"If Tadej or Remco is racing..." - Not even peak Christian Scaroni sees any chance of following cycling's best

Christian Scaroni rode to a podium finish at yesterday's Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana at the Challenge Mallorca, joining António Morgado and Remco Evenepoel on the podium. The Italian is once again starting his season on great form, but he didn't even try following the Belgian in his attack on the Coll du Sóller.

The Belgian began his season with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe at the Trofeo Ses Salines and helped the team towards success in the TTT. However Serra de Tramuntana was the first real test for Evenepoel's form, and he passed it with flying form.

According to an estimate, he rode over 7W/Kg for 16 minutes at the Coll du Sóller, an attack that only António Morgado could follow, briefly. Evenepoel then rode by himself through the flat sections of the race and continued to extend his gap all the way into the finish for a dominant and uncontested victory.

Morgado and Scaroni, two of the best puncheurs in the world, showed their best legs just as they had back in 2025. However, second place was the best he could dream of on the day. Scaroni didn't even try to follow Evenepoel when he made the race winning move with over 50 kilometers to go.

“This is the new cycling. If Tadej or Remco is racing, you don’t know when they’ll attack," Scaroni said in a post-race interview, highlighting as well the tactical aspect of the 'big two' of the mountainous one-day races. The sheer level above the rest and ability to ride solo makes an attack at any point in the race a potential decisive moment.

"When he went, I was a bit too far back. He was too strong. On the final climb it finally went well and I went for second place: the podium was the maximum possible," he admits.