Rojas roars to victory on Mallorca

Jose Joaquin Rojas of Movistar won the mass sprint deciding the Trofeo Deià, the fourth race in the Challenge Mallorca. The 25-year-old Spaniard outkicked Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Juan Jose Cobo (Geox-TMC) to take top honours in the uphill sprint, and the third win for Movistar this season.

It was also the first win for Rojas since a stage of the Tour de l'Ain in August 2009.

"To tell the truth, I had lost a bit of confidence in myself," said Rojas. "If I have recovered it, it is thanks to the team, who were always supporting me during the entire race, and also to my teammate Ventoso, who convinced me I could win and it was going to be my day.

"I knew the finish from last year, I had good legs and I knew I had to come into the last corner first. It was a pity I couldn't celebrate it as deserved, because there were some riders who had attacked before and I didn't know if they were still ahead, so I didn't raise my arms at the finish."

The stage was marked by a long escape of five riders, featuring Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Romain Zingle (Cofidis), Xabier Zabalo (Orbea Continental), Giampaolo Cheula (Geox-TMC) and Davide Malacarne (Quick Step). The quintet formed 43km into the stage, but were kept on a tight leash as their largest lead amounted to only 2:20. The escape was ultimately neutralised at km 117.

With 15 km to go on the 143km parcours, a lead group of 40 formed. HTC-Highroad was very active, with both Peter Velits and Tejay Van Garderen attacking. There were in fact multiple attacks in the closing kilometres, but it came down to a sprint with Rojas prevailing in the finale.