The second of the one-day races of the Mallorca Challenge was for the climbers, a hilly 149 kilometers that included Coll de Puig Major, the highest peak on the island, and finishing with a 3.2-kilometer uphill.

Trek Factory Racing changed its lineup for the second day and inserted its legs that go uphill fast: Fränk Schleck, Haimar Zubeldia, Mathew Busche, Fabio Felline and Fumy Beppu joined Fabian Cancellara and Bauke Mollema to tackle the bumpy parcours.

A breakaway animated most of the action of the race and the last of the escapees was finally swallowed on the bottom slopes of the final category three climb, leaving the much-anticipated crescendo to the final two kilometers.

The shorter, but steeper uphill (pitches to 10%) tailored to the explosive skills of Bauke Mollema, and in his first race for the team he delivered a respectable fourth place. Although Mollema just missed the podium, it confirmed his hard work this winter paid off and gave the team a promising start to the 2015 season.

Stephen Cummings (MTN-Qhubeka) sprinted to the win over Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) as Davide Formolo (Cannondale-Garmin) just nipped Mollema for third.

“It was a strong finish by Bauke and a good performance by him,” agreed director Josu Larrazabal. “Of course Valverde and Cummings are real specialists in this kind of finale, but okay, for our second race day it’s not bad. We’ll take it.”

Coll de Puig Major was the biggest obstacle of the day and the 13-kilometer climb whittled the peloton to its strongest by the top.

However, with 59 kilometers still to pedal it was not the make-or-break uphill of the day. That was left to the final ascent.

“Puig Major was in the middle of the race, and Movistar set a really hard tempo and split the peloton. Afterwards, there were only 40 guys left in the front with 60kms to go. Fränk, Haimar and Bauke were there and Haimar and Fränk did a super job to protect Bauke and put him in good position for the last climb,” explained Larrazabal.

In the first two days of the Mallorca Challenge Trek Factory Racing displayed exceptional teamwork, with the only thing missing a top result to reward their cohesive effort.

“Again, as we saw yesterday on the flat in the wind, we raced well as a team today in the mountains.  Movistar controlled the race all day, they were pulling and we were just behind, all together.

“The team is working together well and looking quite good, but it would be better to start with a result. But okay, if not here than hopefully next week in Bessèges.”

The Mallorca Challenge heads into its third day tomorrow with another hilly stage, and Trek Factory Racing will use mostly the same line up; the only change will see Fabio Silvestre replace Markel Irizar.

“Tomorrow is the second hilly day but the ending is different; it is rolling and we will go in with a different plan. It is a good stage for opportunists, so we will see,” said Larrazabal, then added: “We have a strong team and many cards to play.”