Director of the Challenge Mallorca lashes out again, this time at José Joaquín Rojas: "Thank goodness he was a better rider than director, he is shameless"
Cycling
Since the suspension of the Trofeo Andratx on Saturday, the tension in the Challenge Mallorca has not stopped growing. Firstly the race director criticized the riders for taking action amidst the unsafe conditions and now, Manuel Hernandez has lashed out again.
After those initial words, José Joaquín Rojas, Movistar Team's sports director in the Challenge Mallorca, responded and attacked the race director with the following statements to Esports IB3: "What was not seen on the cameras is that in the first 30 km lap we did there were a lot of crashes. The riders themselves saw so much chaos that they wanted to stop," the Spanish ex-pro explained. "They looked for people from the organization in the race, and there was no one. They couldn't get in touch with anyone, and since there were no buses, they decided to stop the race. There was not much alternative. Maybe it could have been neutralized until we got to the coast, but someone from the organization had to have been there to make that decision."
Read also
The response from the director of the Challenge Mallorca came this morning. And, as expected, the words of José Joaquín Rojas did not sit well with him. In fact, he attacked him personally: "I just have to tell José Joaquín that it's a good thing he was a better rider than sports director, because I think he's shameless and a liar," he fired back explosively. "And I say it this clearly, shamelessly and liar. The race cannot start without the organization, it is not possible. Today the organization has decided not to present the teams, it will do a typical old-fashioned signature control. The organization has decided today that it stays quiet," he added.
The Challenge Mallorca has finished this Sunday with the Trofeo Palma. Unfortunately, these last two days tarnish an edition that had started beautifully, with very disputed races.
The winners of each race (except the Andratx Trophy) were as follows:
- Calvia Trophy: Jan Christen - UAE Team Emirates XRG
- Ses Salines Trophy: Marijn van den Berg - EF Education-EasyPost
- Serra de Tramuntana Trophy: Florian Sotkr - Tudor Pro Cycling Team
- Palma Trophy: Iuri Leitao - Caja Rural Seguros RGA
Read also
Iúri Leitão steals the win at Trofeo Palma for Caja Rural-Seguros! :👏 pic.twitter.com/sk2KktjDOG
— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 2, 2025

Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment







