The second and last station of the Cyprus Sunshine Cup in Voroklini ended with a duel between two Czechs. The men's race was to be decided between Ondrej Cink and Jan Skarnitzl. While Julian Schelb crashed early in the race, Ondrej Cink, Rudi van Houts and Jan Skarnitzl drove a high pace in front, which none of the other drivers could match. Van Houts also said goodbye in lap three of six and so it should be a duel between the two compatriots.
Cink and Skarnitzl stayed together until the final lap, waiting for the right moment to attack. Then, last year's fifth-place finisher in the overall World Cup standings pulled away on a singletrack climb. "Ondrej was a little stronger on that section every lap, and on the last lap I couldn't close the gap ," Jan Skarnitzl explained. "It was a great race, and I'm happy with the result. Ondrej was very strong."
Cink crossed the finish line with a 17-second lead, securing his first victory of the season. "I felt tired during the week and wasn't feeling so great yesterday either. But today was perfect. I felt fantastic the whole time and I could do whatever I wanted. It was a very, very good day for me ," he commented later. Skarnitzl finished second, followed by Thomas Litscher, who had a less than ideal start but managed to close the gap to the two leaders to just 35 seconds.
Ondrej Cink thus also wins the overall ranking of the Cyprus Sunshine Cup. With a second place and the victory from Voroklini, he relegated Jan Skarnitzl to second place. Rudi van Houts is third.
Jolanda Neff seems almost invincible this season. Shortly after the start, the U23 world champion suffered a flat tire and was 40 seconds behind the leading group at the beginning of the second lap. But already in the second loop, she moved into the lead together with Blaza Klemencic. The duo quickly increased their advantage, and the final downhill section led to a thrilling finish. Klemencic was in the lead, and Jolanda Neff couldn't get past her initially. Both reached the asphalt section in Voroklini together. "Blaza took the outside line, and I was able to slip through on the inside ," Neff explained, describing how she overtook the Slovenian. "I felt really good on the climbs, and I wasn't slow on the downhill either. But Jolanda is so fast downhill, I didn't stand a chance ," Klemencic admitted.
Jolanda Neff smiled. "It's so cool that I was still able to win after the flat tire. I tried to ride my own pace. The two weeks of the Cyprus Sunshine Cup couldn't have gone better for me ," commented Neff. With two victories, she also secured the overall title. Nine-time world champion Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa finished third after a strong race.
result men
1. Ondrej Cink (Multivan-Merida) 1:39:49.982
2. Jan Skarnitzl (Sram Rubena Trek) +17.481
3. Thomas Litscher (Multivan Merida) +35.508
4. Rudi van Houts (Multivan-Merida) +59.551
5. Wolfram Kurschat (Topeak Ergon) +1:41.683
result women
1. Jolanda Neff (Giant XC) 1:18:56.057
2. Blaza Klemencic (Feenstra Felt Kenda) +5.831
3. Guun-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Multivan-Merida) +50.059
4. Maja Wloszczowska (Liv Pro XC) +2:18.947
5. Sabine Spitz (Haibike Pro) +2:41.910
CSC Men's Appreciation
1. Ondrej Cink (Multivan-Merida) 190 pts.
2. Jan Skarnitzl (Sram Rubena Trek) 175 pts.
3. Rudi van Houts (Multivan-Merida) 148 pts.
4. Thomas Litscher (Multivan-Merida) 147 pts.
5. Michiel van der Heuden (Giant XC) 130 pts.
CSC Women's Appreciation
1. Jolanda Neff (Giant XC) 200 pts.
2. Blaza Klemenicic (Feenstra Felt Kenda) 165 pts.
3. Sabine Spitz (Haibike Pro) 155 pts.
4. Guun-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Multivan-Merida) 155 pts.
5. Adelheid Morath (Haibike Pro) 150 pts.