Greipel sprints to victory in Challenge Mallorca opener

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André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) sprinted to victory in Thursday's Trofeo Porreres –  Felanitx – Ses Salines – Campos, the first of four one-day races at the 2017 Challenge Mallorca.

Jonas Van Genechten (Cofidis) claimed runner-up honors, while Daniel McLay (Fortuneo - Vital Concept) took third in a close high-speed battle at the end of a 161.8-km day racing from Porreres to Campos.

Kersten Thiele (Germany), Evgeny Shalunov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Pablo Torres (Burgos-BH) and Pello Olaberria (Euskadi-Murias) jumped clear of the bunch early to form the day's breakaway. Their advantage over the peloton topped out at a little over three minutes before the pack began to reel them back in, with the sprinters' teams eager to control the race ahead of a flat finish.

The catch was made 20km from the finale, setting up a bunch kick for the win. Greipel proved fastest on the finishing straight, opening up his sprint early and narrowly holding off Van Genechten at the line, with McLay just behind.

"It was our goal to get a sprint and we succeeded in it," Greipel said. "Rémy Mertz did an amazing job in his first pro race. He was riding at the head of the bunch for more than one hundred kilometres, controlling the gap on his own. Really impressive. In the last fifteen kilometres Bart De Clercq, Tomasz Marczynski and Frederik Frison came to the front. When entering the last three kilometres, I still had Tim Wellens, Moreno Hofland and Jürgen Roelandts in support. Moreno Hofland took Jürgen and me into the last kilometre. We needed to get first to the passage with traffic islands and so we did. We got through it without any problems. I started sprinting with 250 metres to go.

"We dictated the whole stage with the team, so it's nice to finish it off after all the work of the teammates. This is a perfect start of the season. Tomorrow and the day after it’s up to Tiesj Benoot, Louis Vervaeke and Tim Wellens. I have another chance on Sunday."

The racing in Mallorca continues Friday with the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, a more climber-friendly affair.

As the Challenge Mallorca is not technically a stage race but instead a string of UCI 1.1 races, teams can change their line-up for each event. Movistar's Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana both kick off their seasons in Friday's race. 

Así ha ganado @AndreGreipel el primer trofeo de la XXVI Playa de Palma Challenge Ciclista Mallorca!!
Vídeo: @ciclismallorca pic.twitter.com/WI7GwsAgPc

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