Buchmann wins Lloseta-Andratx with solo attack

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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.

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