Challenge Mallorca: Brambilla solos to victory in Port de Andratx

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Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-QuickStep) won the second race in the Challenge Mallorca series with a brave solo attack, holding off the peloton by just a few metres after going clear on the last climb of the race from Pollenca to Andratx down the hilly spine of the island.

His former teammate and former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski was second on his debut in Team Sky colours, with Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-Quickstep) completing the podium. Cannondale’s Dylan Van Baarle was fourth and Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) was fifth, indicating he is on form as begins the final season of his career. Bradley Wiggins was in action with the Great Britain track team but finished in the main peloton some 18 minutes back.

It was only Brambilla’s second victory of his career, coming almost six years after his first win at the GP. Nobili Rubinetterie in Italy.

"This victory is fantastic, especially looking at the podium, where I’m ahead of two world champions and two great friends. I'm very happy,” the Italian rider said.
"My form is good, but not super good. The race was hard. The peloton was reduced down because there had been a lot of attacks. I was riding to set up Trentin but attacked to make the others work. I gave it everything on the last long climb and got away and managed to stay away all the way to the finish.”

“It’s great to win I’m not a rider who wins often. I took my chance. I want to dedicate this win to my girlfriend Cristina, yesterday marked the eighth anniversary of when we first met. It’s a nice present for her as were also expecting baby in May.”

How it happened

The second race in the Challenge Mallorca series was a far hillier affair, starting in Pollenca in the north and climbing several big hills near the north coast before the rolling run to Andratx in the south.

The climbs sparked a first selection after 50km, on the second category Femenies climb. Most teams had riders in there, either riding for themselves or protecting their team leaders. The gap to the peloton grew quickly but then the Lotto Soudal picked up the chase in the hope that Andre Greipel could take a second victory. However the race route was too tough for the German sprinter and the racing too aggressive. The gap came down to less that three minutes but Greipel eventually threw in the towel.

Two final climbs offered a launch pad for attacks and after several failed attempts; Brambilla timed his move well, with other riders hesitant to commit to the chase. His lead was never huge but he fought to stay away and celebrated with his arms in the air –five years after his last victory, as Kwiatkowski and Stybar lead home the remains of the peloton.

Saturday’s third race of the Challenge Mallorca from Soller to Deia is the hardest of the four despite only being 143km long. It includes six tough climbs, including the well-known Coll de Sóller and the Puigmajor, before a final climb in the final kilometres. The series ends on Sunday with a race for the sprinters to Palma.  

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