Heavy snow abandons the final race of the Mallorca Challenge 2012
The final day of the Mallorca Challenge has been cancelled due to the unexpected weather conditions. The cyclists were expected to cover a total distance of 160.2 kilometres during the final day of the Mallorca series.
A total number of five climbs were included in the race but heavy snow made it impossible to continue and the organisers took a wise decision of abandoning the race.
The event normally enjoys mild racing conditions and a number of cyclists start their season at the 1.1 ranked UCI event.
The top three finishers of the Tour de France 2011, Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck, kicked off their 2012 season at the Mallorca Challenge.
Lars Peter Nordhaug of Sky Pro Cycling Team won the most recent stage of the race after he sailed pass the finish-line in the quickest time of 3 hours, 55 minutes and 27 seconds.
The 151 kilometre race was scheduled on 7th February and the Norwegian convincingly won the race, leaving Rui Costa of Team Movistar 26 seconds behind at the second position.
The 27-year-old was overwhelmed with the victory, which came after a long time, and adds up to a perfect 2012 start for him.
Lars said, "I've been waiting for a victory for the team for a long time," said Nordhaug. "I've been feeling strong in a lot of races but I've been training hard this winter".
“Bobby Julich took over as my personal coach in November and he has been doing a great job. I have a lot of self-confidence at the moment. And I felt great today,” he concluded.
Luis Henao of Team Sky finished 28 seconds behind his teammate to grab the third position. Team RadioShack-Nissan riders Jakob Fulsang and Tiago Machado claimed the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
Linus Gerdemann of Team RadioShack Nissan is leading the Mountains Classifications with 27 points to himself.
Jose Herrada, Brian Bulgac, Lars Peter Nordhaug and Jurgen Van De Walle achieved the third, fourth, fifth and sixth positions, respectively.
Andy Fenn of Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step won the first two races to open his winning account for the 2012 season.
The cold spell across Europe is really causing numerous difficulties for the race organisers and it also affected last week’s Etoile de Besseges.
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