the key final three corners, a big right-hander, a u-turn at 1km to go and finally a sweeping left-hand bend back into a tailwind.
This is where the race-winning move came from Caja Rural – Seguros RGA through
Iúri Leitão after three hours of racing. The track star took a wide line and kicked away from a Movistar rider looking for his sprinter, Fernando Gaviria. This hesitant moment allowed Leitão to steal a march.
Once he had the gap, he put the power down and pounced on his opportunity, producing enough of an explosive move to stay away from all of the chasing sprinters who were forced to fight for second place as he celebrated arms aloft at the line.
Results :
 ME </strong> - Palma - Palma: 149,9 km
<!--more-->
The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca (English: Tour of Majorca, Catalan: Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or early February. The event is used as an early season preparatory event by many of the top teams in readiness for the bigger races later in the season. The five races are ranked 1.1 on the UCI Europe Tour.
Iúri Leitão (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) stole a march on the field to take victory at the Challenge Mallorca-Trofeo Palma, putting in a huge attack at the final corner and holding on all the way to the line.
The Portuguese rider, known for his Track cycling prowess as the reigning Olympic Madison champion and a former world champion in the Omnium, showed off all of his power and endurance as he pipped the chasing sprinters to the win.
Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis) took second, unable to overtake Leitão despite strong closing speed, while Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility) was third.
"We started the last circuit very well, and we knew the last corners were the key to the win. The floor is very slippery, but we have to take some risks sometimes," said Leitão as he described the finale.
"I gave everything I had on the hill for the U-turn, and then I was in second position. The last corner was very fast, but I saw I did it faster than the others, so I just tried. I don't know how long it was but it was a long one and a hard one."
The Portuguese rider confirmed that this late move wasn't the team's original idea for the finish but an instinctive move when he found himself in a good position.
"It was not the plan to attack so early, of course," said Leitão.
"With the big teams prepared for the lead-out, I wanted to be on the front which the guys helped me to do in the last two laps. The plan was to be in a good position on the u-turn, get a good wheel and try to get the space to sprint because, on the second day, I didn't have that because it was very crazy.
"But I saw myself in a good position, and I thought it was a good opportunity to try it, and sometimes you have to take the risk. This time, it went very well. It's really good to start the season with a victory, especially in a race at this level. For me, it's a really good entry for this season."
<strong>How it unfolded</strong>
After a ride-led cancellation due to 'dangerous conditions' on the penultimate day of racing at the Challenge Mallorca, the final race - Trofeo Palma - got underway with dry roads and clearer skies from the island's main city, Palma.
Supposed to be a day for the sprinters, a brutal fight for the day's breakaway ensued on the road out of Palma and into the inland undulating terrain. Several riders tried to get away, including junior world champion Lorenzo Finn (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and the USA's Colby Simmons (EF Education-EasyPost).
It took 37km of racing until an attempt finally stuck, with Colby Lange (Project Echelon Racing) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) forming the two-man break of the day.
As they approached the 100km to-go mark of the 149.9km route, their gap had increased significantly and went out to over three minutes as the peloton allowed them to.
Several teams got involved in the chase throughout the run back to Palma for the finale, notably Intermarché-Wanty, Euskaltel-Euskadi and Q36.5, all contributing to bringing back the break.
An untimely need for a bike change left Lange in no man's land between his former fellow escapee Lipowitz and the charging main group. He was back in the peloton with 48km to go.
Lipowitz lasted much longer, holding his three-minute deficit until the racing got back to Palma and only being reeled back in fully with just under 13 km to go. By then, XDS Astana had taken over control of the peloton alongside UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
The final 10km run to the line was frantic and rapid, with slippery roads from rain on previous days making several of the corners in the city circuit more treacherous than they appeared.
A big fit played out for the key final three corners, a big right-hander, a u-turn at 1km to go and finally a sweeping left-hand bend back into a tailwind.
This is where the race-winning move came from Caja Rural - Seguros RGA through
Iúri Leitão after three hours of racing. The track star took a wide line and kicked away from a Movistar rider looking for his sprinter, Fernando Gaviria. This hesitant moment allowed Leitão to steal a march.
Once he had the gap, he put the power down and pounced on his opportunity, producing enough of an explosive move to stay away from all of the chasing sprinters who were forced to fight for second place as he celebrated arms aloft at the line.
<strong>Results : </strong>
<iframe width="100%" height="730" scrolling="yes" frameborder="0" data-lazy-priority="low" data-lazy-src="https://firstcycling.com/widget/?r=83&y=2025&lang=EN&cn=1" src="https://firstcycling.com/widget/?r=83&y=2025&lang=EN&cn=1"></iframe>)
