Fenn sprints to seventh

Team Sky got off to a solid start at Challenge Mallorca with Andy Fenn racing to a top-10 finish.

Team Sky got off to a solid start at Challenge Mallorca with Andy Fenn racing to a top-10 finish.

Fenn sprinted to seventh, with Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) taking the win on the opening day of the 2016 European race calendar.

The day always looked destined to finish with a bunch sprint and so it proved, with the peloton reeling in lone escapee Xavi Canellas (Spanish National) with five kilometres to go.

Earlier in the race a three-man breakaway group had formed, comprised of Grischa Janorschke (Team Roth), Jose Goncalves (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) and Eneko Lizarralde (Euskadi Basque Country - Murias), and at one stage the trio had a four-minute gap on the peloton.

But once the main bunch decided to up the ante they were quickly caught with around 40km to go and the race stayed together until the latter stages.

The late climbs on what was a broadly flat stage failed to split the peloton or cause the sprinters any issues, and once Canellas was caught after his opportunistic attack, the race for the line was on.

Knaven happy with European opener

Speaking after the race, Team Sky's Sport Director Servais Knaven revealed Fenn got penned in late on, restricting his sprint.

He said: "We supported Andy all day, especially into the final stages, and he was in a pretty good position but he got a little bit blocked and couldn't start his sprint. That's a pity for him because he doesn't get the chance to sprint at every race but without Elia [Viviani] and Danny van Poppel here it's a great chance for Andy.

"The day wasn't hard so there were lots of guys near the front in the final stages, meaning there was a big fight to be in a good position. Andy was two wheels behind Griepel then he got a little blocked in and he couldn't get out. Those things can happen."

Gianni Moscon and Michal Golas made their Team Sky debuts and Knaven praised the pair, adding that Moscon will never forget the race, his first as a professional.

"Michal did a really good job in the final stages staying with Andy and putting him in the right position and Gianni was with one of the early breakaways at the start along with lots of World Tour riders, but sadly it was caught after five or 10km.

"In the final kilometres he was a bit surprised - it's a different way of racing to what he is used to, so he was a bit shocked by how hectic and fast it can be at the end. It's a good week for him to get used to this kind of racing. He was really excited at the start of the day for his first race as a professional and his first in this team and it was a special day, for sure. It's a day he will never forget."

Michal Kwiatkowski comes into the team's line-up tomorrow for the Trofeo Pollenca-Andratx and Knaven believes he is one of the favourites for the race, while Fenn could be in contention if he survives the day's climbs.

"Tomorrow is tough. The sprinters could be there in the final stages but it will be hard, with some short climbs. It all depends how hard it is in the mountains, how they race there, and we will see how good the sprinters are in the final 20 kilometres. Andy can give it a go in the climbs and we will see, but in Michal Kwiatkowski we have a really strong guy who will be one of the favourites."