Team Sky Pro Cycling is back in Mallorca blocking pedestrian crossings in Felanitx whilst preparing for the upcoming Challenge Ciclista Mallorca in Palma, starting this Sunday, February 5th. The Mallorca Challenge is a series of four one-day races with four individual winners and only an unofficial overall champion.

Mark Cavendish, Michael Barry, Alex Dowsett, Chris Froome, Sergio Henao, Thomas Löfkvist, Lars-Petter Nordhaug, Richie Porte, Salvatore Puccio, Luke Rowe, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Xabier Zandio are all lined up for Team Sky to take up the challenge in some or all of the stages, together with La Tour 2011 winner Cadel Evans (Australia/BMC Racing Team), three times Tour de France winner Alberto Contador (Spain/Saxo Bank), and brothers Andy and Frank Schleck (Luxembourg/RadioShack-Nissan).

The first stage of the Mallorca Challenge will be the Trofeo Palma (116 km) on Sunday. The second stage will be the Trofeo Migjorn/Cala Millor (172 km) on Monday, February 6th. Third stage will be the Trofeo Deià (151 km) on Tuesday, February 7th. The fourth and final stage will be the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana (160 km) on Wednesday, February 8th.

Good luck to all participants and all teams, UK or otherwise.

The photo (top) was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Spain. The date: January 31st, 2012. The time was 13:44:39. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of teamsky.com.

Thank you very much.