Ben Swift 5th & Ian Bibby 10th in race three of the Challenge Majorca, the mountainous Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana
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Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde was the strongest on the mountainous third race in the Challenge Mallorca but with two riders in the top ten, it was a good day for the British. Ben Swift won the bunch sprint for 5th place, 51 seconds behind the winner whilst Ian Bibby who has a great record in early season racing in the area, showed he could race with the very best over the mountains with tenth.
The race was over 100 miles over well known climbs such as the Soller (2nd category) and Puig Major (1st) and these monster climbs all came in the final part of the race. As they hit the climbs, nine riders were clear including young Brennan Townshend who found racing with these giants of the road in the big mountains a little tough after a long time in the lead group on the road.
Ian Bibby sprints to a top 10 place watched by his dad. His 10th place shows just what he can do racing with the best in the Madison Genesis team. Thanks to Richard Bennett for the picture!
The youngster wasn’t the only one in difficulty though as Valverde and Sergio Henao went man on man along Gesink and Da Costa. The peloton were in sight though, at one stage only 30 seconds down on them but the four riders left out front kept the pressure on and stayed clear to contest the finish with Movistar having a great day with not just the race victory but 4th as well.
Results
1. Alejandro VALVERDE, Movistar Team 4:04:17
2. Sergio Luis HENAO, Sky Procycling
3. Robert GESINK, Blanco Pro Cycling Team
4. Rui Alberto FARIA DA COSTA, Movistar Team
5. Ben SWIFT, Sky Procycling 0:51 seconds
6. Przemyslaw NIEMIEC, Lampre – Merida
7. Bart DE CLERCQ, Lotto Belisol Team
8. Tony MARTIN, Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
9. Pieter WEENING, Orica GreenEDGE
10. Ian BIBBY, Madison Genesis
34. Joshua EDMONDSON, SKY PROCYCLING @ 02:33
61. HOLOHAN, Liam MADISON GENESIS Â @Â 09:59
67. Alex DOWSETT, MOVISTAR Â Â @12:48
68. Bradley WIGGINS, SKY PROCYCLING
85. Jonathan TIERNAN, SKY PROCYCLING Â @Â 12:55
86. Stuart O’GRADY, ORICA GREENEDGE
116. PETERS, Alex, MADISON GENESIS Â @Â 21:50
147. Brennan TOWNSHEND, MADISON GENESIS Â @Â 27:40
155. Jack PULLAR, MADISON GENESIS Â @Â 29:34
156. Sebastian BAYLIS, MADISON GENESIS Â @Â 29:44
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