Sir Bradley Wiggins made his 2016 road season debut in the opening day of the Challenge Mallorca on Thursday.
Wiggins was riding as part of the Great Britain team in the 174-kilometre Trofeo Felanitx, the first of four one-day races that make up the annual Challenge Mallorca.
The 2012 Tour de France champion and Hour Record holder spends a great deal of time on Mallorca during the winter, building up base miles before the season starts.
This year, he's concentrating on his performance in the UCI Track World Championships in March and then the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August, so there is no pressure for him to obtain any results on the road. His last road appearance was at the 2015 Tour of Britain in September.
Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins at the Revolution Series in Derby (Andy Jones)
Wiggins finished in 135th place in the Trofeo Felanitx, in a large second group that completed the race 19 seconds behind winner André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal).
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After his stint for Great Britain on Mallorca, Wiggins will join his Team Wiggins squad at the Dubai Tour over February 3-6.
Then it's back to the track, where Wiggins will take part in the team pursuit at the Track World Championships in London on March 2-6. In addition to the team pursuit, Wiggins is widely tipped to take part in the Madison with Mark Cavendish.
The Challenge Mallorca continues today (Friday) with the Trofeo Andratx.
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
