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16th Challenge Volta a Mallorca - 1.1 (x5) - 1.1
Spain, February 11-15, 2007
2006 results Stage List Preview Start List Past winners
The Stages
- Stage 1 - February 11: Trofeo Mallorca (1.1), Palma - Palma, 100 km
- Stage 2 - February 12: Trofeo Cala Millor-Cala Bona (1.1), Cala Millor - Cala Bona, 159.4 km
- Stage 3 - February 13: Trofeo Pollença (1.1), Pollença - Mirador Des Colomer, 149.6 km
- Stage 4 - February 14: Trofeo Sóller (1.1), Sóller - Port de Sóller, 150.6 km
- Stage 5 - February 15: Trofeo Calvia (1.1), Magalluf - Palmanova, 149.3 km
Galvez to be remembered as big names get 2007 season underway
Strong lineup for Challenge Volta a Mallorca
By Shane Stokes
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Some of the world's top professionals will get their seasons underway over the next few days in the Challenge Volta a Mallorca, five 1.1 events linked by an overall classification. The format of the race allows the riders to pick and choose which races to ride, ensuring a huge pool of entrants from some of the biggest teams in the sport.
The lineup is headed by last year's victor David Bernabeu, who will be fronting the Fuerteventura-Canarias team born out of the ashes of the Communidad Valenciana squad. Other big names include Alejandro Valverde and Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne), Tom Boonen and Peter Van Petegem (Quickstep Innergetic), Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Erik Zabel (Milram), Stefan Schumacher and 2006 stage winner David Kopp (Gerolsteiner), David Millar (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Patrik Sinkewitz (T-Mobile) and Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas).
In all 11 ProTour squads are part of the 21 team lineup, namely Astana, Caisse d'Epargne, Rabobank, Quickstep Innergetic, T-Mobile, Milram, Liquigas, Discovery Channel, Saunier Duval-Prodir, Euskaltel-Euskadi and Gerolsteiner.
The other squads are Fuerteventura-Canarias, Agritubel, Andalucia-Cajasur, Karpin-Galicia, Relax-Gam, Grupo Nicolas Mateos, Orbea, Viña Magna-Cropu, Extremadura-Spiuk and Selecion Española Pista.
The opening stage will be marked by a short ceremony in memory of the Majorcan sprinter Isaac Galvez, who won the first two stages last year but was tragically killed in an accident during the Gent six day in November. His Caisse d'Epargne team are here and will be hoping to pay tribute to him with a win or two this week.
Galvez's two brothers will also be in attendance at the start of the race and will be presented with a plaque commemorating the world Madison champion. His long-time racing partner Joan Llaneras will take part in the race on a special Spanish track team selection which has been entered.
The event gets underway on Sunday with a circuit race along the seafront of Palma de Mallorca, the riders covering ten laps of the ten kilometre back and forward course. Isaac Galvez took the first of his consecutive wins here last year and so his Caisse d'Epargne team-mates will doubtlessly try to land the stage win, even if their chances have been dented slightly by illnesses affecting some of the team.
The stage will feature Meta Volante (hotspot) sprints on laps two and six and is almost completely flat.
Day two takes the riders 159.7 kilometres from Cala Millor to the Cala Bona, both nearby in the east of the island. After the start the riders head north and then west to Artá, where they drop down the map to Manacor, Felanitx and over to Llucmajor. From there they double back along the same road to Felanitx, then turn back towards the coast and up towards the finish.
Two Meta Volantes feature in the first 80 km, with the fourth category climbs of s'Epinagar and Son Tovell appearing inside the final 35 km.
Things get decidedly tougher on stage three from Pollença to Port de Pollença. Following Meta Volantes sprints at km 26 and km 79.5, the peloton is likely to be put under pressure on the second category Coll de Soller and, most likely, rupture on the first category Puig Major. The summit is 49 kilometres from the finish and so racing should be flat out from here to the summit of the second category es Colomer, where the finish is located.
Day four from Sóller is another one for the good climbers to try to make an impression. Four second category climbs lie in wait, Can Costa (17.7 km), two ascents of the Coll de sa Batalla (km 71.4 and km 131.7) and then the reverse side of Puig Major (148.2 km) before the drop down to the finish in Port de Sóller (164.3 km).
If that wasn't enough to spice things up, a Meta Volante sprint will be held just before the start of the two ascents up the Coll de sa Batalla.
Things then all come to a crescendo on the fifth stage from Magaluf to Palmanova. Two third cat climbs and three seconds category ascents give this a very lumpy profile and ensure that a tough 147.6 kilometres lie between the overnight leader and his general classification success.
A Meta Volantes sprint four kilometres after start gets things moving along nicely before the riders encounter the second category sa Gramola (km 22.4) and third category Coll d'en Claret (km 52). The day's second Meta Volantes follows some 12 kilometres later, with the second category Coll de Soller topping out a further twenty kilometres on.
From there just two climbs remain in the 2007 Challenge Mallorca – the second cat Coll d'en Claret (km 111.1) and the third cat Coll des Tords (km 134.1) – but this could be enough to effect a change in the final standings, making for a nervous end to the race.
Start list
Fuerteventura-Canarias Astana
1 David Bernabeu (Spa) 16 Antonio Colom (Spa)
2 Iker Flores (Spa) 17 Assan Bazayev (Kaz)
3 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) 18 Thomas Frei (Swi)
4 David Belda (Spa) 19 Koen De Kort (Ned)
5 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) 20 Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz)
6 Vicente Ballester (Spa) 21 Serguei Ivanov (Rus)
7 Adrián Palomares (Spa) 22 Maxim Gourov (Kaz)
8 Manuel Lloret (Spa) 23 Benoît Joachim (Lux)
9 David Muñoz (Spa) 24 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus)
10 Javier Cherro (Spa) 25 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)
11 Rodrigo García (Spa) 26 Michael Schär (Swi)
12 José Bonilla (Crc) 27 Alexey Kolessov (Kaz)
13 Antonio Piedra (Spa) 28 Julien Mazet (Fra)
14 Dailos Diaz Armas (Spa) 29 Steve Morabito (Swi)
30 José Antonio Redondo (Spa)
31 Gregory Rast (Swi)
32 Igor Abakoumov (Bel)
33 Evgeniy Sladkov (Kaz)
34 Aaron Kemps (Aus)
35 Andrey Mizourov (Kaz)
36 Daniel Navarro (Spa)
Caisse d'Epargne Rabobank
38 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) 58 Oscar Freire (Spa)
39 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) 59 Michael Boogerd (Ned)
40 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) 60 Marc De Maar (Ned)
41 Florent Brard (Fra) 61 Thomas Dekker (Ned)
42 Pablo Lastras (Spa) 62 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa)
43 Marco Fertonani (Ita) 63 Rick Flens (Ned)
44 Alexei Markov (Rus) 64 Pedro Horrillo (Spa)
45 Imanol Erviti (Spa) 65 Dmitry Kozontchouk (Rus)
46 Mathieu Perget (Fra) 66 Koos Moerenhout (Ned)
47 Aitor Pérez Arrieta (Spa) 67 Leon Van Bon (Ned)
48 Joan Horrach (Spa) 68 Joost Posthuma (Ned)
49 Francisco Pérez (Spa) 69 Kai Reus (Ned)
50 Sébastien Portal (Fra) 70 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned)
51 Vicente Reynes (Spa) 71 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned)
52 Iván Gutiérrez (Spa) 72 William Walker (Aus)
53 José Joaquín Rojas (Spa) 73 Pieter Weening (Ned)
54 David López García (Spa) 74 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned)
55 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) 75 Gerben Löwik (Ned)
56 Luis León Sánchez (Spa)
Quickstep-Innergetic T-Mobile
77 Tom Boonen (Bel) 91 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita)
78 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) 92 Eric Baumann (Ger)
79 Serge Baguet (Bel) 93 Marcus Burghardt (Ger)
80 Carlos Barredo (Spa) 94 Scott Davis (Aus)
81 Dmitry Grabovskiy (Ukr) 95 Bernhard Eisel (Aut)
82 Juan Manuel Gárate (Spa) 96 Linus Gerdemann (Ger)
83 Alessandro Proni (Ita) 97 Bert Grabsch (Ger)
84 Ivan Santaromita (Swi) 98 Andreas Klier (Ger)
85 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) 99 Servais Knaven (Ned)
86 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) 100 André Korff (Ger)
87 Davide Viganò (Ita) 101 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger)
88 Wouter Weylandt (Bel) 102 Thomas Ziegler (Ger)
89 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) 103 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita)
Milram Liquigas
105 Erik Zabel (Ger) 118 Danilo Di Luca (Ita)
106 Ralf Grabsch (Ger) 119 Michael Albasini (Swi)
107 Dennis Haueisen (Ger) 120 Patrick Calcagni (Swi)
108 Matej Jurco (Svk) 121 Murilo Fischer (Bra)
109 Christian Knees (Ger) 122 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita)
110 Martin Müller (Swi) 123 Aleksandr Kuschynski (Blr)
111 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) 124 Michael Albasini (Swi)
112 Björn Schröder (Ger) 125 Filippo Pozzato (Ita)
113 Sebastian Schwager (Ger) 126 Manuel Quinziato (Ita)
114 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) 127 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita)
115 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) 128 Guido Trenti (USA)
116 Niki Terpstra (Ned) 129 Luca Paolini (Ita)
130 Magnus Backstedt (Swe)
Discovery Channel Saunier Duval-Prodir
131 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) 145 Gilberto Simoni (Ita)
132 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) 146 Arkaitz Durán (Spa)
133 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) 147 Alberto Fernández De La Puebla (Spa)
134 Alberto Contador (Spa) 148 Ángel Gómez Gómez (Spa)
135 Steve Cummings (GBr) 149 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi)
136 Stijn Devolder (Bel) 150 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa)
137 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) 151 Carlos Zarate (Spa)
138 Trent Lowe (Aus) 152 Raúl Alarcón (Spa)
139 Egoi Martínez (Spa) 153 Iban Mayo (Spa)
140 Gianni Meersman (Bel) 154 David Millar (GBr)
141 Benjamin Noval (Spa) 155 Iker Camaño (Spa)
142 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) 156 Juan José Cobo (Spa)
143 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) 157 David De La Fuente (Spa)
158 Jesús Del Nero (Spa)
159 Remmert Wielinga (Ned)
Euskaltel-Euskadi Gerolsteiner
161 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) 176 Stefan Schumacher (Ger)
162 Beñat Albizuri (Spa) 177 Robert Förster (Ger)
163 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) 178 Johannes Frohlinger (Ger)
164 Jorge Azanza (Spa) 179 Oscar Gatto (Ita)
165 Koldo Fernández (Spa) 180 Heinrich Haussler (Ger)
166 Aitor Hernández (Spa) 181 Tim Klinger (Ger)
167 Iban Iriondo (Spa) 182 David Kopp (Ger)
168 Anton Luengo (Spa) 183 Sebastian Lang (Ger)
169 Ivan Mayoz (Spa) 184 Matthias Russ (Ger)
170 Aketza Peña (Spa) 185 Ronny Scholz (Ger)
171 Alan Pérez (Spa) 186 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned)
172 Unai Uribarri (Spa) 187 Marcel Strauss (Swi)
173 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) 188 Carlo Westphal (Ger)
174 Markel Irizar (Spa) 189 Beat Zberg (Swi)
190 Marcus Zberg (Swi)
191 Thomas Fothen (Ger)
Agritubel Andalucia-Cayasur
193 Juan Miguel Mercado (Spa) 202 Francisco Lara (Spa)
194 Manuel Calvente (Spa) 203 Antonio Olmo (Spa)
195 Moisés Dueñas (Spa) 204 Claudio Casas (Spa)
196 Eduardo Gonzalo (Spa) 205 Francisco Jose Martinez (Spa)
197 Mikel Gaztañaga Echeverria (Spa) 206 Jesus Rosendo (Spa)
198 José Alberto Martínez (Spa) 207 Jorge Ferrío (Spa)
199 Linas Balciunas (Ltu) 208 José Antonio López (Spa)
200 Samuel Plouhinec (Fra) 209 José Luis Carrasco (Spa)
210 José Ruiz (Spa)
211 Juan Carlos Carinena (Spa)
212 Juan Olmo (Spa)
213 Luis Pérez (Spa)
214 Luis Pérez (Spa)
215 Manuel Ortega (Spa)
216 Manuel Váquez (Spa)
Karpin-Galicia Relax-GAM
218 Isidro Nozal (Spa) 233 Francisco Mancebo (Spa)
219 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) 234 Nacor Burgos (Spa)
220 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) 235 Mario De Sárraga (Spa)
221 Carlos Castaño (Spa) 236 Ángel Vallejo (Spa)
222 David Garcia (Spa) 237 Denis Kudashev (Rus)
223 Ramon Troncoso (Spa) 238 José Miguel Elías (Spa)
224 Luis Fernández (Spa) 239 Jorge García (Spa)
225 Eladio Jiménez (Spa) 240 Raul García de Mateo (Spa)
226 Gonzalo Rabunal (Spa) 241 Jesús Hernández (Spa)
227 Enrique Salgueiro (Spa) 242 Oscar Sevilla (Spa)
228 Gustavo Dominguez (Spa) 243 Francisco José Terciado (Spa)
229 Gaizka Lasa Larraya (Spa) 244 Daniel Moreno (Spa)
230 David Abal Diego (Spa) 245 Oscar García-Casarrubios (Spa)
231 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) 246 José Rafael Martínez (Spa)
247 Julián Sánchez (Spa)
248 Ángel Vicioso (Spa)
249 Joaquin Sobrino Martinez (Spa)
250 Jan Hruska (Cze)
251 Santiago Perez (Spa)
252 Jorge Perez (Spa)
Grupo Nicolás Mateos Orbea-Laukiz F.T.
254 Sergio Escobar (Spa) 267 Josu Agirre Aseginolaza (Spa)
255 Miguel Ochoa (Spa) 268 Xabat Ochotorena (Spa)
256 Egoitz Murgoitio (Spa) 269 Brad Armstrong (USA)
257 Javier Etxarri Marin (Spa) 270 Inigo Lazkano Iriondo (Spa)
258 DDiego Milan Jimenez (Spa) 271 Ivan Melero Coco (Spa)
259 Pablo De Pedro Garcia (Spa) 272 Iker Mezo Askargorta (Spa)
260 273 Roberto Barrientos (Spa)
261 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) 274 Aaron Villegas Trapaga (Spa)
262 José Antonio Banos Ballester (Spa) 275 Julen Zubero (Spa)
263 Vicente Peiro Marqueno (Spa) 276 Joseba Zumeta Etxabe (Spa)
264 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) 277 Javier Aramendia Lorente (Spa)
265 Gorka Amuriza Gumucio (Spa) 278 Asier Fernandez Mateos (Spa)
279 Igor Romero Etxebarria (Spa)
280 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa)
281 David Martin Velasco (Spa)
Viña Magna-Cropu Extremadura-Spiuk
283 Diego Gallego Arnaiz (Spa) 294 Israel Perez Rodriguez (Spa)
284 Jesús Tendero (Spa) 295 Fernando Torres (Spa)
285 Juan José Abril (Spa) 296 Jesus Ramirez Torres (Spa)
286 Ivan Gilmartin (Spa) 297 Alfonso Rodriguez Garcia (Spa)
287 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) 298 Josu Mondelo (Spa)
288 Enrique Mata Cabello (Spa) 299 Ángel Rodriguez (Spa)
289 Luis Roberto Alvarez Martin (Spa) 300 Pedro Romero Ocampo (Spa)
290 Alberto Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) 301 Jose Antonio Arroyo Ramirez (Spa)
291 Carlos Torrent (Spa) 302 Juan Carlos Fernández (Spa)
292 David Martin Peribanes (Spa) 303 Javier Moreno (Spa)
304 Ignacio Sarabia Diaz (Mex)
Selección Española De Pista
306 Joan Llaneras (Spa)
307 David Muntaner (Spa)
308 Toni Tauler (Spa)
309 Miquel Alzamora (Spa)
310 Unai Elorriaga (Spa)
311 Asier Maeztu (Spa)
Past winners
2006 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2005 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears 2004 Antonio Colom (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 2003 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 2002 Francisco Cabello (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 2001 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 2000 Francisco Cabello (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 1999 José Luis Rebollo (Spa) ONCE - Deutsche Bank 1998 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Mapei-Bricobi 1997 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONCE 1996 Francisco Cabello (Spa) ONCE 1995 Alex Zülle (Swi) ONCE 1994 David García (Spa) Banesto 1993 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONCE 1992 Javier Murguialday (Spa) Lotus Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
