February 2, 2025
The final day of the Challenge Mallorca is probably the easiest day on paper. There are two fourth category climbs but the final 40KM are flat and should produce a bunch sprint. The riders have five laps of a local circuit around Palma to complete. The final 1.5KM has a 180 degree left turn that goes into a sweeping right which will make positioning crucial in the final 3KM.
Race Summary
Colby Lange of Project Echelon was with Florian Lipowitz of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe in the break but he had to stop for a flat tire which left Lipowitz out solo with 53KM to go, 3 minutes ahead of the peloton. Lipowitz entered the circuit and crossed the line for five laps to go with 24KM to race and a gap of just 25 seconds. Lipowitz was caught with 13KM to go but he did an amazing ride, averaging over 48KM/HR by himself for the last hour before being caught.
All the teams were vying for position on the wide Esplanade as they passed the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma. XDS-Astana led through the bell for one more 5KM lap. A headwind spread the riders all across the road on the backstretch and not a single train was still in tact as they hit the 180 degree turn at 1KM to go. Iúri Leitão of Caja-Rural Seguros RGA sprinted out of the final tight corner into the finishing straight with a ripping tailwind. He immediately had a gap but Uno-X Mobility got organized and put a rider on the front to chase. Erlend Blikra of Uno-X Mobility started his sprint with around 150M left and the bunch were charging but Leitão threw his bike forward and took a famous win, stealing the day from the pure sprinters. Stanisław Aniołkowski of Cofidis got a run and pipped Blikra to take second place.