The Portuguese António Morgado (UAE), who turned 22 yesterday, won the Calvià Trophy, the first round of the Mallorca Challenge, by surpassing the … sprint to the Spanish cyclist Héctor Álvarez, with whom he had escaped from the peloton.
On a very wet and cold day, the young Morgado gave a new victory to the UAE formation while riders like Enric Mas, Remco Evenepoel and Richard Carapaz, among others, were on the opposite side of the island of Palma training for today’s team time trial.
The day was complicated and not only because of the cold and rain since the route featured up to five climbs, four of them second category.
Behind the escapees, a group was formed with Steinhauser, Boichis and Holter as cheerleaders, although they ended up being absorbed by a peloton where the Norwegian Adne Holter completed the podium by being the fastest in that first chasing group that entered the finish line forty seconds behind the winner of the day.
The Mallorca Challenge will continue today with an unprecedented team time trial that will mark the debut this season of several stars of the peloton, such as the Belgian Remco Evenepoel.
Milan repeats
In the AlUla Tour, Jonathan Milan (Lidl Trek) repeated his victory for the second consecutive day. The wind was once again the protagonist of a 152-kilometer stage, but neither the fans nor the strong pace imposed by the large group prevented victory from being played again in the sprint where the 25-year-old sprinter from Tolmezzo was once again the fastest, reinforcing the leader’s green jersey at the same time. The Navarrese Iker Villar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) was twelfth at the finish line.
Today is the stage that can decide the winner of the AlUla Tour since it will be the first with a high finish and the one with the greatest gradient. After 142.1 kilometers, the peloton will face an ascent of 4.9 kilometers at 5.8%, with ramps close to 10%.
