Simon Carr, the 25-year-old British cyclist seems to be having the time of his life. He created history by winning the recently held Challenge Mallorca- Trofeo Calvia in Palmanova. The victory marked the sixth instance in Carr’s career when he came out victorious in a tournament. However, the road to his triumph was not an easy one. In the closing moments of the event, Carr put his foot on the pedal and accelerated past Aleksandr Vlasov of Bora Hansgrohe to clinch the victory. 

As Simon Carr basked in the glory of his recent victory, he also opened up about his quest at Trofeo Calvia. So, what did he say about the tournament? Let us learn all about the champion’s mentality in detail below. 

Simon Carr reflects on his cycling excellence 

Carr was interviewed soon after he finished his race. Speaking about his last-moment dash, the British cyclist labeled it as pure “instinct”. He also revealed the game plan they had right before going into the final lap. Carr said that Tejay Van Garderen, the DS of EF Education-EasyPost, asked Carr to take it easy. 

This would, in turn, surprise Vlasov, who might work in the favor of Carr. Quite expectedly, the 25-year-old focused significantly on keeping an eye on Vlasov, and the plan paid off. 

Reflecting on his strategy, Carr clarified further, “I think in the end I had the jump on him anyway. I was just super focused on what he was doing and not looking back at all. I let him do that.” He also expressed his delight at continuing the good work from Langkawi, where he won the race as well last year. 

The British athlete pointed out that the winter has proved to be the best for him, considering how he had managed to showcase his true potential instead of having to clarify about the same. Carr also stated that he wanted to carry forward the momentum and look to make an eventful 2024, “Last year I won quite a few races maybe I had a lower level, so this year already starting with a win hopefully is the beginning of good things this year.”

While the result was a sweet one for the Britisher, the entire race was filled with scenes depicting the stronghold he had in the sport.

Simon Carr valiant in his attempt at victory 

Carr displayed impeccable skills and whizzed past most of his competitors early on in the race. However, once the race approached the 150km mark, Carr dominated by leading from the front all throughout. The final six-man breakaway occurred in the eastern hills of Mallorca. 

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However, the race got narrowed to only McNulty, Soler, Vlasov, and Carr remaining in contention. However, Carr, displaying immense strength, managed to steer away with a 126 km breakaway still to go. 

With Vlasov and Carr in hot pursuit of each other, the 25-year-old patiently waited for his turn to attack. Surely, he did get an opening with a few hundred km still left as he darted past the Russian for the victory. 

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