Italy's Giovanni Lonardi (Eolo Cometa) opened the European road racing season with a sprint win at the Classica Comunitat Valenciana on Sunday.

Challenge Mallorca is not a stage race, but a series of one-day races held on different types of terrain in Spain's Balearic Islands, allowing teams to change their rosters from race to race.

The race starts in Trofeo Calvia. It is a 156.7 km race through the hills near Soler in the northwestern part of the island. The finish is along the seafront in the resort town of Palmanova, with a fast last 3 km.

Thursday's Trofeo Porto d'Arcudia in the north of the island and Sunday's Trofeo Playa de Palma around the capital are suited to sprinters, but the former has the Col sa Batalla 20 km from the finish and the latter has the Col de Sa Creu before three flat finish circuits The first two are the first to be completed in the first half of the season. Sprinters will need to win early season glory.

Friday's Serra de Tramuntana and Saturday's Pollensa-Porto Andratx head to the barren mountains of the Serra de Tramuntana range that runs along the northern spine of Majorca. The Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana includes the Col de Puig Major (14.4 km, 6%), a long, fast descent to the finish. The Port of Pollensa-Andorrach is another hard day, ending with a kick-up to the center of Andorrach.

Trofeo Calvià is a hard first day, climbing 2,895 meters in elevation. The final climb is 12km from the finish, favoring the chasing side. Last year, when the Challenge Mallorca was held in May due to the COVID-19 epidemic, South African Ryan Gibbons (UAE Team Emirates) defeated Anthony Delaplace (Alcare Samsic) in the breakaway and won by 40 seconds from the chasing pack. Gibbons will defend his victory on Wednesday as part of the powerful UAE Team Emirates.

Indeed, with the cancellation of the Tour Down Under and the Vuelta a San Juan, and concerns about long distances for training camp, many major teams opted to return to the traditional start of the season in Mallorca.

Ten WorldTour teams were named to the start list, with Movistar selecting Alejandro Valverde, Enric Mas, and American Matteo Jorgenson and a long list of riders spanning five races.

Michael Matthews leads the Bike Exchange Jayco, joined by Tsgab Gourmay and Alex Edmondson. Giacomo Nizzolo will make his debut in the new Israeli Premier Tech with Canada's James Piccoli, while Matteo Moschetti and newcomer Simon Perrault will compete in the Trofeo Calvià. Moschetti, who finished the race, has two wins in the 2020 Challenge Mallorca. American Brandon McNulty is with UAE Emirates and could impress in the Hiller Race.

Alexander Christophe debuted with Intermarché Wanty-Gobert Matériault, along with the talented Biniam Girmay, who finished second in the U-23 World Championship road race in Belgium, winning the sprint race behind Filippo Baroncini, He is aiming for a sprint-friendly race.

18-year-old Belgian talent Sian Uitdebroeks will make his full professional debut in Bora-Hansgrohe alongside Jai Hindley and Nils Pollitt. Bora-Hansgrohe will be without Max Schachmann and Giovanni Aleotti due to a positive test for COVID-19.

Philippe Gilbert will miss the event due to illness, but Tim Wellens will lead Lotto Soudal in his quest for ranking points to qualify for the 2023 World Tour. Versatile and aggressive, Wellens has four wins in the Challenge Mallorca series.

Six Continental teams will be part of a total of 25 teams. Eolo Cometa was in great form after Ronardi's win on Sunday. Other teams also took the ferry from Valencia to Mallorca.

The next week at Challenge Mallorca and the next six weeks will be the foundation for the rest of the season and will set the narrative and theme for what follows.