26/01/2024

Lennert van Eetvelt wins Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana - Belgian outsprints Vlasov and McNulty

The Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana delivered when it came to the climbers showing off their form in late January. Lennert van Eetvelt put on a strong performance to win the third race of the Challenge Mallorca.

A group of eight riders was formed as the day's breakaway, in a day where the speeds were very fast throughout the whole day. Louis Leidert, Dylan Vandenstorme, Alexis Renard, Samuel Boardman, Gregor Mühlberger, Andrea Garosio, Baptiste Planckaert and Sebastián Mora were the figures that stayed out in front before action kicked off.

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The group was caught with 35 kilometers to go, and in the descent leading to the climb of the Puig Maior EF Education-EasyPost put in a serious dig and split the race to bits. Five out of the ten riders who went clear were from the American team who then forced the pace in the early kilometers of the main climb of the day.

A few riders bridged across, but the group exploded once again as Giovanni Aleotti launched Aleksandr Vlasov into a strong attack. The Russian was followed by Brandon McNulty and Lennert van Eetvelt. Tobias Johannessen briefly responded, but was left chasing alongside Ilan van Wilder and Yannis Voisard of Tudor Pro Cycling.

Voisard would race to fourth place, going solo out of the chasing group that had since seen several riders getting back together, however out front the trio worked together to hold off the rest. It'd be in a sprint that the race was to be decided. Brandon McNulty led out the sprint, but it proved to be the wrong decision, as Lennert van Eetvelt overtook him and was the strong winner on the day. McNulty had to settle for another third spot, as Aleksandr Vlasov was second at the finish line.