MTB cycling: The first stage of the Afxentia mountain bike race in Cyprus ended with a big surprise for the women. The Dutchwoman Anne Terpstra (Ghost Factory Racing) won the very downhill-oriented first stage ahead of the favorites and can therefore put on the leader's jersey. The Czech Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing) won the men's race.
The first day of the Cyprus Sunshine Cup Afxentia stage race was tough: on the downhill-heavy route of the time trial, the finish of which was 760 meters lower than the start, the participants from 25 nations expected two short but steep climbs. A strong headwind demanded the last few grains on the flat section at the end of the 14,6 kilometer route from Lefkara to Skarinou.
The Dutchwoman Anne Terpstra (Ghost Factory Racing) caused a surprise, and with her victory she will start the second day as the overall leader. Unlucky, on the other hand, was favorite and defending champion Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Merida Gunn-Rita), who had to deal with a large part of the route with a flat tire. A circumstance that threw her 5:25 minutes behind the Dutchwoman. More than place 26 was not possible.
Second behind Anne Terpstra was Margot Moschetti (CST Sandd American Eagle) from France, 12,3 seconds down, closely followed by Alexandra Engen (Ghost Factory Racing) from Sweden, who was just 0,2 seconds slower. Sabine Spitz lost 47 seconds to the Dutch winner, which was enough for sixth place.
The winner of day one in the men's race was Jaroslav Kulhavy from the Czech Republic, who was 7,6 seconds faster than second-placed Thomas Litscher (jb Brunex-Felt) from Switzerland. Third place went to Jan Skarnitzl, another Czech. He was 24,5 seconds behind his compatriot. Defending champion Fabian Giger was only 1th, 13:17 minutes behind.
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