Marijn van den Berg wins day two of Challenge Mallorca at Trofeo Port d'Alcúdia

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Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-Easypost) steamrolled from a reduced bunch sprint to win the Trofeo Port d’Alcúdia on the second day of racing at Challenge Mallorca. Ethan Vernon (Soudal-QuickStep) followed in second, and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) took third.

The last kilometre was led by sets of riders from EF Education-EasyPost, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty and Bora-Hansgrohe along the damp Balearic island roads. The 23-year-old, in his second year with the US-based WorldTour team, timed his final sprint perfectly and scored his first victory since 2021.

The 158.6 km route was all about the back-to-back categorised climbs of Coll Sa Batalla and Coll Femenia that set up the final 28.6km to the flat finish in Alcúdia.

With 34.5km to go, on the approach to the final ascents, the breakaway duo of Julius van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) and Luis Ángel Maté (Euskaltel-Euskadi) continued to set the pace until Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgroghe) created a gap at the front of the peloton on the decent for a brief solo lead. 

On the damp roads to the finish to Alcúdia, a reduced group brought it all back together with 7km to go to set the stage for a sprint final on a twisting section. Mike Teunissen tried his best to give his Intermarché teammate Girmay a slingshot finish, but got boxed in with the final bends in the road.

“For the future, we don’t need to see this corner,” Girmay said at the finish. “Left, right, left, right, especially with this wet road. For myself, I don’t sprint.”

From behind the wheel of Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates), the young Van den Berg launched his acceleration around the final corner with 150 metres to go. Vernon said he just ran out of space to overtake the Dutch rider.

“I think it’s a bit dangerous having this in the wet, and with 50 metres to go it’s not a proper sprint. For sure, if the line were a bit longer I had the legs to win the sprint,” the 22-year-old Vernon said. “I was good on the climb, then the legs were good. Hopefully on Sunday we’ll have a better finish and we’ll try for the win again.”

The next two days of Challenge Mallorca have more mountains and the sprinters will get back into the action for the final race on Sunday.

How it unfolded

Attacks flew immediately as the flag dropped, with Maté the first to make a dig and eventually, after burning off a few riders, he found a collaborator in the day's escape in Julius van den Berg.

They duo had less than a minute on the peloton on the approach to the only climb of the day, the Coll Sa Batalla when there was a crash in the bunch. Four riders went down but it was Adrien Petit (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) who seemed the most injured, wincing in pain and clutching his shoulder.

Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked on the climb but only served to spark the peloton to bring back the two escapees just over 1km before the summit.

On the rolling plateau after the KOM, Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) attacked, drawing out Harrison Sweeny (Lotto-Dstny) and Remi Cavagna (Soudal-Quickstep), forcing such a concerted chase from Intermarché-Circus-Wanty that the peloton shattered. The neon yellow team hoped to distance some sprinters to benefit 2022 winner Girmay.

The bunch soon reeled in the escapees, and with low-hanging clouds and wet roads, the tricky descent had riders on edge. One rider not fearful was Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost) who descended away with 26km to go but never got far.

He inspired Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) to also give it a go, with the German surprising the race moto and shouting it out of the way. The peloton was in tatters on the steepest section of the descent, with a few riders clipping off the front and many more unwilling to risk their early season in a 1.1-ranked race.

Maté was again on the move, setting off solo in pursuit of Politt toward the lower part of the descent. But, with 20-some kilometres of a gentler grade before the finish and a stiff headwind, it would take a much more concerted effort to stay clear.

Soudal-Quickstep, Intermarché, and EF-EasyPost powered the chase as the road levelled, bringing back Maté but having a harder time catching the German champion. He had 15 seconds in hand with 13km to go and the peloton strung out single file behind in full pursuit.

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