24 hours after his first victory as a professional rider, Kobe Goossens managed to repeat his stunt in the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana this Saturday, obtaining the third success of the Walloon team in just four days.
Goossens and Lilian Calmejane were part of nine rider group after the second ascension of the Coll de Feminizes (7km at 5,4%). In the final 20 kilometer towards the finish, both climbers of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty attacked several times trying to anticipate a sprint.
In the end, Goossens made a decisive attack within the last 3 kilometer. Just like the day before, he crossed the finish line solo in bad weather circumstances. His teammate Lilian Calmejane was fourth.
« The euphoria of yesterday cost me some sleep last night, but it especially gave me a lot of confidence in myself. From the start today I had a really good feeling. Lilian and I were among the best climbers but the weather conditions made it difficult to stay warm at some point. With two men in the leading group, the race situation in the final was perfect for us. We knew that we had to anticipate the sprint, so we both attacked one by one. I saw how difficult it was for our competitors to follow the slipstream of Lilian, so I took advantage of this moment to accelerate on a slightly uphill section. I immediately had a gap and continued full to the finish. This victory was possible today because all riders of the team sacrificed themselves today. I'm proud on the way we won together, three victories in just four days. » « Just like one year ago I worked hard with the team to be ready from the first races. During our team training camp I felt that my form was growing towards the Mallorca Challenge, one of the first opportunities of the season in which I could benefit from a protected role in the team. These two victories and my seventh place in the Trofeo Calvia are a nice reward. My year program is very detailed and I hope to take advantage of my good form as long as possible. My next races are the Figueira Champions Classic and the Volta ao Algarve and then I'll build towards Paris-Nice, my main goal in the spring. »
