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Australian road cyclist Leigh Howard has scored his first win of the season, taking out the second round of the Challenge Mallorca series.
Howard capitalised on some strong work from his Orica-GreenEDGE teammates to win the 167km Trofeo Migjorn race.
“We knew it would be a crazy, hectic and potentially dangerous sprint,” Howard said in a team statement.
“I’m glad we had the (course) preview – it allowed us to formulate a plan that we stuck to almost to a `T’.
“I came out on top because everyone did their jobs.
“The team has given me a great opportunity here and put a lot of faith in me – it’s nice to repay them.”
Teammate Christian Meier was part of a small breakaway that dominated the race.
GreenEDGE helped chase down the break, despite Meier’s presence, because they wanted to drive a punishing pace to the finish.
“We wanted to make the race hard and come to the finish with a small field to reduce the danger in the sprint,” said team director Neil Stephens.
“If we came to the line with 150 guys fighting for wheels, it would have been really dangerous.
“Our goal was to have only 30 or 40 riders contesting the sprint.”
The plan worked, with Mitch Docker leading out Howard for the final sprint.
He won ahead of American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) and Spaniard Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar).
Meier was also rewarded for his efforts, with race organisers awarding him the most aggressive rider prize.
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