The talented field of riders in the Challenge Mallorca may be intimidating for some, but not for Stradalli-Bike Aid rider Daniel Bichlmann. In the first stage Bichlmann formed the breakaway which stayed away for the majority of the day.
Bradey Wiggins, former Tour de France winner with Team Sky, is racing in the Challenge Mallorca to prepare for Track Worlds, which takes place in London England. After Track Worlds, Wiggins will begin to focus on 2016 Rio Olympics coming this summer. He fully intends to win what would be his last Olympic Gold medal.
The high winds and open roads make this the perfect race for riders to get their legs for the new season. Wiggins is not the only high profile professional cyclist riding the Challenge Mallorca. Fabian Cancellara uses this race to get to a high level of fitness early in the year.
The Stradalli – Bike Aid riders are using the Challenge Mallorca as a springboard for a successful 2016 season and to get an idea of the team's strengths.
Stradalli-Bike Aid pro rider, Niko Holler uses the Challenge Mallorca to test his legs early in the season and compare his progress with some of the top riders in the world. Going up against world tour professionals early in the season allows riders to build a successful platform for later in the year.
The second stage of Challenge Mallorca, Trofeo Pollenca – Port de Andrax, Stradalli – Bike Aid rider Daniel Bichlmann successfully started the first good breakaway of the day that would stay clear for the majority of the stage.
A simple breakaway which began with 9 riders quickly turned into a large group of 32 that would remain clear until the closing kilometers of the stage. Timo Schafer successfully bridged across to form the large group of 32 which would stay in the clear for most of the race. The course had over 6,000 feet of elevation gain, but the bumps in the road didn’t prevent the top group from hunting down the breakaway and finishing the 162.6 kilometer stage in 3 hours 32 minutes.
The final group of riders included Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain, Alex Dowsett of Team Movistar and Niko Holler of Stradalli – Bike Aid finished the race a few minutes down on race winner Gianluca Brambilla of Etixx – Quick Step. Out of 168 starters, 109 finished the intense race day in Mallorca.
Michal Kwiatkowski, 2015 UCI Road Race World Champion, placed second for Team Sky. Zdenek Stybar, former UCI Cyclocross World Champion, finished on the podium in third place. The Challenge Mallorca continues with the 149.9 kilomteer Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana.
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