On the last day of the Mallorca Challenge, a foto finish had to decide the last stage win.The Italian BORA – hansgrohe rider Matteo Pelucchi missed out just a fews centimeters the victory in Palma and took second place in Palma.
The Trofeo Palma was the last stage of the Mallorca Challenge. The race covered today 161 kilometers with only one small KOM. Therefore, it was the perfect stage for the sprinters, and a special one for Matteo, who took the win back in 2015.
Like every day of the Mallorca Challenge a breakaway group went directly after the start. Today 5 riders built the breakaway of the day and after some kilometers their advantage increased to 2 minutes. The Peloton raised the pace and tried to catch the group before the KOM. BORA – hansgrohe worked for Matteo Pelucchi and attempted to save energy in the peloton for the final. Shortly before the climb the breakaway group was caught.
Nairo Quintana (Team Movistar) saw this moment for a chance to attack. He managed to build an advantage of more than one minute over the main bunch. Roelandts (Lotto-Soudal) and Valverde (Team Movistar) also attacked and tried to join Quintana. These two attacks made the race nervous and very fast. The downhill was dangerous but Matteo and his teammates handled the up- and also the downhill very good.
50 kilometers before the finish, the peloton caught all three and everything was set for a bunch sprint. In the final the BORA – hansgrohe train brought Matteo in an optimal position for the sprint.
The last kilometers were very frantic. Matteo overtook Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Bouhanni (Cofidis) on the left, but could just not beat McLay (Fortuneo- Vital Concept) to the line, because his way was the longer one. On a slightly right hand finish.
After reviewing the photo finish McLay was awarded the win, with Matteo in a strong second place.
“We have mixed feelings at the moment. Yes, we are a little bit disappointed because we started to celebrate the victory and then we got the message that Matteo is second. But also with a second place we are very happy. The leadout worked very well. The team brought Matteo in a good position for the final sprint. Therefore, there isn’t any reproach.” – Enrico Poitschke, sports director
“I am happy. After the finish,they told me that I am the winner but then, after the photo finish I wasn’t. well, I felt good today and had really good legs, but I am happy with our teamwork. It was our first race together and the boys did a great job. I am looking forward to the next races, where we will celebrate some victories for sure.” – Matteo Pelucchi
