Mallorca: Rojas on Top at Deia

Surprise sprint at Trofeo Deia Hard to believe that this stage ended in a sprint. In fact, it was so hard to believe that the winner wasn't even sure that he won.

Jose Joaquin Rojas, clear winner of an uphill bunch sprint, didn't even put his arms in the air because he thought that there may have been a breakaway that went clear before him. Needless to say, he was elated when he heard the news.

But I can see why he was confused, as there was a whole mess of riders attacking at the end.

After the daily breakaway containing Philippe Gilbert was caught around the 25 km mark, the attacks came from every angle. The lead group was slimmed down to around 50 riders as the field hit the climbs because of the constant acceleration to bring riders back into the bunch.

Many of the notables were up front today lurking to attack, but the sprint teams (and especially Rojas's Movistar squad) worked very well to keep things together.
Andy Schleck, on the other hand, isn't quite on form yet and decided to take it easy today. I'm sure he wasn't bored though, as this Mallorca countryside is some of the most picturesque of any event on the circuit.

But back to the race...

Rojas, with the help of teammate Ventoso (who finished 6th), got into prime position on the final bend and then simply pulled away from the rest of the sprinting field on the inclined sprint.

Uphill sprints are a rarity these days, and it's always interesting to see which of the fast men aren't just fast on the flats. Plus, the fact that sprinters like Rojas were even able to keep with the main group over the climbs today is impressive.

Final Podium
1. Jose Joaquin Rojas
2. Gorka Izagirre
3. Juan Jose Acebo

other notables

4. Sebastien Langeveld
5. Tony Martin
6. Francisco Ventoso
7. Ryder Hesjedal
8. Danilo Di Luca
11. Maxime Monfort
13. Ben Hermans
21. Frank Schleck
22. Rafael Valls
28. Peter Velits
32. Tejay Van Garderen
35. Luis Leon Sanchez -9
36. Tom Danielson
52. Xavier Tondo -43
86. Philippe Gilbert -4:32
90. Joaquin Rodriguez
108. Denis Menchov
137. Andy Schleck -13:13

Trofeo Magaluf
Yikes, another tough one here. I spy 6 punishing climbs. The race will likely be down to a small group of around 30/40 by the time the field hits Soller and then I imagine the attacking will probably be done over the summit of Soller and the following climb, the Clarat.