Nordhaug solos to victory on Mallorca

Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Sky) soloed to victory in the Trofeo Deia, the third day of racing at the Challenge Mallorca, after dropping his breakaway companions on the stage's final climb and descending alone into Deia for his first win since 2009.

Rui Costa (Movistar) finished in second place, 26 seconds behind the 27-year-old Norwegian, with Nordhaug's Sky teammate Sergio Henao claiming third at 28 seconds. RadioShack-Nissan teammates Jakob Fuglsang and Tiago Machado finished fourth and fifth, at 35 seconds and 45 seconds respectively.

Sky's Salvatore Puccio won an 11-man sprint for sixth place 12 seconds after Machado crossed the line.

"I've been waiting for a victory for the team for a long time," said Nordhaug. "I've been feeling strong in a lot of races but I've been training hard this winter. Bobby Julich took over as my personal coach in November and he has been doing a great job. I have a lot of self-confidence at the moment. And I felt great today.

"The riders around me were strong but I had super legs myself. I didn't see any reason why I was not able to win. I was making the race for myself today. I was the first to attack on the Coll de Soller and then again on the second to last climb. On the last little climb when I saw those guys were standing still I just went as hard as I could to the finish."

"It’s been a fantastic day, both here and in Qatar," said Sky sports director Marcus Ljungqvist, with regards to Nordhaug's victory in Mallorca along with Mark Cavendish's stage win at the Tour of Qatar. "It’s great for the guys and the whole team."

After two days of field sprint finales the Challenge Mallorca provided a hilly parcours to challenge the peloton, featuring six category-two ascents and culminating with the Valldemossa whose summit was situated 10.7km from the finish line.

Sky teammates Nordhaug and Henao, along with Rui Costa and Jose Herrada (Movistar), Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Brian Bulgac (Lotto-Belisol), Tiago Machado and Jakob Fuglsang (RadioShack-Nissan), comprised an eight-man escape that went clear prior to the penultimate climb, the Coll de Soller at 31.7km to go, and pushed out an advantage of over one minute entering the final ascent.

"It kicked off from the gun with a five kilometre climb so it was full-on racing from the start," said Ljungqvist. "A couple of teams controlled the pace and then entering the second to last climb Lars-Petter attacked together with Henao. They went away in a group and it was a little bit back and forth. The group had a minute, then slightly over a minute and on the last kick up Lars-Petter attacked and managed to stay away."

The Challenge Mallorca concludes on Wednesday with the 160.2km Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, another hilly route featuring five categorised climbs.

"Tomorrow should be a similar hard day again with a more hectic finish possibly," said Ljungqvist. "They are going up Puig Major from the long side which will split the peloton up for sure. We will celebrate this win and then look ahead to tomorrow."

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