Challenge Ciclista Mallorca 2026 (January 28 - February 1)

[Devil's Elbow]

Welcome to the biggest, best-attended cycling event in January. The field is strong, the routes are a mixture of things that have worked in the past and new twists, in other words, there's plenty to look forward to here.

Preselections
(For the approximately 2 people reading this who don't know how these races work: each team submits a list of riders in advance and then pick up to seven of those for each individual race. A decent chunk of the big names is only here for the TTT).

Wednesday, January 28: Trofeo Calvià (148.3k)
Virtually the same route as last year. They've cut a kilometre from the total, and as far as I can tell it's entirely because they've increased the neutralisation by that distance. Of course, this is all assuming the route is raced as planned, as the wind forecast looks pretty rough for this day in particular.

Startlist

Starts at: 12:25
Broadcast starts at: 14:30 (around the time they hit Coll den Claret)
ETA: 16:02 - 16:13

Which means that I can quote last year's post below for the climb profiles:

Coll des Cocons (first 500 metres in neutralisation this year):

Coll des Tords:

Coll des Grau:

Coll den Claret (first ascent; final 5.0k only):

Coll den Bleda:

Coll de Sóller:

Coll den Claret (second ascent):

Torre del Verger:

Es Grau + Coll de sa Gramola:

Coll de sa Coma + Coll de n'Esteve:

Thursday, January 29: Trofeo Ses Salines - Colònia de Sant Jordi (23.8k / TTT)
The Tour having a TTT always causes a couple of races to follow suit. Ordinarily, this is exclusively the domain of stage races, but with the Challenge Mallorca stepping in this year we have a statistically pretty historic moment. The women and the juniors have had standalone TTTs away from the championships in the relatively recent past, but for the men, I believe that this is the first time since the most obscure ProTour race of them all, the Eindhoven Team Time Trial, folded after the 2007 edition (unless you count the Duo Normand, which was raced in pairs and was last held in 2019).

Startlist

Startorder (hidden in the rules section of the roadbook - this one will be updated given that Illes Baleares have folded)

Spoiler: Startorder

1- 14:00 h. REMBE RAD-NET TEAM.
2- 14:04 h. PETROLIKE.
3- 14:08 h. ILLES BALEARES ARABAY.
4- 14:12 h. SELECCIÓN ESPAÑOLA SUB 23.
5- 14:16 h. BARDIANI CSF-FAIZANE.
6- 14:20 h. TEAM FLANDERS–BALOISE.
7- 14:24 h. BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH.
8- 14:28 h. EUSKALTEL–EUSKADI.
9- 14:32 h. UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS.
10- 14:36 h. EQUIPO KERN PHARMA.
11- 14:40 h. TOTAL ENERGIES.
12- 14:44 h. TEAM POLTI VISITMALTA.
13- 14:52 h. TUDOR PROCYCLING TEAM.
14- 14:56 h. CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA.
15- 15:00 h. TEAM JAYCO ALULA.
16- 15:04 h. XDS-ASTANA TEAM.
17- 15:08 h. LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ.
18- 15:12 h. EF EDUCATION–EASYPOST.
19- 15:16 h. UNO-X MOBILITY.
20- 15:20 h. MOVISTAR.
21- 15:24 h. RED BULL-BORA–HANSGROHE.
22- 15:28 h. UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG.

Starts at: 14:00
Broadcast starts at: 14:30
ETA: 15:52 - 15:54

Friday, January 30: Trofeo Selva - Santuari de Lluc (154.3k)
A start in Selva and a finish at Santuari de Lluc, just like in 2024. However, that time the race was a descent finish from the hardest side of Puig Major, the highest and toughest climb on the island: this route is clearly easier.

Startlist

Starts at: 12:20
Broadcast starts at: 14:30 (probably on the descent of Puig Major)
ETA: 16:00 - 16:11

Spoiler: Climbs

Coll de Femenia + Coll Puig Major:

Coll de Sóller (same side as on Wednesday):

Coll de Sa Batalla:

And then 2.4 kilometres of easy descent all the way to the finish line, imagine Arrate but with a much easier climb.

Saturday, January 31: Trofeo Andratx - Mirador des Colomer (Pollença) (147.8k)
And here's the reason for the easier route on Friday: they needed Puig Major for the weekend. The combination of that and the HTF has been used in 2021 and 2023, and was also planned for last year until the riders forced a cancellation early on in the race in very wet conditions. Aside from the local circuit around Andratx at the start of the day, the route is identical to what we were supposed to see twelve months ago.

Startlist

Starts at: 12:30
Broadcast starts at: 14:30 (around the time they start Puig Major)
ETA: 16:01 - 16:11

Spoiler: Climbs

Coll de sa Gramola:

Coll des Grau:

Coll den Claret:

Coll den Bleda:

Coll Puig Major:

Mirador d'Es Colomer (only the first 3.65k):

Sunday, February 1: Trofeo Mallorca Fashion Outlet – Paseo Marítimo Palma (158.3k)
As always, the series ends with a sprint in the capital, the only opportunity for the fast men this time around. Last year, Iúri Leitão won with a finisseur attack by using the corners in the final kilometre, so naturally this year they've extended the circuit and taken out all the corners of the final kilometre. Between that and the addition of a sponsor to the name of the race, this might be the first time that a race that has remained a pan-flat sprint has become worse in all aspects.

Startlist

Starts at: 10:30
Broadcast starts at: 12:30
ETA: 14:01 - 14:10

Spoiler: Climbs

Son Gual (the one after about 13k):

 

[Samamba]

Let's hope the weather doesn't ruin it, predictions are a bit less worrying than this morning. Still rain expected and a A LOT of wind expected tho.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Always a good week for the wtf miss-timed early peaking conoisseurs. The kobs goossens and wanty, the Florian storks and tudor, the Simon carrs and ef.

Hoping for more Scaroni madness