Mallorca (Spain)
Mallorca (Spain)
One of the most popular training camp destinations for pro teams and amateurs alike is Mallorca, with the Balearic island hosting the likes of Team Sky annually.
With the Challenge Mallorca races also held on the island at the end of January, many teams will arrange camps around that event, using it as an early-season test of form after the winter.
One team which returned to the island in January having already been there earlier in the winter are WorldTour newcomers IAM Cycling.
With a number of climbs to tackle, including the iconic Sa Calobra, which Trek Factory Racing new-boy Bauke Mollema relished ascending earlier this month, Mallorca is a regular haunt for several teams.
Today we climbed ‘Sa Calobra’. I didn’t know Mallorca was this beautiful! pic.twitter.com/zkcomPjxve — Bauke Mollema (@BaukeMollema) January 23, 2015
And IAM Cycling trainer Marcello Albasini says it is the variety of the island which draws the Swiss team to the island.
He said: “We chose to go to Mallorca for several different reasons, but especially the climate, short travel time for our riders and the fact there is not much traffic, which is good for workouts.
“We can do a lot of different training in Mallorca. Our basic training took place in December, but in January it was more specific – the climbers were in the mountains more and the Classics riders rode more on the flat roads.
“There was also some team time trial training and this was very easy in Mallorca because in other countries you would need to close a road for that.”
Who trains there? IAM Cycling, Orica-GreenEDGE, Team Sky, Trek Factory Racing, Movistar, Cannondale-Garmin, Lotto-Soudal