MILRAM captain crowns outstanding team performance by winning Queen Stage of the Mallorca Challenge
Dortmund, 9. February 2010. Linus Gerdemann brought in Team MILRAM’s first win of the 2010 season in his very first race. The captain of the German ProTour team won the challenging stage of the Mallorca Challenge (February 7-11 / UCI 1.1) after 157 kilometers with start and finish in Inca. The German finished ahead of Rafael Valls (Footon-Servetto-Fuji) and Manuel Vazquez (Andalucia). MILRAM’s Thomas Rohregger and Johannes Fröhlinger rounded out the German ProTour team’s perfect performance with places eight and ten.

„That was a way to open the new season with a bang,“ said a happy MILRAM captain Linus Gerdemann at the finish. „We put in a super team performance in really bad weather. Especially in light of the very difficult conditions, we showed that we are all top motivated and have big plans for this year.“

The peloton rode the first 100 kilometers of the day together. In the first successful attack, a five-man group which included MILRAM’s Linus Gerdemann, Johannes Fröhlinger and Thomas Rohregger became the group of the day. The five quickly got away from the field and crossed the Col de Soller, a second-category-ranked climb, with a lead of about 1:30 minutes.

At the start of the second climb up the Puig Major, a category-one climb, Rafael Valls (Footon-Servetto-Fuji) attacked out of the group. The Spanird built up a 30 second lead on the descent by 3° Celsius and streaming rain. Behind him, Johannes Fröhlinger sacrificed himself nobly for his teammates and led Gerdemann and Rohregger to the top. There, Gerdemann took the initiate and caught the leader. In the final sprint for the stage win, Gerdemann gave his rivals no chance.