MTB News: With an excellent second place, Sabine Spitz (Wiawis Bikes Pro Team) finished the second day of the Cyprus Sunshine Cup Afxentia stage race in Cyprus. Only the Belgian Githa Michiels (Versluy's team) was faster than the German after an extremely strong final. The Frenchman Jordan Sarrou (BH-Sr Suntour-KMC) won the men's race.
The important decision of the second day was the long downhill in both the women's and men's races. In the lead, Yana Belomoina (CST Sandd American Eagle) suffered a puncture that catapulted her to 9th, well over 14 minutes back. With this setback, the Ukrainian lost all chances for the overall standings. After the tire defect, Sabine Spitz took the lead, which she was able to maintain until about two kilometers from the finish. The Belgian Githa Michiels showed an extremely strong final. On the last climb she picked up the pace and left the chasing group behind. Shortly before the end of the stage, the Belgian caught Sabine Spitz, who had been leading until then, and gained another 26 seconds in the final sprint. Third place went to Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Team Merida Gunn-Rita), followed by Barbara Benko (Focus XC Team) and time trial winner Anne Terpstra (Ghost Factory Racing). Githa Michiels now wears the yellow jersey.
As already indicated, the long downhill in the men's race had a decisive influence on the outcome of the second stage. Tipping the scales was a tire failure on opening winner Jaroslav Kulhavy's (Specialized Racing) bike, which allowed Jordan Sarrou and Sebastian Carstensen Fini (CST Sandd American Eagle) to break away from the field. After a violent fall, however, Sebastian Carstensen Fini lost contact with Jordan Sarrou. With a lead of 52 seconds, the Frenchman took the stage win and at the same time the yellow jersey for the third stage. On the last 50 meters of the final climb, Sebastian Carstensen Fini had to admit defeat to Bartlomej Wawak (Kross Racing Team), who passed by. In the end, six seconds separated the second from the third place. Conceivably close behind were Jan Skarnitzl (Sram Mitas Trek), Fabian Giger (Kross Racing Team), Hans Becking (CST Sandd American Eagle) and unlucky Jaroslav Kulhavy.
Cyprus Sunshine Cup Afxentia: The second stage at a glance
- Start/Finish: Lefkara
- point to point
- 52,2 km
- 2154 meters in altitude
Cyprus Sunshine Cup Afxentia: The next stage at a glance
- Start/Finish: Lythrodontas
- point to point
- 66,2 km
- 1993 meters in altitude