Ciolek pays off for Milram

Gerald Ciolek came good for his new Milram team by winning the final stage of the Mallorca Challenge in Palmanova on Thursday. The team's new hire out-sprinted his former teammates Edvald Boasson Hagen and Marcel Sieberg (Team Columbia-Highroad) after 147.6 kilometres of racing. It was the team's first win of 2009.

"The whole team supported me magnificently," said Ciolek. "Markus Fothen was with me up to one kilometer before the finish, then I found exactly the right way to the finish line. It worked perfectly."

"That was an important win so early in the season," said team manager Gerry van Gerwen. "It gives us a big push for our coming races."

Spaniard Antonio Colom of Team Katusha kept the lead to win the final general classification. It was Colom's second overall victory at the Challenge Mallorca, having one once previously in 2004.