Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) has expressed his frustration with the finale to the Trofeo Serra Tramuntana, maintaining that the final descent into Lluc was an unnecessary and risky addition to the course.
The Russian was speaking after his second near miss in as many attempts at the Challenge Mallorca. After being outsprinted by James Shaw at the Trofeo Calvià on Wednesday, he had to settle for second behind Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) in a three-up sprint here.
“I would like to say that it’s a shit finish. Why do you do it on a downhill? It’s just for nothing,” Vlasov told Eurosport afterwards. “We went the last 5km without pedalling, and what race is it? Make it in the climb, no?”
Vlasov had sparked the winning move with a fierce acceleration on the climb of Puig Major, bringing Van Eetvelt and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) with him, and that trio built a lead of almost a minute on the initial drop to El Gorg Blau.
After a short false flat, the road descended again for another 5km or so into Lluc, and Vlasov questioned its inclusion on the course, pointing out that the terrain would have been treacherous for a bigger front group.
“It doesn’t make sense. If you saw the last 5km, we really went down without pedalling so as not to take any risks,” he said. “But imagine if we there were ten of us going full gas just to suicide ourselves.”
Vlasov had no complaints about the race’s outcome, acknowledging that he had allowed himself to be outmanoeuvred on the final corner ahead of the sprint.
“I was good in the climb, but I made a big mistake in the finish,” he said. “Maybe I waited too long, and they just closed me into the barriers. But the legs were good, and that’s the most important thing.”
Vlasov has made a fast start to his third season with Bora-Hansgrohe, and he will be among the favourites for next week’s Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, a race he won in 2022. The 27-year-old is set to be a key part of Primož Roglič’s guard at the Tour de France in July.
