Trofeo Ses Salines - Felanitx

Paul Magnier enjoys a perfect pro debut

Paul Magnier made a great start to his career with Soudal Quick-Step, taking a dominant victory in Trofeo Ses Salines-Felanitx, the second race of the Challenge Mallorca. The 19-year-old from Grenoble benefited from a monster lead-out of fellow neo-pro and former U23 teammate Luke Lamperti, whose ferocious pace kept Paul at the front of the peloton going into the final corner, which the latter rounded out glued to the American’s wheel.

On the uphill drag to the line, Paul produced an incredible turn of legs that left everyone else trailing and propelled him to an incredible win, while Luke still had enough to clinch third and make it an unforgettable day for Soudal Quick-Step under the Mallorcan sun.

“It feels amazing to win on my debut with this fantastic team, which has so many great riders and where I already feel at home. I’m having a hard time finding the words to tell you how I feel after this victory. I’m just 19 years of age, I still don’t know what type of rider I am, so to take the win here it’s really incredible, something I would have never dreamed of”, an elated Paul explained after the race.

“My teammates did an amazing job today. On those long straight roads in the last 20 kilometers we stayed together and made sure we were in a good position the whole time. Then, Gianni and Yves took over and pulled hard to stretch the peloton, before Luke – who is a very fast rider himself – guided me in that hectic finale, doing a superb job. We had a plan at the start of the day, we followed it, and now we are all happy with this success, our first of the season”, added the youngest rider to win a race at the Challenge Mallorca.

Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images