Fenn quick off the mark in Palma

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Andy Fenn got his Omega Pharma-Quick Step career off to a perfect start in Mallorca on Sunday when he sprinted to victory in the Trofeo Palma. The young Briton delivered a pitch-perfect performance in the finishing straight, powering clear of Andre Schulze (Team NetApp) and Alesander Porsev (Katusha) to take the win.

Bronze medallist in the under 23 road race at the Worlds in Copenhagen last year, Fenn spent 2011 with the Irish Continental outfit An Post-Sean Kelly. It was testimony to Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s belief in Fenn’s potential that they worked for the youngster in his first race with the WorldTour squad.

“I'm ecstatic," Fenn said afterwards. "I've been dreaming of a victory like this. The team did some extraordinary work. In the last 3 laps we took charge of the race. In the final Matteo Trentin carried me splendidly and I managed to win. It's my first success as a pro; the joy is indescribable. I can't wait to share it with my teammates this evening."

The traditional curtain raiser on the Spanish season, the racing at the Trofeo Palma was a distinctly low-key affair, with Sunday’s criterium a prelude to the sterner tests to come later in the week.

A number of breakaways attempted to forge clear in the opening laps, but none succeeded in gaining a lead in excess of a minute, and in the finale, it was Omega Pharma-Quick Step who took matters in hand and set up Fenn for the win.

Tour de France winner Cadel Evans (BMC) and his dauphins Andy and Fränk Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) were among the big names in action, but all eyes were on Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) on the start line in Palma. One day before the Court of Arbitration for Sport issues its verdict on his positive test for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France, the Spaniard finished a discreet 98th. Contador left for his home in Pinto after the race.

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