Preview Trofeo Palma 2026 - Dylan Groenewegen the main favourite to win final Challenge Mallorrca race
Cycling
The final race of the 2026 Challenge Mallorca is the Trofeo Palma, the race best suited to the sprinters. This will be taking place on the 1st of February, starting out at 10:30CET and finishing at 14:05CET.
The Trofeo Palma is the last of the Challenge Mallorca races this year and is also the grand opportunity for the sprinters. The race ends in the city of Palma and is traditionally a day that has always fit the sprinters. Placed so early on in the cycling season and with the good weather of the Ballearic island, many of the world's best have been and won here.
Erik Zabel, Oscar Freire, Allan David, Philippe Gilbert, Robbie McEwen, Tyler Farrar, André Freipel, John Degenkolb and Marcel Kittel are only some of the names present on the list of winners... The reputation of recent winners is not as high, but it remains a race to be battled between the fast men, with Ethan Vernon, Gerben Thijssen and Iuri Leitão taking the most recent titles.
The last of the Mallorcan races features a very basic profile, with 158 almost entirely flat kilometers leading the riders into Palma, where a bunch sprint is virtually inevitable and the speeds should be very high as the peloton will be arriving fresh to the finish. Dylan Groenewegen has won one of the early-season Spanish races in a sprint and looked quite good, so in this modest field I believe he will be the winner in a regular bunch sprint.
Read also
Profile: Marratxi - Palma
Profile: Marratxi - Palma, 158 kilometers
Prediction Trofeo Palma 2026:
*** Dylan Groenewegen, Max Kanter
** Marijn van den Berg, Giovanni Lonardi
* Ivan García Cortina, Davide Donati, Arne Marit, Amaury Capiot, Andrea Vendrame, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Rui Oliveira, Mike Teunissen, Anthony Turgis, Iuri Leitão, Marco Haller
** Marijn van den Berg, Giovanni Lonardi
* Ivan García Cortina, Davide Donati, Arne Marit, Amaury Capiot, Andrea Vendrame, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Rui Oliveira, Mike Teunissen, Anthony Turgis, Iuri Leitão, Marco Haller
Pick: Dylan Groenewegen
How: Bunch sprint.
Original: Rúben Silva
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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