February 1, 2026
The sprinters have been waiting patiently for their turn to race for the win in Mallorca. Since the Trofeo Ses Salines was converted into a TTT, the only chance the fast men get is today in the Trofeo Palma. Starting on Marratxí, the course is almost entirely flat with just 1,200M altitude gain across the 158KM of racing. With 40KM to go, the riders enter Palma for the first of five full laps of a city circuit that acts more like a criterium. There are two U-turns on the circuit as well as a few tight corners where positioning will be critical. The finish is along the coast line in the middle of a gentle sweeping right turn.
Race Summary
It was a slow start and a few riders got in the mix to make the break but with 68KM to go, only Danny van der Tuuk of Euskatel-Euskadi was leading. He had 1 minute 10 seconds on the peloton being led by the Spanish National Team. UAE-XRG had no sprinter in the race so they decided to shake things up with an attack by Rune Herregodts. He was joined by Michel Hessmann of Movistar, Jelle Johannink of Unibet Rose Rockets and Jasha Sütterlin of Jayco AlUla. They caught and passed van der Tuuk on a small rise leaving four out front. With Johannink in the move, the pressure went to EF-Education Post to pull in the peloton to work for a sprint for their man, Marijn van den Berg. Johannink just sat on and wouldn't work because Dylan Groenewegen was on the start list for his team and they were looking for a sprint finish. Caja Rural-Seguros RGA pitched in with the chase as did Polti-VisitMalta to make a nice working rotation.
Try as they might, the peloton were struggling to control the lead group. As they entered Palma with 40KM to go, the gap was holding at 30 seconds. The break hit the coast road with the beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea on their left shoulder and the stunning Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma ahead. Sütterlin led the break through the finish line for 4 laps and 31KM to go with a gap still holding at 32 seconds. On the next passage of the finish, the gap was down to 20 seconds for the first time since the move initially went away.
Lotto Intermarché added to the chase and the lead group were starting to fade. Sütterlin looked to be struggling and was dropped with 16KM to go just through the finish line with 2 laps to go. Johannink continued to skip pulls but Hessmann and Herregodts forged on. Hessmann gave his final turn at 13KM to go and drifted back into the peloton, leaving just Herregodts out front with Johannink sitting tightly on his wheel. Johannink finally got the call from the radio to come back to the peloton to help his team position Groenewegen coming into the final lap.
Herregodts took the bell inside 8KM to go with a gap of less than 10 seconds. The peloton started swelling forward to position for the first 180 degree turn but they still hadn't caught Herregodts. Lead out trains were drag racing down the backside of the circuit on the wide three lane coast road. Herregodts was finally caught with 4KM to go as the race went into full speed. Tudor Pro Cycling led into the second 180 degree turn outside of 2KM. A touch of wheels brought down an EF-Education EasyPost rider which delayed anyone who was further than 40 wheels back. Tudor Pro Cycling continued to lead with van den Berg still in good position for EF-Education EasyPost and last year's winner, Iúri Leitão of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, there as well.
Lotto Intermarché led through the final kilometer and as they pulled off, the swell came from behind. EF-Education EasyPost were battling with XDS-Astana on their right and Total Energies on their left but the sprint opened up with Iván García Cortina of Movistar who got a run on the outside. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe snuck in on his wheel and were patient until 125M to go when Arne Marit punched through the gap, hit the front, and sprinted to victory. Max Kanter of XDS-Astana followed Marit through the bodies into second place with young 19 year old Alessio Magagnotti making it another first and third for Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe two days running.