Challenge Mallorca: Marc Soler wins Trofeo Pollença-Port d'Andratx

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Marc Soler claimed his and the Movistar team's first victory of the 2020 campaign with a solo triumph above Port d'Andratx in the third leg of the Challenge Mallorca series on Saturday. 

The Spaniard had Bora-Hansgrohe's Gregor Mühlberger for company heading onto the two-kilometre final climb, and he managed to drop the Austrian on the nine per cent gradients. 

Davide Villella made it a near-perfect day for Movistar, emerging from the chase group to take the final spot on the podium. 

The Trofeo Pollença-Port d'Andratx was the third race in the 2020 Challenge Mallorca, which is a series of four back-to-back one-day races rather than a stage race.

The 168.9-kilometre route took the riders from the northern pocket of the Spanish island down to the western town of Port d'Andratx, where the final climb would provide a sting in the tail.

There were five categorised climbs in the opening 111km, and it was on the last two - the combination of the Coll de Sa Pedrissa-Can Costa (5.9km at 4.7 per cent) and the Coll den Claret (2.6km at 4.8 per cent) - that the race exploded into life.

A group of 20 riders broke free from the peloton, including Soler, Mühlberger and Villella. They went on to catch early breakaway riders Claudio Imhof (Switzerland) and Mads Würtz Schmidt (Israel Cycling Academy) on the rugged terrain that led towards the finale.

Bora-Hansgrohe's new signing Lennard Kämna went on the attack but crashed on a downhill section, and he was caught and passed when Soler went on the attack with just over 15km remaining. Mühlberger was on the wheel and the pair combined to take on the final climb with a handsome advantage.

Soler landed his final, killer blow inside the final kilometre, pulling convincingly away from Mühlberger to start the season - on in which he has heightened responsibility after the departures of Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa - with a bang.