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Very close to the first win

The great performance of the Lotto-Soudal team in the Andratx Trophy, the third race of the Challenge de Mallorca, left Alejandro Valverde without a win. Movistar Team worked throughout the day looking for the first victory of the season, controlling the most dangerous breaks and putting down the attempts of Sergei Firsanov (Rusvelo) and later of Christian Knees and Jonathan Dibben, both of Team Sky.

The final climb to Mirador del Colomer culminated with the triumph of the Belgian Tim Wellens, the winner also this friday of the Trophy Serra de Tramuntana. Valverde, who pulled the group in the final meters, was very close to avoiding the third triumph of Lotto-Soudal, that also added the third and the fourth place with Tiesj Benoot and Louis Vervaeke.

Quotes: “Obviously it’s always sad to come close to a victory, especially when it could be the first one this year, but I’m satisfied to see my legs rolling well. I was really close to chase Wellens down. When he went off the front, I was a bit behind into the group, trying to get some cover because the head winds were so strong. I tried to jump across, but I was taking the whole group on my slipstream. Then, with 600 meters to go, I had no choice but pushing on full steam and start closing the gap, but it was a bit too late. As I said before, my thoughts from the last two days remain optimistic – it’s all gone well, and I came close to victory here, which always keeps morale high”.

Photo: Movistar Team