 | |
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | Early February |
| Region | Majorca, Spain |
| English name | Tour of Majorca |
| Local name(s) | Volta a Mallorca(in Catalan) Vuelta a Mallorca(in Spanish) |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI Europe Tour |
| Type | One-day |
| Web site | vueltamallorca |
| History | |
| First edition | 1992 (1992) |
| Editions | 33 (as of 2024) |
| First winner |  Javier Murguialday (ESP) |
| Most wins | Francisco Cabello (ESP) (3 wins) |
| Most recent | Antonio Colom (ESP) (2009, no overall winner classification since) |
TheChallenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca (English:Tour of Majorca,Catalan:Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one dayroad bicycle races held on the Spanish island ofMallorca in late January or early February. The event is used as an early season preparatory event by many of the top teams in readiness for the bigger races later in the season. The five races are ranked 1.1 on theUCI Europe Tour.
Although the race styles itself as the "Tour of Majorca" it has never been allowed to be classed as a multi day stage race by the sports governing body theUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI) because the race rules allows riders not to participate on certain days. However, there is an unofficial overall classification winner taken on total time over five days. This laid back attitude by the race organisers makes the race popular with team managers who can bring a large squad (sometimes as many as 20 riders) and interchange them over the five days. Apart from the overall classification, there are the usual Mountains, Points and Sprints competitions associated with any stage race. There is also a competition for the top Majorcan based rider; in the past this has been won byVicente Reynès,Antonio Colóm andAntonio Tauler.
The first day of racing is the Trofeo Mallorca, a criterium around the streets ofPalma. The second day is the Trofeo Cala Millor, sometimes called the TrofeoAlcúdia. These two opening days are run over a fairly flat course and result in a sprint finish. The TrofeoPollença (day three) and TrofeoSóller (day four) are contested over a more hilly course using the climbs of the Col de Sóller (501 metres) and the Col de Puig Major (850 metres) amongst others on the route. These two hilly days usually decide the outcome of the unofficial overall classification over the five days. The final days racing is the TrofeoCalvià which takes place on an undulating course over a series of small climbs.
Top class riders such asLaurent Jalabert,Alex Zülle andAlejandro Valverde have won the overall classification at the Vuelta a Mallorca; Spanish rider Francesco Cabello, who rode for theKelme team throughout his career, holds the record for the most victories, taking three overall victories in Majorca in 1996, 2000 and 2002. In 2004 Colóm became the first rider who was a native of the island of Majorca to take the overall classification.
The Vuelta a Mallorca receives heavy sponsorship from Tourism section of the local Majorcan government (Govern de la Illes Balears). The race was first held in 1992 and for the first three years was just open to Spanish teams, however in 1995 foreign squads were invited for the first time with teams such asTelekom andTVM attending. In 1998 Léon van Bon of the DutchRabobank squad became the first overall winner riding for a non Spanish team.
