Barbero (5th), Rojas (8th) in the mix in Palma
28 January 2018

Dual top-ten finish to close Challenge out

Movistar Team's fastmen within best ten at last Mallorca race; Degenkolb (TFS) victorious again.

John Degenkolb (TFS) repeated Thursday’s win in Ses Salines with a success in the Trofeo Palma, final race of the Mallorca Challenge, Sunday, over 160km starting at the beach zone of the Balearic capital. The German won convincingly at the Paseo Marítimo’s bunch sprint finish, with Slovakia’s Erik Baška (BOH) in 2nd place and Dutchman Coen Vermeltfoort (RNL) in 3rd.

The Movistar Team, not lining up Alejandro Valverde today but bringing Rafa Valls back and debuting in Blue colours following a six-month recovery process from hip injury in August, always rode inside the main field -split several times due to the fast pace at the front- and got two of its pieces in the mix: Carlos Barbero, who took 5th place; and José Joaquín Rojas, 8th in the day.

The telephone squad completes the Mallorca Challenge with top-ten finishes in all four trophies thanks to the duo’s efforts, combined with those from Bennati -7th in the opening stage- and, above all, Alejandro Valverde, who confirmed to be perfectly recovered from his TDF crash with 3rd and 4th-place finishes in Deià and Andratx.