February 13, 2014 (Port d’Alcudia, Spain) – Omega Pharma-Quick Step Cycling Team rider Gianni Meersman added to the squad’s tally of victories in just a few days, taking the sprint victory in the 162km Trofeo Platja de Muro from Muro to Port d’Alcudia, Mallorca on Wednesday.

OPQS took control of a front group in the final kilometers in hopes of a second straight victory at Trofeo Mallorca, following Michal Kwiatkowski’s solo win on Tuesday. The front group was down to 45 riders with 26km to go and the team made sure it was always a factor in the remainder of the race.

Meersman went on to beat Fran Ventoso (Movistar Team) and Ben Swift (Team Sky).

Canada’s Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge did not finish.

OPQS has now won seven races — in three disciplines — in 2014. All five road victories were at Tour of Qatar and Trofeo Mallorca. Meersman also has an important addition to his palmares, as this is the earliest he’s won a race in any season.

“It was a hard race with a group on a breakaway from the beginning including Serge Pauwels,” Meersman said. “Sky controlled the race. At the bottom of the last climb there was an acceleration. During the climb we were there with 40 or more guys and in the last 15km the team took the initiative. We had six or seven guys in the front and we worked together like a great team. They brought me to the last kilometers. In the final kilometer Michal Kwiatkowski led me into the best position to do my sprint. At that point I launched and managed to beat Ventoso and Swift, finishing the job of my team. I am very happy about this team. Everybody was in the front from the beginning until the end. Everybody is motivated and the atmosphere is really good, even among the staff. Today we knew everything about the finish — all the small details. The team trusts in me and it’s really nice to ride for a team like that, where everybody knows their position and that we have common goals. I think that  this victory paid off also the work I did during the winter. It’s my third race of the season and I’ve already won a race, so it’s nice. My next race will be Classic Sud-Ardeche, and I carry great morale from Mallorca as I take my next steps.”

OPQS Sport Director Tom Steels said he is proud of how the team is performing as a unit.

“With this group, we knew we had a good and competitive team that sticks together all the time,” Steels said. “We’ve won two stages with Kwiatkowski and Meersman, but we were protagonists always, even in the first two stages. We were also intelligent in the race. This team is a presence in all the situations, and are really united. They work so well together, and it is a pleasure to lead a team like that.”

Results

1. Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma – QuickStep 3:50:07
2. Francisco José Ventoso (Esp) Movistar Team
3. Ben Swift (Gbr) Team Sky
4. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida
5. Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
6. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky
7. Michael Albasini (Sui) Orica Greenedge
8. Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha
9. Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Team Europcar
10. Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin Sharp
11. Bjorn Thurau (Ger) Team Europcar
12. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma – QuickStep
13. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha 0:00:06
14. Miguel Minguez (Esp) Team Euskadi
15. Romain Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
16. Caleb Fairly (USA) Garmin Sharp 0:00:08
17. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:00:09
18. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida
19. Ruben Plaza (Esp) Movistar Team
20. Rigoberto Uran (Col) Omega Pharma – QuickStep
21. Chris Horner (USA) Lampre-Merida
22. Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma – QuickStep
23. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:17
24. Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 0:00:32
25. Pieter Serry (Bel) Omega Pharma – QuickStep
26. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Omega Pharma – QuickStep
27. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Omega Pharma – QuickStep 0:00:57
28. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
29. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
30. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:01:06
31. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:01:47
32. Reto Hollenstein (Sui) IAM Cycling
33. Tom Slagter (Ned) Garmin Sharp
34. Tiago Machado (Por) Team Netapp – Endura 0:03:01
35. Amets Txurruka (Esp) Caja Rural – Seguros
36. David De La Cruz (Esp) Team Netapp – Endura
37. Mathias Frank (Sui) IAM Cycling
38. Sergio Pardilla (Esp) MTN – Qhubeka
39. Egoitz Garcia (Esp) Cofidis
40. Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) IAM Cycling
41. Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
42. Andre Cardoso (Por) Garmin Sharp
43. Andrey Amador (Crc) Movistar Team
44. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:04:39
45. Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis 0:09:30
46. Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Netapp – Endura
47. Victor Martin (Esp) Burgos-BH
48. Jesus Ezquerra (Esp) Activejet Team
49. Igor Merino (Esp) Burgos-BH
50. Erick Rowsell (Gbr) Team Netapp – Endura
51. Benat Intxausti (Esp) Movistar Team
52. Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
53. Igor Anton (Esp) Movistar Team
54. Iker Camano (Esp) Team Netapp – Endura
55. David Lopez (Esp) Team Sky
56. Jan Barta (Cze) Team Netapp – Endura
57. Jonathan Fumeaux (Sui) IAM Cycling
58. Adam Yates (Gbr) Orica Greenedge
59. Jesus Del Pino (Esp) Burgos-BH
60. Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Belisol
61. Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team
62. Phillip Gaimon (USA) Garmin Sharp
63. Alex Howes (USA) Garmin Sharp
64. Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha
65. Linus Gerdemann (Ger) MTN – Qhubeka
66. David Belda (Esp) Burgos-BH
67. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin Sharp
68. Antonio Piedra (Esp) Caja Rural – Seguros
69. Simon Yates (Gbr) Orica Greenedge
70. Mikel Landa (Esp) Astana Pro Team
71. Marcos Garcia (Esp) Caja Rural – Seguros
72. Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha
73. Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-Merida
74. Jose Serpa (Col) Lampre-Merida
75. Dario Hernandez (Esp) Burgos-BH
76. Javier Megias (Esp) Team Novo Nordisk
77. Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:09:36
78. Haritz Orbe (Esp) Team Euskadi 0:15:12
79. Carlos Barbero (Esp) Team Euskadi
80. Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN – Qhubeka
81. Pablo Lechuga (Esp) Team Euskadi
82. Maxime Mederel (Fra) Team Europcar
83. Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar
84. Patrick Schelling (Sui) IAM Cycling
85. Jhoan Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica Greenedge
86. Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN – Qhubeka 0:16:03
87. Juan Carlos Riutort (Esp) Burgos-BH 0:16:34
88. Arakdiusz Owsian (Pol) Activejet Team
89. Pawel Brylowski (Pol) Activejet Team
90. David Lozano (Esp) Team Novo Nordisk
91. Huub Duyn (Ned) Cyclingteam De Rijke
92. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
93. Nick Nuyens (Bel) Garmin Sharp
94. Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Movistar Team
95. Javier Francisco Aramendia (Esp) Caja Rural – Seguros
96. David Millar (Gbr) Garmin Sharp
97. Johann Van Zyl (RSA) MTN – Qhubeka
98. Frantisek Padour (Cze) Team Netapp – Endura
99. Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar
100. Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Cyclingteam De Rijke
101. Angelo Tulik (Fra) Team Europcar
102. Jonathan Mcevoy (Gbr) Team Netapp – Endura
103. Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
104. Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis
105. Pablo Torres (Esp) Burgos-BH
106. Natnael Berhane (Eri) Team Europcar
107. Joshua Edmondson (Gbr) Team Sky 0:16:40
108. Peter Kennaugh (Gbr) Team Sky
109. José Mendes (Por) Team Netapp – Endura
110. Davide Vigano (Ita) Caja Rural – Seguros
111. Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Team Katusha
112. Daniel Westmattelmann (Ger) Team Kuota 0:19:31
113. Charles Planet (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
114. Edwig Cammaerts (Bel) Cofidis
115. Yoeri Havik (Ned) Cyclingteam De Rijke
116. Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN – Qhubeka
117. Martin Wesmann (RSA) MTN – Qhubeka
118. Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN – Qhubeka
119. Michal Podlaski (Pol) Activejet Team
120. Kevin De Mesmaeker (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk
121. David Muntaner (Esp) Activejet Team
122. Emanuel Piaskowy (Pol) Activejet Team
123. Pawel Franczak (Pol) Activejet Team
124. Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis
125. Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
126. Ibai Salas (Esp) Burgos-BH
127. Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
128. Mario Gonzalez (Esp) Activejet Team
129. Benat Txoperena (Esp) Team Euskadi
130. Florian Senechal (Fra) Cofidis
131. Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha
132. Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha
133. Jon Larrinaga (Esp) Team Euskadi
134. Stig Broeckx (Bel) Lotto Belisol
135. Victor Etxebarria (Esp) Team Euskadi
136. Ike Groen (Ned) Cyclingteam De Rijke
13. Jan Deutschmann (Ger) Team Kuota 0:19:36