Challenge de Mallorca 2020 (2 Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana) – [Highlights] (spanish)

January 31, 2020

Challenge de Mallorca 2020 – Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana – Sóller – Deià : 160,5 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.

Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) soloed to victory at the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana – the second race of the Challenge Mallorca series, after a daring descent on the penultimate climb of the race.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) won the sprint for second place, beating Buchmann’s teammate Gregor Mühlberger.

The German formed part of an elite lead group on the penultimate climb of the day, the Coll de Puig Major (4.8km at 5.4 per cent). He followed Marc Soler (Movistar) as the Spaniard kicked the attacking off towards the top, with Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal) and Soler’s teammate Alejandro Valverde joining them out front.

Buchmann didn’t hang around though, pushing on down the descent and leaving his fellow escapees behind. He quickly built up a 30-second lead as the 20-man group behind struggled to co-operate on the road to Deià.

Despite a 4.4km climb laying in the final 10km, the 27-year-old persevered on the run-in, holding on to his advantage over the Coll den Bleda and kick to the line to comfortably take his first win of the 2020 season.

“Big thanks to the team,” Buchmann said. “We rode an offensive race and put a lot of pressure to the other teams. I just had to attack at the right moment to finish off all the work from our guys.

“My legs have been good, but I was surprised that on the final climb nobody was able to bridge across. My training went well the last weeks, but I didn’t expect to able to fight for the win here. Of course this result is a huge boost to the whole team and we look confidently forward to the next races now.”

How it unfolded

Five climbs lay between the riders and the finish, for a race that is usually the toughest of the Challenge Mallorca. Three-time winner Tim Wellens wasn’t back to try and make it a fourth in a row, leaving the race wide open.

With climbing from the off, it was no surprise that the attacks flew early on. Nils Politt (Israel Start-Up Nation) was among the leading instigators. Juan Fernando Calle (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Joan Bou (Fundación-Orbea), Damian Lüscher (Swiss Racing Academy), Isaac Serrano (Burgos-BH) and Robert Scott (Canyon dhb p/b Soreen) soon joined the German to form the break of the day.

After an hour of racing, they were almost four minutes up the road, and so the race settled into that familiar pattern with Movistar controlling the pace at the front of the peloton, keeping the break at a reasonable distance.

With 100km covered, the lead group started to struggle on the day’s fourth climb, the Coll de sa Batalla. Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) bridged across the gap as his compatriot, the 1.92m tall Politt, struggled on the slopes.

Over the top of the climb, Kämna was out front alone with Bou 20 seconds in arrears and the peloton a further 20 seconds back, having absorbed the remainder of the break. The main climb of the day, the Coll de Puig Major (4.8km at 5.4 per cent) lay in wait for the fireworks to begin, while the Coll den Bleda (4.4km at 5 per cent) would come just 6km from the uphill finish in Deià.

Marc Soler (Movistar) kicked the action off on Puig Major, while Rafał Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) punctured at an inopportune time. Soler’s kick didn’t stick though, and Movistar returned to the head of the peloton, chasing Kämna.

Soler went again at the top of the climb, taking Kämna’s teammate Emanuel Buchmann with him to form a lead trio. Kämna didn’t hang on for long, dropping back as Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal) bridged across to the lead.

Buchmann went solo on the descent, taking a 15-second advantage with him, while the chase group caught Valverde, Soler and Vanhoucke at the 10km to go mark and slowed the chase.

The German, who finished fourth overall in the 2019 Tour de France, flew down through Soller and hit the final climb with a 35-second advantage.

Even with 10km still to race and three men from Movistar in the chase group, there was to be no stopping Buchmann, who duly crossed the line alone to take the victory.

Results :
1 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 3:55:53
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:38
3 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Arkea-Samsic
5 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
6 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
7 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
8 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
9 Márton Dina (Hun) Kometa Xstra
10 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
11 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
12 Kobe Goossens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
13 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
14 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
15 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
16 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
17 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal
18 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Switzerland
19 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
20 Simone Petilli (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert
21 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
22 Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
23 Enric mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:51
24 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:02:58
25 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
26 Giacomo Garavaglia (Ita) Kometa Xstra
27 Julen Irizar Laskurain (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
28 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
29 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
30 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
31 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos-BH
32 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
33 Ibai Azurmendi Sagastibeltza (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
34 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
35 Gotzon Martin Sanz (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
36 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
37 Matthias Reutimann (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy
38 Simone Velasco (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
39 Jerome Baugnies (Bel) Canyon-Sram Racing
40 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-Up Nation
41 Juan Felipe Osorio Arboleda (Col) Burgos-BH
42 Joab Schneiter (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy
43 Jacob Scott (GBr) Canyon-Sram Racing
44 Aleksei Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
45 Yannis Voisard (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy
46 Ivan Moreno Sanchez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
47 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
48 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
49 Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos-BH
50 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
51 Jose Manuel Gutierrez Revuelta (Spa) Gios – Kiwi Atlantico
52 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
53 Alejandro Osorio Carvajal (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
54 Nils Politt (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
55 David Galarreta Ugarte (Spa) Gios – Kiwi Atlantico
56 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM 0:03:07
57 Jon Agirre Egaña (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
58 Urko Berrade Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
59 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:03:31
60 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Canyon-Sram Racing 0:03:54
61 Paolo Totò (Ita) Work Service-Dinatek-Vega 0:04:04
62 Sergio Garcia Gonzalez (Spa) Kometa Xstra 0:05:36
63 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal 0:06:12
64 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:06:21
65 Sergio Nestor Araiz Michel (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:07:25
66 Maximilian Stedman (GBr) Canyon-Sram Racing 0:08:07
67 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team 0:09:28
68 Abram Stockman (Bel) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
69 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
70 Dario Puccioni (Ita) Work Service-Dinatek-Vega
71 Erik Fetter (Hun) Kometa Xstra
72 Francesco Romano (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
73 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
74 Jose Felix Parra Cuerda (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
75 Joan bou Company (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
76 Jonathan Bögli (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy
77 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) Switzerland
78 Claudio Imhof (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic
79 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
80 Hector Saez Benito (Spa) Caja Rural-seguros RGA
81 Ricardo Vilela (Por) Burgos-BH
82 Jaume Sureda Morey (Spa) Burgos-BH
83 Juan Fernando Calle Hurtado (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:12:03
84 Diego Pablo Sevilla Lopez (Spa) Kometa Xstra
85 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:12:07
86 Carl Ljunggren (Swe) Memil Pro Cycling
87 Per Christian Münstermann (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
88 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:12:16
89 Julian Braun (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
90 Scott Quincey (Swi) Switzerland
91 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
92 Daniel Viegas (Por) Kometa Xstra
93 Xavier Cañellas Sanchez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
94 Alex Molenaar (Ned) Burgos-BH
95 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Circus-wanty Gobert
96 Raul Colombo (Ita) Work Service-Dinatek-Vega
97 Yurgen Clesman Ramirez Uzcategui (Ven) Gios – Kiwi Atlantico
98 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
99 Fabio van den Bossche (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
100 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
101 Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
102 Gilles de Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-baloise
103 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
104 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
105 Aaron van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
106 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
107 Antonio Santoro (Ita) Work Service-Dinatek-Vega
108 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
109 Callum Macleod (GBr) Canyon-Sram Racing
110 Thery Schir (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy
111 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
112 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
113 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation
114 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
115 Isaac Canton Serrano (Spa) Burgos-BH
116 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
117 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
118 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Fundacion-Orbea
119 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:13:09
120 Damian Lüscher (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy 0:15:41
121 Francesco Zandri (Ita) Work Service-Dinatek-Vega
122 Robert Scott (GBr) Canyon-Sram Racing 0:16:29
123 Valère Thiébaud (Swi) Switzerland
124 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
125 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
126 Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
127 Riccardo Verza (Ita) Kometa Xstra
128 Mattia Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
129 Alessandro Iacchi (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
130 Jonas Härtig (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
131 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic
132 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
133 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
134 Emil Andersson (Swe) Memil Pro Cycling
135 Franklín Chacón (Ven) Gios – Kiwi Atlantico
136 Federico Burchio (Ita) Work Service-Dinatek-Vega
137 Jean-pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe
138 Etienne van Empel (Ned) Vini Zabu’ KTM
OTL Fernando Lopes Gonzalez (Spa) Gios – Kiwi Atlantico 0:20:33
OTL Miguel Angel Fernandez Ruiz (Spa) Gios – Kiwi Atlantico 0:23:28
OTL Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:27:00
OTL Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu’ KTM
OTL Ruben Eggenberg (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy
OTL Nico Selenati (Swi) Switzerland
OTL Alfdan de Decker (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
DNF Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Matis Louvel (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Thomas Stewart (GBr) Canyon-Sram Racing
DNF Alejandro Regueiro Perez (Spa) Gios – Kiwi Atlantico
DNF Lars Kulbe (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
DNF Jon Knolle (Ger) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
DNF Michiel Stockman (Bel) Team SKS Sauerland NRW
DNF Ollie Morgan (GBr) Memil Pro Cycling
DNF Willhelm Wallinder (Swe) Memil Pro Cycling
DNF Wincent Wallinder (Swe) Memil Pro Cycling
DNF Christoffer Eriksson (Swe) Memil Pro Cycling
DNF Andreas Andersson (Swe) Memil Pro Cycling
DNF Matteo Rotondi (Ita) Work Service-Dinatek-Vega
DNF Laurin Bachmann (Swi) Switzerland