Women’s Challenge Mallorca 2024 Race Preview

AG Insurance-Soudal is on a high in 2024 already after a stunning win from Sarah Gigante in Australia. They’ve set the tone Down Under and now the baton is passed to those who didn’t go to also deliver. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio will be the team’s major leader and the final 2 races should really suit her. Traditionally exposed in a sprint for the line, the South African has turned that perception on its head in the last couple of years. She won’t fear coming to the finish in a small group. Teammate Justine Ghekiere is a useful wildcard in the same races, especially after her Setmana Ciclista Valenciana GC win last season. That day she went on the attack and saved Moolman-Pasio from working the group of favourites behind. Expect her to be used in a similar role. The wildcards for the team come in the form of Ilse Pluimers and Maud Rijnbeek who could get the nod in the opening Trofeo Felanitx-Colònia de Sant Jordi. Both are useful in one-day type sprints, with limited numbers of top-tier sprinters here both could put themselves in a position to get a top-10.

Liane Lippert seems absolutely perfect for the final 2 days. We’ve seen her in an attacking role whilst at Movistar and now with Annemiek van Vleuten she will be expected to step up and be the leader now. We know she can win in reduced group sprints and also punch her way up short sharp climbs. The German should do well. She’s got a pair of new teammates too for the climbs in Olivia Baril and Claire Steels. Baril has obviously impressed in training as she received a contract extension recently before even actually racing for Movistar. The Canadian has traditionally got her best results in Spain and will be a useful foil for Lippert. It’s similar for Claire Steels who won reVolta last season by just distancing her rivals on the major climb of the day. If Movistar is brave, they will roll the dice with one of these two to put pressure on other teams. When it comes to what looks like a sprint in the first race, Arlenis Sierra is the team’s best shout on the long list. There’s no Norgaard so there’s limited competition for that role and the Cuban should suit a hilly race that comes down to a quick finale.

There’s a solid mix of parts to use at UAE Team ADQ. Chiara Consonni is the obvious sprint option for the Trofeo Felanitx-Colònia de Sant Jordi but as a purer sprinter, there will be an opportunity to put pressure on her over the climb late on. If she makes it, the Italian should be the favourite for that race. Silvia Persico is targeting stages and one-day races this season rather than GC classifications. The Italian is confirmed for the latter 2 races here and could top-10 both quite happily. Karlijn Swinkels is a good attacking option who also has a decent kick of her own. Depending on who races the Trofeo Felanitx-Colònia de Sant Jordi, it might be Swinkels who is the Plan B option in the final. She’s a rider who could disappear up the road and not be caught again. I quite like the Russian Alena Ivanchenko to do well in races this season and that could start here. The possible issue is that the climbs aren’t quite long enough for her to engage her TT strengths and that could expose her in the finish of these races too. The all-round option is probably Erica Magnaldi, who we might see do well in the uphill sprint on the final race at Trofeo Binissalem-Andratx as well as be a threat the day before. 

EF-Cannondale will look to start their first season as a new team after killing off EF-TIBCO-SVB last season. They’ve got a Women’s WorldTour team-worthy squad with several big names but won’t be able to reach that level until 2026. American Veronica Ewers will definitely suit this sort of racing and the middle Trofeo Palma Femina is most like the parcours she does her best results on. She’s a rider with genuine win ambitions here. For the purest of climbers, there’s the German Clara Koppenburg too but I think she will largely end up helping Ewers unless the decision is made to give her a race for herself. She’d have to go solo to win one of these but top-10s are certainly possible. Irish rider Megan Armitage has made the move across from Arkea and was a bit of a star of the non-WWT calendar in 2023. Winner at Extremadura, she was also 4th at Chambery and 5th at Semois too. She can potentially top 10 every stage in the right form. You’d assume that the opening Women’s Trofeo Felanitx-Colònia de Sant Jordi will be the chance for Lotta Henttala. The Finn made a strong comeback last season in parts and will get an early chance.