January 28, 2026
Palmanova hosts the opening day of racing in Mallorca that will see a total of five, single day events. The Trofeo Calvià is relatively short at just 148KM but it is packed with nearly 3,000M of climbing. Most of the climbing is done on 3-5KM ascents that average between 4-5%. The hardest climb of the day comes 80KM from the finish on the Coll de Sóller, an 8.5KM climb at 5.5%. It's a stunning climb with over 30 switchbacks on the way up. The shark tooth profile continues until 15KM to go at the top of Coll de sa Coma, a 2.5KM climb at 5%. From the top, it is generally downhill into Palmanova but there likely won't be many riders together at that point given the attritional nature of the course.
Race Summary
The weather has reminded us that winter is still firmly in control. Black rain jackets covered most of the riders as they signed in and set off for the start. It took a while for riders to warm up and get moving but attacks eventually did come. With 65KM to go, Andrea Pietrobon of Polti-VisitMalta was the last of the original break left standing but a new set of attackers were on their way to join the Italian including Adrien Boichis of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, Leander Van Hautegem of Flanders-Baloise, Georg Steinhauser of EF-Education EasyPost, and Ådne Holter of Uno-X Mobility. The chasing group made contact with Pietrobon and the five riders started the Valldemossa climb with 1 minute 20 seconds on the peloton.
By the top, Pietrobon and Van Hautegem had been dropped leaving three riders out front to fend off a peloton being led by Jayco AlUla. Over the top, information was difficult to come by. TV pictures were scattered at best and there were no graphics provided about where the riders were on the course. The first reliable update was through the town on Estellencs at 35KM to go with the peloton at 1 minute 45 seconds. Jayco AlUla set up a lead out up the Grau climb after passing Estellencs and an attack came from what looked like Andrea Vendrame. António Morgado of UAE-XRG counter attacked and went clear on his own. The peloton was at least 40 riders strong but it was hard to see who was leading the charge.
Once in Andratx at the start of the Coll de sa Coma, we got images of Morgado but he was somehow with Héctor Álvarez of the Spanish National Team. The pair were just 14 seconds behind the Steinhauser group and closing. The two groups weren't together long before Álvarez went on the attack. Morgado was the only one to be able to come across and the pair went off together. They descended into Calvià and with 7KM to go, they had about 25 seconds on Holter and Boichis and another 15 seconds on Steinhauser.
In to the last kilometer, Morgado refused to take a pull and set up behind Álvarez to wait for the sprint. Álvarez opened first at 225M from the line but Morgado was straight on the wheel and the birthday boy was able to come around and take the win for UAE-XRG. The final podium spot was taken by Holter, beating Boichis into fourth.