With a strong finishing kick Mallorcan amateur cyclist Alejaandro Martinez (Velo-Probuild) won his first Mallorca 312km OK Mobility gran fondo with a time of 9:05:53 on Saturday 29 April. It is the amateur’s biggest victory to-date and follows on the heels of also winning the Three Days of Mallorca. Unfortunately, Belgian Koen Van Geyt, 9:05:56, was denied the victory in the last few meters after a long, hard and epic battle. Six minutes later Roman Locher, 9:12:12, claimed the final podium position.

Using his intimate knowledge of the roads and terrain helped Martinez pull off his biggest win ever. “Being able to cross the Serra Tramuntana with closed traffic is great fun, I will not forget the experience of going down Puig Major without cars. I recommend everyone to come to Mallorca 312 OK Mobility because it is, without a doubt, one of the best events in the world,” an elated Martinez said afterwards.

In the women’s 312km category, the Belgian cyclist Katleen Luypaert was the fastest finisher with a time of 10:12:56. Ivonne Margraf crossed the finish line in second position at 10:32:51. In third place was the Spanish cyclist Pilar Mansilla with a time 11:16:14.

Over the distance of 167km, the fastest men and women were also locals from Mallorca: Sergio Llull with a time of 4:42:56 and Ainhoa Moreno with 5:16:43. The men’s podium was filled with two other Mallorcans after a hard-fought sprint from a small group. Second was Joan Batle and third Abdon Vich, both with the same time of 4:48:46. In the women’s category, after Moreno came Florizoone Vernique with a time of 5:24:22, while third place went to Martyna Wisniewska with a time of 5:41:14.

In the 225km event, paracyclist Patrick Hagenaars prevailed with a total time of 6:33:11, ahead of Chabert Hans who arrived five minutes later with a time of 6:38:56 and, in third position was Hornuss Aurelien at 6:41:13.

The fastest women in the 225 distance were Marie Lepoutre with a time of 8:21:42, ahead of Carine Bauer, 8:26:36, and the Nuria Tauler, 8:28:49, daughter of the former professional cyclist Toni Tauler.

Over 8000 cyclists made the pilgrimage to Spain’s Balearic Islands to participate in the Mallorca 312, including ex-professionals Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Contador, Ivan Basso, Sean Kelly, Bobby Julich, Joseba Beloki, Pedro Horrillo, Oscar Pereiro and Oscar Freire. 

Though, not everyone was pleased with the event. Via Facebook participant lan Laverie posted, “No coke at many of the stops, sandwiches were all stale. Did the event 11 years ago which was fantastic, sorry I won’t be back, very poorly run ☹️☹️☹️.”

Photo Credit: IB3

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