Farrar takes his first win of the season

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Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) took his first win of the season, winning the mass sprint at the Trofeo Palma, the opening race in the Challenge Mallorca race series.  Marcel Kittel (Skil-Shimano) was second and Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) was third.

"It feels good to get a win on the books early in the season," said Farrar. "[Tour] Down Under was a bit of a frustrating experience, so it was nice to confirm that my form is on the right track. The boys did a terrific job as usual, I'm sure there will be many more Garmin-Cervelo victories to come this year."

The race was marked by a protest which delayed the start. Some riders, especially those on ProTeams, appeared at the start wearing race radios, which the International Cycling Union has forbidden in all races lower than World Calendar status for 2011. The race jury said it would take no action against the protesting riders but that there was no official final classification for the race and it was unclear if ranking points and prize money would be awarded.

The race consisted of 10 laps of an 11.6km circuit course in and around the Mallorcan capital.  Seven riders got away on the first lap. Kenny De Haes (Omega), Javier Ramirez (Andalusia), Oleg Chuzdha (Caja Rural), Cheng Ji (Skil-Shimano), Michael Baer (NetApp), Carlos Verona (Burgos 2016) and Joel Elgin (Price Bikes) built up a lead of up to three minutes.

After six laps, Chuzdha pulled away and was later joined by Ramirez. The rest of the break was caught by the peloton in the seventh round and the last two were swept up on the penultimate lap.

That set up the mass sprint, and the pace was high in the finale. RadioShack did much of the lead work, hoping to set up veteran Robbie McEwen, but Farrar's younger legs proved stronger in the end and he took his first win of the 2011 season

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