Matteo Pelucchi (IAM) became the first winner of a European race in 2015 when the fast Italian won the Trofeo Santanyi, the first race of the Challenge Mallorca race series. The IAM sprinter proved his speed to beating Elia Viviani (Sky) and Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) in bunch sprint at the end of a windy race on the Balearic island.

When the road race season kicked off in Australia with the National Championships, it was an IAM rider who came out on top when Heinrich Haussler beat Caleb Ewan in a sprint from a small breakaway. Today the Swiss team continued their amazing start to their first season at WorldTour level when Matteo Pelucchi won the first race of the European season.

After his breakthrough win in last year’s Tirreno-Adriatico when he beat all the top sprinters to win stage 2, Pelucchi has been known as one of the fastest riders in the bunch but he has had a hard time living up to the lofty promises. Today everything came together for the Italian when the four-day Challenge Mallorca race series kicked off with the Trofeo Santanyi.

Despite several smaller climbs on the course, the 175km has traditionally suited the sprinters and the 2015 edition was no exception when the race presented an unusually early opportunity to ride in Europe. Having been moved forward by more than a week, the Challenge Mallorca is a series of four one-day races where teams can have different line-ups for each race but where there is an overall classification for riders doing all races.

An early break with Alex Kirsch (Cult) and Damien Garcia (Froy) were allowed to build an advantage of almost 12 minutes but with Lotto Soudal, Cofidis and Europcar all determined to ride for their sprinters Andre Greipel, Nacer Bouhanni and Bryan Coquard respectively, they were always likely to get caught. Garcia got dropped with 40km to go and Kirsch had no chance to hold off the peloton which was in full speed as Movistar tried to split things in the crosswinds.

Several riders got dropped in the hectic finale but no one was able to escape as Sky took control inside the final 10km to set up their new signing Elia Viviani for a first win. The team set a hard pace in the finale but it wasn’t to be for the former Cannondale rider. Pelucchi proved to be the fastest, with Viviani having to settle for second and Jose Joaquin Rojas taking third.

Prior to the race, many expected the race to be a big battle between Greipel and Bouhanni but none of the two pre-race favourites could make it to the podium, with the Frenchman taking fourth and the German finishing 8th.

The sprinters will get their chance again on Sunday in the final race of the series but first the climbers will get their chance tomorrow. The Trofeo Andratx includes the famous Puig Major climb in the second half before the riders descend to the bottom of a steep 3.5km climb that leads directly to the line for the first summit finish of the European season.

One for the sprinters

For the first time, the Challenge Mallorca race series didn’t kick off in Palma with the Trofeo Palma. Instead, the Trofeo Satanyi which usually comes on the second day, was the opener of the traditional race series but as in previous years it was a race that was expected to suit the sprinters. The riders travelled over 175km from Santanyi to Campos on a course that was mostly made of up two laps of a circuit. In total, the riders tackled 7 smaller climbs, the last one summiting 12km from the finish, but unless the wind would wreak havoc on the peloton and bunch sprint was expected.

The riders took the start in pleasant January temperatures and under a sunny sky, making it a beautiful start to the European start. However, the peloton was apparently in no mood for a fast start and when they first attack was launched, they were pleased to let it go.

Cofidis and Lotto Soudal take control

Alex Kirsch (Cult Energy) and Damien Garcia (Froy) were the two riders that got clear and after 6km of racing, they were already 3.43 ahead. The peloton was still not ready to speed up and at the 11km mark, the gap had reached 6.20.

It was now time for the Nacer Bouhanni’s Cofidis team and André Greipel’s Lotto Soudal team to kick into action and those two teams started to ride on the front. For some time they kept the gap stable between the 6- and 7-minute marks while the peloton gradually started to find their racing legs.

The gap reaches more than 11 minutes

At the end of the first hour, the riders had only covered 36km and the escapees were still 6.15 ahead. At this point, Garcia beat Kirsch in the first KOM sprint while Christian Knees (Sky) was third across the line.

The peloton slowed significantly down and suddenly the gap had ballooned to 11.40 after 60km of racing. Lotto Soudal had now stopped their chasing and it wasn’t until Europcar joined Cofidis on the front that the gap started to come down again.

The break splits up

Kirsch beat Garcia in the first intermediate sprint while Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) led the peloton across the line 10.25 later. Lotto Soudal had now again come to the fore and with three teams working, the gap was only 5.06 when Garcia led Kirsch over the top of the Alto de Jeromo after 99km of racing, with Patrick Schelling (IAM) being first from the peloton. Garcia was again first at the top of the next climb and this time Victor Manakov (Russia) was third.

When Kirsch led Garcia across the line in the second intermediate sprint, Bart De Clercq (Lotto Soudal) was first from the peloton 4.16 later. Moments later, Kirsch left Garcia behind and at the 140km mark, the Frenchman was already 35 seconds behind.

Movistar try to split the field

Lotto Soudal and Movistar were now leading the peloton and the gap was coming down quickly as the windy conditions made the racing nervous. Riders were now getting dropped from the peloton as echelons started to appear due to the fast pace set by Movistar.

With 25km to go, Garcia was caught but Kirsch still had a gap of 1.33. He had little chance though and with 20km to go, it was all back together.

Sky come to the fore

Movistar and Lotto Soudal were setting a brutal pace as they prepared themselves for the sprint and it was Imanol Erviti (Movistar) who led Linus Gerdemann (Cult) and Tomasz Kiendys (CCC) over the top of the final climb with 11km to go. With 10km to go, Sky took control as they tried to set Elia Viviani up for a sprint win.

The British team set a high speed for most of the remaining part of the race while the other sprint teams battled for position. In the end, however, Pelucchi was able to beat Viviani and claim his first win of the 2015 season.