Alejandro Valverde wins the Trofeo Pollença-Port d'Andratx

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Movistar veteran Alejandro Valverde sprinted to victory from a small group at the Trofeo Pollença-Port d'Andratx, beating Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) to the line atop the steep finishing ramp on the fourth day of the Challenge Mallorca.

The 41-year-old was the strongest on the climb to the finish in Andratx, utilising his famed sprint to take his first win of 2022 and the 131st of his career. The victory is his first at the Trofeo Pollença-Port d'Andratx, though it's his sixth career triumph at the Challenge Mallorca, including two wins apiece at the Trofeo Sóller and the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana.

Valverde's Movistar team had been involved all day during what was another tough and hilly race on the island of Mallorca. The Spanish squad had controlled the peloton at several points during the day, while Enric Mas and Marc Soler also went on the attack.

After a late solo effort from Lotto Soudal's Matthews Holmes was reeled in at the base of the final ramp to the line, the finish was contested among the big leaders from the WorldTour teams present at the race.

Valverde had the beating of them though, accelerating away on the final dig to the line and outsprinting McNulty as Vlasov finished three seconds back. Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco) took fourth at six seconds, while Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën) took fifth, 10 seconds back.

"The whole team was excellent today," Valverde said after the race. "We tried to keep the race always as much under control as possible, and the team worked perfectly well. We had to tackle this Andratx climb at a strong pace to try and drop those faster legs still into the group. We succeeded at distancing Matthews, the strongest sprinter in the group, but I saw him trying to come back with 250, 300 meters to go, and that's where I launched my sprint before he bridged back – and I could manage to take it.

"I want to offer this victory to two really important men. The first one is Egan Bernal. All of my support goes out to him, hoping that his recovery goes well and we can see him doing fine as soon as possible. And then, to Juan Carlos Unzué. His example of strength, optimism, fighting spirit over the last few months has been invaluable, to everyone in this team particularly. A big hug goes to both, hoping that we can see each other soon."

How it unfolded

The third day of the Challenge Mallorca took the peloton across the north of the Balearic island, from the village of Pollença in the far north to Andratx in the west as they tackled the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range along the way.

Five classified climbs dotted the route, the last of them coming with 70 kilometres to go, though there would be plenty of hills left to come in the latter part of the race, including the final ramp to the finish, which measured in at 2.5 kilometres with an average gradient of 8.4 per cent.

The main break of the day took some time to form, with a group not managing to get away from the peloton until the riders had 37 kilometres of racing under their belts. Eleven men managed to get away and quickly built up a three-minute advantage, though that would be the most they would enjoy during their time out front.

Xabier Isasa (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Samuele Rivi (Eolo-Kometa), Davide Gabburo, Samuele Zoccarato (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Mario Aparicio (Burgos-BH), Ruben Apers, Kamil Bonneu (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Kasper Saver (Minerva Cycling), Pablo Alonso (Electro Hiper Europa-Caldas), Raúl Rota (Manuela Funación Continental), Christian Danilo Pase (Work Service Vitalcare Vega) were the men in question.

The move would only last for 55 kilometres of the 170.1-km race, at which point Soler made his move on a climb shortly after the town of Sóller. The attack didn't stick with 80 kilometres still to race, but did draw out more counterattacks, with Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) among those trying a move.

More attacks followed, with Holmes making it away with 70km to go. The Briton was joined by Jan Bakelants (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) and Antonio Soto (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and the trio built an advantage of 20 seconds up and over the Coll den Claret before being caught at 53km to go.

Movistar were in control of the peloton at that point along with Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, and it was no surprise to see them active again as the riders raced towards the finale. Mas made a move on the Coll de Sa Gramola with 30km to go, drawing out more attackers and helping to whittle down the already small peloton.

With 20km to go, only around 40 riders were left in front, though their number would soon dwindle further as Holmes tried his luck once again. He was solo this time, though, but even given the low likelihood of him staying away to the line, he persevered.

Holmes had a 10-second advantage as he passed the 10km to go mark, and five kilometres later the number remained the same. With the final climb approaching, though, his time out front was soon to run out and so it proved as he was caught at the base.

The small lead group only got smaller on the way up, with first Mas, then Einer Rubio and Iván Sosa doing the job on the front for team leader Valverde. He was joined by McNulty, Vlasov, Gall, Matthews, Wellens, Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) and Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) near the top, and proved the strongest on the final dash to line to claim victory.