One day after the first victory of the season thanks to Biniam Girmay in the Trofeo Alcudia, the men directed by Aike Visbeek and Pieter Vanspeybrouck were again in the mix for the win in the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana (1.1, 28/01), the third of five one day races of the Mallorca Challenge. Just like on Wednesday in the Trofeo Calvia in which he obtained a seventh place, Belgian climber Kobe Goossens distinguished himself on a particularly hilly parcours in the Mallorcan mountain range. He finished fifth in a sprint with eight strong riders in Lloseta.
Four difficult climbs on the parcours of 158 kilometer, the Coll de Femenies, Coll de Orient, Coll de Soller and Coll de Puig Major offered the eight riders the possibility to distance their competitors. Just like on Wednesday, Goossens raced alongside Tim Wellens (Lotto), Alejandro Valverde and others towards the top of the Puig Major 33 kilometer before the finish line.
The gap to the first chasers never ceased to grow during the downhill towards the finish and despite several attacks, the eight sprinted for the victory. With his fifth place, the 25 year old took his best result in a one day race, improving his performance from two days before. His teammate Jan Bakelants finished in the first chasing group in sixteenth place.
Of course it is nice to achieve a good result, but I’m especially proud that I was able to compete with the top riders both on Wednesday and today. It is the first time that I was able to follow them on longer climbs and this gives me a lot of confidence. Taking up a role as a team leader was also pretty new to me. When six riders do all they can to bring you in the best possible conditions to the foot of the climbs, this really gives you a boost. It is very nice to have the confidence of experienced guys like Alexander Kristoff, Jan Bakelants or Adrien Petit. So I’m eager to repeat this tomorrow and to work for the sprinters on Sunday!
