The Dutchman kept his cool in the final kilometer and then launched up the left side of the pack and left all of his rivals behind him. As he crossed the finish line, Marijn swung his arm in the air and let out a whoop of joy. His teammates soon gathered around to celebrate with him. This victory was the best way for Marijn and his leadout squad to start the season.

“First race, first win is really good,” Marijn said after the finish. “In the sprint, I just tried to focus on my own race. We knew that it was a little bit windy today and made a plan to stay on the left side, where we were more covered from the wind. We all did really well to focus on the plan. For us it was a perfect situation. The sprint went really well and I could keep them in my wheel.”

This win belongs to James Shaw, Rui Costa, Jack Rootkin-Gray, Michael Valgren, Owain Doull, and Vincenzo Albanese, too. As soon as the commissaire dropped his flag at the start of the second day of the Challenge Mallorca, the whole team committed to Marijn’s cause, trusting that the winner of the 2023 edition of the race could pull it off if they got him to the final kilometer at the front of the peloton.

A strong wind was blowing off of the Mediterranean, making their work hard, but the team kept in front, keeping the day’s breakaway in check, as they rolled around the southern corner of the island, winding through olive groves between dry stone walls.

As the finish line approached, riders surged ahead, but EF Education-EasyPost stuck together, chasing them down with Marijn in their draft. All of the work that they put in over the past weeks of training together in Mallorca has paid off.

“The team did a super good job getting me out of the wind,” Marijn said. “We trained really hard here. We did a training camp with the team and know the roads quite well now. You can do everything here. For me, it's perfect. I always like training and racing here. I’m super happy, and tomorrow we go again.”

Tomorrow, EF Education-EasyPost will take on the Trofeo Serra Tramuntana, which crosses the mountains on the northwest coast of Mallorca.

“It's a different race, of course, but I will do my best to be up there again,” Marijn says.

Good luck team and congratulations!