Aleksandr Vlasov doesn't let Trofeo Calvia defeat bring him down: "it was a good race to start into the season anyway"

BORA - hansgrohe is on a terrific start to the season and today in Mallorca another win was almost added to the list. Aleksandr Vlasov was second at the Trofeo Calvia, almost going clear alone in the final kilometers.

"It was a very hard race, and the last part was only full gas. This was exactly what we expected. We wanted to do the race as hard as possible ourselves, to let only a small group come to the finish," the Russian said in a post-race interview. He and Brandon McNulty joined one of the day's breakaway survivors Simon Carr, and the trio went clear from the rest of the competition by a big margin.

Vlasov launched a potent attack with under three kilometers to go, attempting to go solo off the front, not trusting his sprint. The move was very dangerous and briefly looked like it'd succeed. However it wasn't to be, as Simon Carr shortly after joined him, and then beat him in the sprint.

"Unfortunately, I didn't win but it was a good race to start into the season anyway," Vlasov assures. He will still likely race a few more times throughout the upcoming week, and is clearly showing enough form to take his first win of the season.