kobegoosensBelgian cyclist from the Intermarché-Circus-Wanty (ICW) team, won his second consecutive victory this Saturday at the Garden Hotels-Luxcom Challenge Ciclista Mallorca by winning the Tramuntana Trophy, starting and ending in LLoseta, the penultimate stage of round Majorcan.
Goosens, who took his first victory this Friday in the Andratx-Mirador des Colomer Trophy, used a time of 2 hours, 55 minutes and 7 seconds to cover the 123.2 kilometers of a podium test occupied by three cyclists born in Belgium.
Belgians Lenner van Eetvelt (LTD) and Ilan van Wilder (SOQ) were also in second and third positions, 7 and 9 seconds behind the winner, respectively.
For the first time in the four days of the Challenge Mallorca competition, where 23 teams participated, 8 of them from the World Tour category, no Spanish cyclist entered the top ten.
Goosens, 26, has not won a test as a professional since he arrived at Intermarché in 2022, a team that won two Challenge stages after Portuguese Rui Alberto Costa’s victory on Wednesday. In Mallorca, he has already released his record twice.
The Belgian runner forged his victory by escaping 3.1 kilometers from the test of a group composed of the Italian Andrea Bagioli (SQS), the French Lilian Calmenaje (ICW), the British Hugh Carthy (EFE), the Italian Alessio Martinelli (GPB) , the American Brandon McNulty (UEA Team Emirates), and the Australian Harrison Sweeney (Lotto Dstny).
He knows how to take risks at the right moment in very bad weather conditions, with extreme cold and rain, which forced the Challenge Mallorca organizers to cut the route from 155.5 kilometers to 123.2, always less than 500 meters high, to avoid the snow condensing 200 meters above.
Despite everything, the race was very close with breakaway attempts, the first of them by Eenkhoorn, were neutralized on the demanding Coll de Femenía, leaving the front group down to 18 cyclists.
Frenchman Julian Alaphillippe (Soudal Quick-Step), double road world long-distance champion (2020 and 2021), is in the pack of runners with options to fight for victory until he needs help from his team when he broke the radius of his bicycle tire.
The Challenge Mallorca ends this Sunday with a 141.3 kilometer Palma-Palma urban route.
Source: La Verdad
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