Robbie McEwen won the opening race for the Mallorca Challenge, the Trofeo Palma, ahead of Koldo Fernández and Oscar Freire. André Schulz was fourth, ahead of Manuel Cardoso, winner of a stage in the Tour Down Under.
The race was fast with an average speed of 49,26km/h, and was held on a circuit in the urban area of Palma de Mallorca.
McEwen looks to be back after most of his 2009 was spent in recovery following a crash in the Tour of Belgium. In Mallorca, McEwen beat some of the best sprinters around, including Freire and Tour Down Under winner André Greipel, who finished 15th. McEwen took the inside line and timed his jump on the Paseo Marítimo de Palma to perfection.
The day was quite warm and sunny, with spring-like temperatures bringing a smile to the riders' faces. In the beginning there were several attempts to break away, especially by the Andalucía-Cajasur team. Later, there jumps by individuals, like Xabier Zabalo (Orbea), Toni Tauler (Spanish National Team) or Aleksejs Saramotins (Columbia), but nobody got away more than 30 seconds from the claws of the sprinters' teams.
In the end it came to the expected sprint, where McEwen proved to be the strongest. The Australian also leads the combination classification.
Results Trofeo Palma - 116km
1 Robbie McEwen Team Katusha 2h21'16
2 Koldo Fernández Euskaltel - Euskadi
3 Óscar Freire Rabobank
4 André Schulze PSK Whirlpool - Author
5 Manuel Cardoso Footon-Servetto
6 Jorge Montenegro Andalucia Cajasur
7 José Fco Pacheco Xacobeo Galicia
8 Wim Stroetinga Team Milram
9 Robert Wagner Skil - Shimano
10 José Joaquin Rojas Caisse D'Epargne
11 Robert Förster Team Milram
12 Michele Merlo Footon-Servetto
13 Jon Aberasturi Orbea
14 Eric Baumann Team Netapp
15 André Greipel Team HTC - Columbia