Cycling: The starting list of the Cyprus Sunshine Cup has grown prominently. Another world champion and another Olympic champion. Marathon Champion Annika Langvad of Specialized Racing returns and Julie Bresset of Team BH Sr Suntour-KMC will make her Cyprus debut. Both London Olympic champions are registered for the CSC.
For the first time ever, the Frenchwoman will be present on the sunny island in the Mediterranean. Julie Bresset raises the level of the women's start list once again, the illustrious personalities are a current Who's Who of MTB sport.
As already known, the two Rabo-Liv drivers Marianne Vos (Ned) and the French Pauline Ferrand Prevot are also registered. A few days ago, both won bronze and gold (prevot) at the World Cross Country Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic, demonstrating their great form.
The second start by Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Multivan-Merida), the most successful mountain biker of all time, has also been confirmed, as has that of Eliminator World Champion Kathrin Stirnemann (Haibike-Ötztal) from Switzerland.
Not to be forgotten is British world-class driver Annie Last.
Like Dahle-Flesjaa and Stirnemann, Annika Langvad is also preparing for the Cape Epic stage ride in Cyprus. Last year the Dane also managed to win in South Africa with this program as preparation.
A collection of world-class drivers for the men too.
Julie Bresset, meanwhile, will be joined by her team-mates Stephane Tempier and Maxime Marotte, who is not coming to Cyprus for the first time. Both have been on the podium several times in the World Cup.
This also applies to Vice European Champion Fabian Giger, who is the defending champion at the Afxentia stage race. Giger, who now drives for the Colnago-Südtirol team, has been coming to Cyprus for years. "I like the Afxentia, it was always good preparation for me. The island is perfect for starting the season”, Giger explains.
Giger's compatriot Florian Vogel comes with his new team Focus XC, including German champion Markus Schulte-Lünzum.
You will have to deal with the Czech Olympic champion Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized), who is also the marathon world champion, and the fifth in the world rankings, Manuel Fumic (Cannondale Factory Racing) from Germany, as well as the bronze medal winner at the European Championships, Jan Skarnitzl (Cze ).
“This is a phenomenal gathering of world-class riders ,” says CSC organizer Mike Hadjioannou, who can once again rely on the support of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO). The fact that so many top athletes are traveling to Cyprus demonstrates the high quality of this island paradise, both in terms of competitions and training conditions.
So far athletes from more than 20 different nations are registered for the Afxentia stage race from February 27th to March 2nd and the C1 race in Amathous. Among others, the national teams of Kazakhstan, Great Britain and Norway.