First thorough training ride in Mallorca
03 February 2011

The second day for Movistar Team on their mini-training camp in Mallorca was marked by the first serious training ride of the squad on Balearic turf. After the resounding success of their presentation in Madrid on Tuesday, the 25 riders directed by Eusebio Unzué, who had a first point of contact with the roads yesterday with three hours of soft riding, completed today a demanding route of five-and-a-half hours over their bikes.

A bit more than 170 kilometers were covered by the full roster of the blue squad in a sunny afternoon in Mallorca, that allowed the riders enjoying climate conditions not so usual at this time of the year. The expedition led today by José Luis Jaimerena, José Luis Arrieta and Yvon Ledanois completed an exigent parcours, featuring the ascents to the cols of Soller and Puigmajor, and profited from the day’s weather to reconnoiter the finale of the third day in the Challenge de Mallorca, to finish in Inca next Tuesday. A bit easier was the ride for the three cyclists still suffering from mild physical troubles: Iván Gutiérrez, already recovered from flu affecting him for the last few days, plus Pablo Lastras and Chente García Acosta, with muscular problems they hope to solve in the upcoming days.

Movistar Team will be prolonging this mini-stage until Saturday, the riders going through several checks by different specialists of the team -biomechanicians, doctors, dietist, ostheopathy experts- before their competitive début on European soil with the Trofeo Palma, to be ridden over the Passeig Marítim in the Balearic capital city, on Sunday.