The Women’s Challenge Mallorca always forces teams to be sharp early, not because of one defining mountain or a single decisive stage, but because the racing comes in compact one-day blocks where positioning, clarity of roles and the ability to adapt matter immediately. Trofeo Llucmajor, due to take place this weekend on 25 January, fits that logic perfectly. It is a new name on the calendar, but it arrives with familiar expectations, and it will still reward the teams that treat Mallorca as a set of targeted opportunities rather than a gentle opening week.
What makes Trofeo Llucmajor particularly interesting is that it effectively takes the place of the Trofeo Palma, won by Marlen Reusser last year, within the series. That creates a natural temptation to compare, especially if the parcours retains a broadly similar shape and rhythm, but it is not a clean like-for-like swap. Even small changes in start and finish locations, road widths, wind exposure, and the final run-in can shift the race from a controlled sprint day into something that fragments, and the simple fact that the event history is now split between two names makes any direct trend line harder to trust.
That uncertainty is part of the appeal. Some teams will arrive with a clear sprint plan and a strong sense of how to manage the final 20 kilometres. Others will view an early-season one-day race as an opportunity to apply pressure, force selections, and put rivals into uncomfortable decisions before the spring calendar truly accelerates. In Mallorca, those approaches often collide in a way that feels more urgent than a typical January race, because there is less time to correct mistakes the next day, and the start lists can change as teams rotate riders through the week.
Trofeo Llucmajor should therefore be read as a race about intent as much as terrain. It will show which squads have already built cohesion, which riders have arrived with race rhythm, and which teams are thinking about the bigger picture of the series rather than a single finish. With a new event name, a familiar slot in the week, and only limited historical reference points, the most reliable preview is this: expect teams to race it hard, expect the outcome to be shaped by organisation as much as legs, and expect the first real lessons of the season to arrive earlier than some riders would like.
Which teams are racing at Trofeo Llucmajor 2026?
- Cantabria Rio Miera
- DAS-Hutchinson
- Dukla Women Cycling
- Grupo Eulen-NUUK
- Human Powered Health
- Laboral Kutxa-Fundacion Euskadi
- Lidl-Trek
- Mayenne-Monbana-Mypie
- Movistar Team
- PAFGIO Cycling
- ESP Spain
- St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93
- Team Abadie-Magnan
- Team Farto
- Top Girls Fassa Bortolo
- UAE Team ADQ
- Uno-X Mobility
What does the Trofeo Llucmajor race profile look like?
Where can I watch the Trofeo Marratxi-Felanitx 2026?
Shown live on Discovery+/TNT/HBO Max across Europe
Teledeporte & IB3 in Spain only
Who are the main riders to watch?
- Marlen Reusser
- Liane Lippert
- Niamh Fisher-Black
- Usoa Ostolaza
- Thalita de Jong
- Mona Mitterwallner
- Giada Borghesi
- Yurani Blanco Calbet
- Marta Jaskulska
- Kathrin Schweinberger
- Silvia Persico
- Maeva Squiban
- Karlijn Swinkels
- Mie Bjørndal Ottestad
- Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset
- Sheyla Gutierrez
- Sara Martin
- Arlenis Sierra
- Eleonora Gasparrini
- Greta Marturano
Reminder that whilst all these riders are on the Challenge Mallorca startlist, they may not start this particular race.
