Challenge Mallorca: the director's cut ✂️
Talking to several directors ahead of Wednesday's opening race with analysis, line-ups and strategy intel
Hi Subscribers,
It’s just past 7pm CET, and I’ve just returned from a one-on-one interview with Remco Evenepoel at the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe hotel, which I’ll publish tomorrow morning.
Today’s earlier activities included checking into the race hotel, collecting the hire car, retrieving a second hire car after the first had issues, and attending the sporting directors’ meeting to gather intel and analysis ahead of Wednesday’s first race, the Trofeo Calvià. If you’re familiar with my Substack coverage, you’ll probably know that pestering directors is one of my favourite pastimes, and coming up, we’ll hear from Head of Racing at Red Bull, Oliver Cookson, Pieter Weening from Jayco AlUla, and Tudor Pro Cycling Team’s very own Claudio Cozzi.
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Unfortunately, journalists cannot attend the DS meeting, but the pre- and post-catch-ups always offer a chance to speak with those who have been busy planning their team’s strategy, selecting riders, and pinpointing key points along the race routes.
What’s really interesting about the Challenge Mallorca is that the race format means team selections don’t need to be submitted until the evening before, and rival squads never quite know exactly who they might be racing against. It brings a unique level to planning.
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Teams do have a general idea of who they’ll be up against: So Red Bull and EF Education-EasyPost can assume that Michael Matthews will start Wednesday (which he will), but rival teams have no clue which races Evenepoel is scheduled to ride…unless they subscribe to this newsletter because I’m about to confirm that the Belgian, having just spoken with him, is planning to race the Trofeo Serra Tramuntana on Friday and the Trofeo Andratx - Pollença on Saturday.
For Cookson at Red Bull, the Challenge Mallorca offers a great opportunity to introduce U23 riders into a peloton stacked with WorldTour-level talent. Often, these U23 riders are given manageable yet important tasks during races, whether it’s to aim for a break, protect a leader, or reach a specific point in the action before peeling off. This week allows Cookson and his team to, of course, pursue success, but also to provide stepping stones for the less experienced riders in the squad.