The 2nd day of racing at the Mallorca Challenge proved to be a magical day for Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung as Steve Cummings earned our team’s first victory of the season! Steve put in a late attack with just a kilometer to go after teammate Johann van Zyl spent over 145km’s in the days’ main breakaway.
Johann was a shining star today as he showed some strong form and was clearly the strongest rider in the original 10 man break. On the lower slopes of the Cat 1 Puig Major, our young South African, along with Jose Goncalves (Caja-Rural) and Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Garmin), rode clear from the rest of break.
With 38km to go Johann tried to up the ante with a brief solo attack but was soon caught by Goncalves & van Baarle again. The trio fought on valiantly until Johann put in 1 last ditch attack with 3km’s to go but was eventually the last rider caught at 1.5km to go. Johann’s heroics earned him the most combative rider prize of the day.
It was then the turn of Jacques Janse van Rensburg to attack, who really strung out the field in the race to the line. This move set up the finish perfectly for Steve who capped off a great team effort with his race winning move. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Davide Formolo (Cannondale-Garmin) tried to follow the MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung rider but eventually crossed the line in 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Steve Cummings – Rider
Jens Zemke – Rider
The sponsors must be happy with all that exposure !!!
They basically dominated the race.
Congrats guys !!!