Challenge Mallorca puts the popular cycling island in the spotlight with a series of one-day races

The Challenge Mallorca was held for the first time in 1992, then in the first week of March. The founders of the race were the entrepreneurs and cycling enthusiasts Joan Serra, Juan Trobat, Pedro Ramis and Gabriel Saura, who wanted to put the island of Mallorca back on the map through cycling. CyclingFlits takes you into the history of this competition series.

The format of the first edition was a series of five one-day races that also counted towards a general classification – think of it as a stage race in which substitutions are allowed, but only riders who contest all races participate in the classification. Kenneth Weltz, Juan-Carlos Gonzalez, Alfonso Gutierrez (twice) and Neil Stephens won the individual competitions, but Javier Murguialday became the first overall winner.

The top 10 in the rankings finished in the same time, after which the number of points was decisive. The Spanish rider of Amaya Seguros also won the second stage of the Tour de France over the Col de Marie-Blanque to Pau later that year. His son Jokin Murguialday has also taken up cycling and rides for Caja Rural-Seguros RGA.

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The Challenge Mallorca became a permanent fixture on the international cycling calendar and the classification was won four times by Francisco Cabello, winner of a Tour stage in 1994, and twice by Laurent Jalabert, Alejandro Valverde and Antonio Colom. Alex Zülle, Léon van Bon, Mathew Hayman, Luis León Sánchez and Philippe Gilbert are also on the Challenge Mallorca list of achievements.

Since 2010, the general classification has no longer been drawn up and the multi-day event is ‘only’ a series of one-day competitions.

From five to four, and back to five again
In the 2010s, the number of competition days of the Challenge Mallorca was reduced from five to four due to financial problems, but the organization managed to stay afloat, partly thanks to the tourist office of the popular island. Due to the corona crisis, there was no edition in 2021, after which the series returned in 2022 as another five-day event.

In total, a course from the Mallorca Challenge had a Dutch winner nine times: Jeroen Blijlevens won three times in 1995, 1996 and 1999, Michael Boogerd, Erik Dekker, Thomas Dekker, Godert de Leeuw and Remmert Wielinga were all successful once. Marijn van den Berg followed in their footsteps in 2023 by winning the Trofeo Ses Salines-Alcudia.

Twenty times a Belgian crossed the finish line first. Tim Wellens had the most success with five victories in 2017 (2x), 2018, 2019 and 2022. Tom Steels achieved three victories, Philippe Gilbert and Gert Steegmans were the best twice, while Kenny Dehaes, Ben Hermans, Gianni Meersman, Hendrik Van Dyck, Peter Van Petegem and Arnaud De Lie have one victory on their list.

Kobe Goossens made a splash in 2023 by winning no fewer than two rounds of the Challenge Mallorca in a row early in the season. With victories in the Trofeo Pollença and the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, the Belgian was the first rider since Matteo Moschetti (who won two races in the series in 2020) to achieve two victories in Mallorca.

Another novelty was added in 2024 with the introduction of three one-day competitions for women, prior to the men’s competition series. The organization’s portfolio was significantly expanded with the Trofeo Calvià Femina, the Trofeo Palma Femina and the Trofeo Ses Salines Femina.

Winners of the last ten editions of Challenge Mallorca
2023: Rui Costa – Marijn van den Berg – Kobe Goossens – Kobe Goossens – Ethan Vernon
2022: Brandon McNulty – Biniyam Girmay – Tim Wellens – Alejandro Valverde – Arnaud De Lie
2021: Not held due to the corona crisis
2020: Matteo Moschetti – Emanuel Buchmann – Marc Soler – Matteo Moschetti
2019: Jesus Herrada – Emanuel Buchmann – Tim Wellens – Marcel Kittel
2018: John Degenkolb – Tim Wellens – Tom Skujin – John Degenkolb
2017: André Greipel – Tim Wellens – Tim Wellens – Daniel McLay
2016: André Greipel – Gianluca Brambilla – Fabian Cancellara – André Greipel
2015: Matteo Pelucchi – Steve Cummings – Alejandro Valverde – Matteo Pelucchi
2014: Sacha Modolo – Sacha Modolo – Michal Kwiatkowski – Gianni Meersman