Matteo Pelucchi (IAM) confirmed his status as the fastest rider in the Challenge Mallorca when he won the second of the two sprint races in the four-day race series. After a fast race in wet and windy conditions, he held off André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) and Ben Swift (Sky) to make it a clean sweep in his first two races of the 2015 season.

Last year Matteo Pelucchi proved that he is one of the fastest riders in the world when he beat all the top sprinters in a stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. He failed to reach the same lofty heights later in the year but if his performance in the Challenge Mallorca is any indication, he will be unstoppable in 2015.

Three days ago Pelucchi beat the likes of André Greipel, Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Elia Viviani (Sky) in the first race of the series and today the top sprinters were all eager to get their revenge when the four days of racing ended with another sprint race, the Trofeio Palma. However, they were again denied their first victory of the season as Pelucchi again turned out to be the fastest.

The flat and fast race suited Pelucchi perfectly as it ended with two laps of a flat 11.6km hot-dog shaped circuit along the seafront in Palma. With several sprinters in contention, the race was always destined to end in a bunch sprint but the race turned out to be surprisingly fast.

First the Basque Murias Taldea team had missed the early break and so they chased hard to bring things back together at the 50km mark. When rain and crosswind also played a role, the race turned out to be a nervous affair.

When a new break had been formed, Burgos had missed the break and they chased hard until they had managed to send a rider across. That’s when the race finally slowed down, with the peloton allowing the front trio to get a 5-minute gap.

Cofidis led the chase to set up Bouhanni for a first win in his new colours but when the riders hit the only climb of the day, it was Sky that decided to try to tire out the pure sprinters. The British team rode hard on the front and nearly brought the breakaway back.

From there, the British team remained in control and even though they briefly slowed down, they caught the final escapee with 8km to go. In the end, it didn’t work out for the British team who had to settle for third with Ben Swift while André Greipel got close to his first win by taking second behind Pelucchi.

The race ended the Challenge Mallorca race series and the riders will now head to the Middle East and other European races as the season really kicks off during the next few weeks. The next race on Spanish soil takes place on February 17 when the Vuelta a Murca start a busy week that also includes the Clasica de Almerica and the Vuelta a Andalucia.

One for the sprinters

After two days in the mountains, it was time for the sprinters to get back into the spotlight for the fourth and final race of the Challenge Mallorca. The Trofeo Playa de Palma-Palma brought the riders over 168.2km from Playa de Palma to Palma. The first part was a mainly flat circuit on the northern outskirts of Palma, with the category 3 Coll dea Grau coming 50.4km from the finish. The race ended with two laps of a fast 11.6km circuit along the seafront in Palma, setting the scene for a big bunch sprint.

173 riders took the start on another windy and rainy day in Mallorca. However, Stephen Cummings (MTN-Qhubeka) who won the race two days ago, failed to make it to the start.

An early break

As it had been the case in the first race, the riders got off to a pretty easy start and when Maurits Lammertink (Roompot) and Ibai Salas (Burgos) attacked, they quickly got a gap. Henrik Evensen (Froy-Oslo) joined them and it seemed that the early break had been established.

After 6km of racing, they were already 1.12 ahead and at this point Sebastian Mascaro (Burgos) had taken off in pursuit. He managed to join the leaders who were 2.01 ahead at the 14km mark.

Murias Taldea starts to chase

However, Murias Taldea had missed the move and they had no intention to miss this opportunity. The Basque team hit the front and when Evensen beat Mascaro and Salas in the first intermediate sprint, the gap had come down to 1.43.

The gap continued to come down and after 40km of racing, the Basques had reduced the deficit to just 1.02. As the wind started to pick up, things got even more nervous and the peloton split, with 40 riders being left behind.

A new group takes off

At the 50km mark, the two groups merged again but they were now only 30 seconds behind the escapees. 5km later, the break was caught and the door was open for new attacks.

This time Murias Taldea didn’t miss out as they sent Unai Intziarte on the attack. He was joined by Illart Zuazubiaskar (Spain) and when Intziarte beat Zuazubiskar in the sprint at the 57km mark, they were 20 seconds ahead.

Burgos start to chase

The gap stayed between 30 and 60 seconds for a while as Burgos were chasing hard in the peloton. At the 70km mark, it was down to just 19 seconds but now Burgos managed to send Dario Hernandez across which finally allowed the peloton to slow down.

While the rain started to come down, the gap grew quickly and at the 87km mark, it was 5.17 Now Cofidis had started to chase though and when Hernandez beat Zuazubiskar and Intziarte in the next intermediate sprint, the gap had been stabilized.

Sky accelerate on the climb

After 100km of racing, Cofidis had reduced the gap to 3.53 and now it was coming down quickly. At the bottom of the only climb of the day, it was only 2 minutes.

Sky decided to make the race hard on the ascent and when Intziarte led Zuazubiskar and Hernandez over the top, Vasil Kiryienka led the peloton across the line just 25 seconds later. On the descent, they increased their gap to 39 seconds as Intziarte briefly got clear while Hernandez was suffering.

Bos abandons

A crash brought down Theo Bos (MTN-Qhubeka) who was forced to abandon the race while the front trio rejoined each other. Meanwhile, the peloton slowed down and the gap went back up to 1.17.

As they hit the final circuit in Palma, Sky were back in control and they kept the gap around 1.20. When Zuazubiskar beat Intziarte and Hernandez in the final special sprint at the 145km mark, the gap was still 1.08 but now the peloton accelerated.

The break is caught

With 15km to go, the gap was down to just 16 seconds and this was the signal for Zuazubiaskar to launch an attack. While it was announced that he was selected as the most aggressive rider in the race, he distanced his former companions who were both caught. At the penultimate passage of the finish line, the lone Spaniard was still 21 seconds ahead but with 8km to go, he was brought back.

With 5km to go, Kamil Gradek (Activejet) made a solo attack but he only managed to stay away for one kilometre before he was brought back. Sky were now back in control and set a furious pace but in the end, it was Pelucchi who emerged as the fastest.