Challenge Mallorca: Cancellara swoops to victory in Deia

Fabian Cancellara (Trek-Segafredo) signalled his intentions for his final season in the professional peloton as he powered clear to claim a fine solo victory in the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana.

Former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky) took second place for the second successive day at the head of the chasing group, just in front of Belgian talent Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal).

If Cancellara’s sixth place in Friday’s Trofeo Pollenca-Andratx suggested that he had begun the campaign in fine form, then the final ten kilometres of Saturday’s race provided emphatic confirmation.

On the hilliest of the Challenge Mallorca’s four events, Cancellara had highlighted his eagerness by infiltrating the 23-man break that forged clear around the midway point, and he paced himself expertly when that group began to fragment on the day’s toughest climb, the Puig Major.

Dayer Quintana (Movistar), Tao Geoghegan Hart (Great Britain), Hugh Carthy (Caja Rural), Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data) and Benat Intxausti (Sky) were among the sizeable break that built up a maximum advantage of a little over two minutes over the main peloton, but all had to give best to Cancellara in the finale.

"I had no expectation to be in the breakaway," Cancellara said. "It was unclear if the break would make it. At the end, I was just trying to save as much energy as I could and followed the attacks from the group. In the last climb somehow I managed to survive, and then I felt some good feelings return."

The coup de grace arrived on the way down the Puig Major, as Cancellara powered clear of his breakaway companions, stretching out his advantage to 50 seconds, and he then proceeded to make light work of the day’s final climb, the Coll d’en Bleda.

Behind, Sky and Movistar, after some initial hesitancy, began to organise the pursuit in earnest, and though they soon swept up the remnants of the break, they never truly threatened to peg back Cancellara. Hunkered down in his familiar position, it was apparent that Cancellara was wholly committed to his attack, and he maintained a lead in excess of 30 seconds over the peloton for most of the final 10 kilometres.

The Swiss rider cruised into Deia to claim victory by 17 seconds. It was Cancellara’s first victory since the concluding time trial of last year’s Tirreno-Adriatico and it also marked the first time that he has ever won a professional race in January.

Kwiatkowski led the chasing group home, 17 seconds behind Cancellara, with Benoot taking third ahead of Friday’s winner Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-QuickStep) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).

Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek-Segafredo3:41:48
2Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky0:00:17
3Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto SoudalRow 2 - Cell 2
4Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx - Quick-StepRow 3 - Cell 2
5Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar TeamRow 4 - Cell 2
6Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension DataRow 5 - Cell 2
7Maxime Bouet (Fra) Etixx - Quick-StepRow 6 - Cell 2
8Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension DataRow 7 - Cell 2
9Paul Voss (Ger) Bora-Argon 18Row 8 - Cell 2
10Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto SoudalRow 9 - Cell 2
11Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Dimension Data0:00:20
12Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions CreditRow 11 - Cell 2
13Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team SkyRow 12 - Cell 2
14Hugh Carthy (GBr) Caja Rural-Seguros RGARow 13 - Cell 2
15Leopold Konig (Cze) Team SkyRow 14 - Cell 2
16José Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team0:00:26
17Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) IAM Cycling0:00:40
18Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo0:00:46
19Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal0:00:49
20Gorka Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar TeamRow 19 - Cell 2
21Enric Mas (Spa) SpainRow 20 - Cell 2
22Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo0:00:51
23David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team SkyRow 22 - Cell 2
24Jon Izaguirre (Spa) Movistar TeamRow 23 - Cell 2
25Benat Intxausti (Spa) Team SkyRow 24 - Cell 2
26Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling0:00:59
27Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar TeamRow 26 - Cell 2
28Vicente Garcia (Spa) SpainRow 27 - Cell 2
29Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-RusveloRow 28 - Cell 2
30Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Great BritainRow 29 - Cell 2
31Ibai Salas (Spa) Burgos BHRow 30 - Cell 2
32Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM CyclingRow 31 - Cell 2
33Bruno Pires (Por) Team RothRow 32 - Cell 2
34Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions CreditRow 33 - Cell 2
35Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions CreditRow 34 - Cell 2
36David Belda Garcia (Spa) Team RothRow 35 - Cell 2
37Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek-SegafredoRow 36 - Cell 2
38Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-SegafredoRow 37 - Cell 2
39Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto SoudalRow 38 - Cell 2
40Jesus Del Pino (Spa) Burgos BHRow 39 - Cell 2
41Stephane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions CreditRow 40 - Cell 2
42Antonio Molina (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGARow 41 - Cell 2
43Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGARow 42 - Cell 2
44Ricardo Vilela (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGARow 43 - Cell 2
45Javier Moreno (Spa) Movistar TeamRow 44 - Cell 2
46Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data0:01:33
47Alexander Foliforov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo0:01:43
48Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Argon 180:01:44
49Laurens De Plus (Bel) Etixx - Quick-StepRow 48 - Cell 2
50Dayer Quintana (Col) Movistar TeamRow 49 - Cell 2
51Marcos Jurado (Spa) SpainRow 50 - Cell 2
52Daniel Pearson (GBr) Great Britain0:01:52
53Garikoitz Bravo (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country0:02:37
54Toms Skujins (Lat) Cannondale Pro Cycling0:03:58
55Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data0:03:59
56Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ0:04:00
57Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) FDJ0:05:00
58Jérémy Maison (Fra) FDJ0:05:03
59Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Dimension Data0:05:05
60Omar Fraile (Spa) Dimension DataRow 59 - Cell 2
61Eduard Prades (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGARow 60 - Cell 2
62Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM CyclingRow 61 - Cell 2
63Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto SoudalRow 62 - Cell 2
64Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Cannondale Pro CyclingRow 63 - Cell 2
65Mikel Bizkarra (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country0:05:28
66José Gonçalves (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA0:05:52
67Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky0:08:17
68Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-StepRow 67 - Cell 2
69Dominik Nerz (Ger) Bora-Argon 18Row 68 - Cell 2
70Gregor Muhlberger (Aut) Bora-Argon 18Row 69 - Cell 2
71Adria Moreno (Spa) SpainRow 70 - Cell 2
72Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar TeamRow 71 - Cell 2
73Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-SegafredoRow 72 - Cell 2
74Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension DataRow 73 - Cell 2
75Lawrence Warbasse (USA) IAM CyclingRow 74 - Cell 2
76Pirmin Lang (Swi) IAM CyclingRow 75 - Cell 2
77Nico Brüngger (Swi) Team RothRow 76 - Cell 2
78Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro CyclingRow 77 - Cell 2
79Scott Davies (GBr) Great BritainRow 78 - Cell 2
80Kirill Sveshnikov (Rus) Gazprom-RusveloRow 79 - Cell 2
81Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky0:09:47
82Damien Garcia (Fra) Stradalli-BikeAidRow 81 - Cell 2
83Benat Txoperena (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country0:09:51
84Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo0:09:53
85Artem Samolenkov (Rus) LokosphinxRow 84 - Cell 2
86Oliver Zaugg (Swi) IAM CyclingRow 85 - Cell 2
87Valentin Baillifard (Swi) Team RothRow 86 - Cell 2
88Sergei Shilov (Rus) LokosphinxRow 87 - Cell 2
89Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions CreditRow 88 - Cell 2
90Jorge Cubero (Spa) Burgos BHRow 89 - Cell 2
91David Arroyo (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA0:11:03
92Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling0:13:35
93Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ0:13:43
94Loïc Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions CreditRow 93 - Cell 2
95Christian Knees (Ger) Team SkyRow 94 - Cell 2
96Matti Breschel (Den) Cannondale Pro CyclingRow 95 - Cell 2
97Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM CyclingRow 96 - Cell 2
98Jaime Roson (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGARow 97 - Cell 2
99Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) LokosphinxRow 98 - Cell 2
100Roman Kustadincev (Rus) Gazprom-RusveloRow 99 - Cell 2
101Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo0:14:13
102Albert Torres (Spa) SpainRow 101 - Cell 2
103Roland Thalmann (Swi) Team RothRow 102 - Cell 2

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