Kobe Goossens wins stormy Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana at Challenge Mallorca

Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) made a decisive solo attack in the final two kilometres of Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, taking his second stage in a row of the Challenge Mallorca on a day of severe weather conditions in the Tramuntana mountain range.

The Belgian rider delivered Intermarché-Circus-Wanty their third win in the race so far with his solo victory from the day’s successful breakaway, riding into an uphill finish in the town of Lloseta ahead of Lennert Van Eetvelt in second place and Ilan Van Wilder in third.

The day was marked by an early course alteration, caused by snow layered across the high mountains of the Tramuntana range, which resulted in a decision to shorten the stage from 155.5km to 123.2km, and restricted the course to remaining below an elevation of 500m.

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Despite the alteration to the course, the weather still presented considerable adversity to the riders, with severe rain and hail throughout the day’s racing which rendered time gap information unavailable to riders and commentators.

Goossens was part of the day’s successful break. It followed an early split in the peloton with 80km remaining, which was brought back together with around 50km remaining. From there, a successful 8-man breakaway formed at 25km to go, containing Andrea Bagioli, Lilian Calmejane, Hugh Carthy, Kobe Goossens, Davide Martinelli, Brandon McNulty, Harry Sweeny, Lennert Van Eetvelt.

The 8-man breakaway was pursued by a four-man chasing group of Joao Almeida, Alessandro Tonelli, Ilan Van Wilder and Cian Uijtdebroeks, who caught the main break over the day’s hardest climb of Coll de sa Batalla, where Hugh Carthy made an aggressive attack to no avail. 

The descent saw Uijtdebroeks and Eiking dropped as they descended cautiously on the drenched Mallorcan roads, before the remaining 10 riders rode into Lloseta. 

Goossens made an opportune attack just as they approached the finish town, and some indecision among the chasers gave him a buffer of around 15 seconds - enough to hold off the chase all the way to the finish line, where Van Eetvelt beat Van Wilder in the sprint for second.

"I was super cold today," said Van Eetvel after the finish. "Second after the third place yesterday, which is pretty amazing but kind of sucks as well."

The win marked Goossens’s second in two days, and distinguished Intermarché-Circus-Wanty as the most successful team in the race series ahead of the final stage tomorrow.

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