CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto kickstarted the 2025 European road racing season with strong performances in Challenge Femenina Mallorca, a series of three back-to-back UCI 1.1 races (January 25-27) on the Balearic island of Mallorca.

In her debut race with the team, Trofeo Marratxi-Felanitx, Chiara Consonni charged her way to a second-place finish in the hectic bunch sprint, crossing the line behind Henttala (EFO), but ahead of a quality field of assembled sprinters.

Although it was disappointing that she was unable to defend her win from the same event in 2024, there were still plenty of positives to take from the race.

Trofeo Palma Femina on day two saw the introduction of categorised climbs rather than gentle undulations, favouring more the puncheur type of rider.

Rosa Klöser, in just her second professional road race, made an impact by infiltrating the main breakaway for 70 kilometres, allowing the rest of the team to stay composed in the bunch. As the race reached its decisive moments, Soraya Paladin, Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka and Justyna Czapla remained in the diminished peloton over the crest of the first of two climbs, with 26km left in the 130km course.

A dangerous breakaway formed on the descent and gained ground between the two climbs, but Justyna and Agnieszka set a ferocious pace to bring it back, setting Soraya up for the final 10km. Ultimately, two riders managed to out-climb the rest of the field and rode on to contest the victory, while Soraya finished fifth after sprinting from the chasing group. Agnieszka, despite her earlier efforts, rode strongly to also secure a top-10 finish.

While day two provided a taste of hillier terrain, day three, the 107.km Trofeo Binissalem-Andratx, delivered a full serving of mountains. Crucially, the 1,374 m elevation came only in the second half of the race, and riders had to first tackle a flat, wind-exposed loop where strong crosswinds wreaked havoc.

It became a race of two halves, with echelons forming just 6km into the course, leaving several key contenders distanced and with compromised freshness for the hillier terrain.

Agnieszka noted that although CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto anticipated strong winds and knew where the echelons would form, the team was left with only two riders in the front selection when the splits occurred.

“Everyone was fighting for position, but with echelons, it’s something special. You also need luck, and if someone creates a gap, it’s really hard to come back,” Agnieszka says.

“I was in the front with Nastya, and it was really good to have her there with me. She helped me so much – bringing bottles, keeping me calm, positioning me well, and covering attacks. I’m really happy I had her by my side.”

Nastya Kolesava did a tremendous job to be present in the moves going away from the 20 rider peloton, but eventually it was to be the brutal 1.7km climb to Port d’Andratx, with its 15-20% hairpin corners, that would decide the race. Agnieszka put in a fantastic effort up the steep slopes to reach the hilltop in 6th place, while Nastya rounded out her strong race to finish in 12th.

Speaking about her race, Agnieszka explains “I’m happy with this result, especially after not having the best year last year. It was my first race of the season, and I’m really happy with my shape. I’m looking forward to the next races with good feelings and motivation. Also, the way we worked together was great. We have new riders on the team, and it was really nice to see how well they integrated. You wouldn’t even know they were new – they were really helpful, and we created a strong group atmosphere. That was super nice.”

Next on the CANYON//SRAM Zondacrypto calendar are the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and the UAE Tour, before returning to Spain for Setmana Ciclista Valenciana.

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