Belgian wins first race of Balearic island series after long break from Perrig Quémeneur
Kenny Dehaes (Lotto-Belisol) sprinted to victory in the Trofeo Palma de Mallorca at the head of a mass bunch sprint, to open the 2013 Trofeo Mallorca series. The 28-year-old Belgian was the fastest at the end of the 116km race, based on ten laps of a flat, 11.6km circuit around Palma’s harbour seafront, beating Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) and Ben Swift (Team Sky) into second an third.
“We knew this stage usually ends with a bunch sprint, so before the race we agreed that we would give me a chance, which turned out perfectly,” explained Dehaes afterwards. “After a turn of 180 degrees we had a headwind for the last two kilometres, so we had to wait pretty long. Dennis Vanendert got us perfectly to that turn, but then I lost Vicente Reynes.
“At 800 meters before the finish I was rather far back, but Gaëtan Bille did a brilliant effort to bring me back in front, where I could place myself in the wheel of Farrar,” Dehaes continued. “I felt someone was coming from the left, so I decided to start sprinting, because In the past I sometimes let others close me in. And luckily I could hold on; the puzzle pieces fell perfectly into place.”
The victory in Palma was Dehaes’ first for more than four years, and his first for his current team; his previous victories came in the colours of Topsport Vlaanderen.
“It has been a while since I could win a UCI race,” he confirmed. “In 2008 I won a stage in the Four Days of Dunkerque and in the Tour of Belgium. It pleases me a lot to win today. In the first stage of the Tour de San Luis I finished ninth, but I had the feeling it could have been more. Of course it has to do a lot with confidence and once you get a first win, you can easier win a second. I keep on working hard and I hope to repeat a season like 2008, I would sign immediately for it.”
The race was animated by an attack from Perrig Quémeneur (Europcar), who escaped early in the second of the ten laps, who managed to stay away for most of the race. He was joined in the third lap by Francisco Moreno (Caja Rural), and there were also moves from Equipo Euskadi riders Aritz Bagues and Mikel Aristi, who took turns to try to bridge across.
The leading pair’s advantage reached a maximum of 3’50”, before the teams of the sprinters began to chase them down. Quémeneur went alone in the latter stages, leaving Moreno behind, but he was caught with 28km to go.
Result Trofeo Palma de Mallorca
1. Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
2. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Sharp
3. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
4. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Merida
5. Francesco Ventoso (Spa) Movistar Team
6. José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
7. Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis
8. Victor Manakov (Rus) RusVelo
9. Yoeri Havik (Ned) Cyclingteam De Rijke-Shanks
10. Artur Ershov (Rus) RusVelo