Ben Swift got close to his first win after a difficult 2013 season when he was beaten by Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) into 2nd in today's Trofeo Ses Salines, the second race in the Challenge Mallorca. Afterwards, there was no sense of satisfaction for the Brit who is convinced that he could have won the sprint.

Ben Swift came close to victory in Mallorca with second place in the sprint at Trofeo Ses Salines. The Brit rebounded from disappointment on Sunday to go toe-to-toe with his sprint rivals into Santanyi and claim a hard-fought runner-up spot despite being squeezed in the bunch kick.

At the line it was Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) who made it two wins in two days while Swift was just able to edge out Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) during a close-quarter battle. The fast men had to negotiate the final ramp in the shape of the Col de Santanyi, with second seeing Swift return to the sharp end following shoulder surgery over the winter.

After the stage Sports Director Dan Frost confirmed that a win had been on the cards but Swift saw his run to the line blocked in the sprint.

“Swifty got squeezed by Meersman in the final metres,” confirmed Frost to the team's website. “He said himself he could have won, so it was one of those second places where you’re not at all happy about it because it was so close. The most positive thing you can get out of it was that he was up there, he’s on it and we’ll hopefully see that in the coming days too.

“The guys were dialled today. It was a stressful day with quite a lot of wind. Quick-Step attacked at one point with seven out of their nine riders. They went ahead and the peloton broke into three. Our guys helped pull it back together again. In the end we had Kiry [Vasil Kiryienka], Eddy (Boasson Hagen) and Dario (Cataldo) to help wind up the sprint. The whole team did a good ride.”

Attention now turns to the climbers with day three presenting the best opportunity for those riders with a tough finish.

“Tomorrow will be the most steep course where we crest Puig Major with 19km to go until the finish line. We will ride for our climbers and see how far we can get with them on the climb. Last year Sergio (Henao) was second so he’ll hopefully be one of the guys up there tomorrow.”