Palma, Jan 29 (EFE).- The British Ethan Vernon (Soudal Quick-Step) has been proclaimed this Sunday winner of the Palma Trophy, fifth and last test of the Garden Hotels-Luxcom Challenge Cyclist Mallorca, using a time of 3 hours , 17 minutes and 58 seconds to complete the 141.6-kilometer route with highway and urban routes.
The 22-year-old Vernon passed the Eritrean Biniam Girmay (Intermarché Circus-Wanty) and the Belgian Jame van de Paar (Lotto Dstny) at the finish line, second and third, respectively.
The Spanish Iván García (Movistar Team) reached the finish line in fourth position, and the Colombian Juan Molano in fifth.
The winner of the Palma-Palma Trophy brought his experience – he has won medals in the Track World Championship and in the European Cycling Championship – to face the final sprint in the best conditions, which was bumpy with four riders falling without major consequences.
The last Challenge Mallorca trophy featured three Spanish riders and one Belgian, who rolled ahead of the peloton for several kilometers before being neutralized.
The Basque Xavier Berasategui (Euskaltel-Euskadi), the Cantabrian Iván Cobo (Kern Pharma), the Mallorcan Marc Terrasa (Spanish Track Team) and the Belgian Vincent Van Helemen (Team Flanders), started the adventure, which was also joined by Alejandro Franco (Burgos-BH) from Valladolid, who stayed after a fall that led to mechanical problems for his bicycle.
Van Helemen escaped alone 27 kilometers from the finish line located in the Cathedral of Palma and could only be “hunted” by the peloton during the urban route.
The Challenge Mallorca 2023 had the participation of 23 teams, 8 of them from the World Tour.
The winners were the Portuguese Rui Alberto Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, Calviá Trophy; the Dutch Marijn Van Den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), Ses Salines-Alcúdia Trophy; the Belgian Kobe Goosens (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Trophies Andratx-Mirador des Colomer and Tramuntana, and the British Ethan Vernon (Soudal Quick-Step) winner of the Palma Trophy.