Gunn Rita Dahle Flesjaa, the Norwegian Olympic medallist and Karl Markt, the Austrian cross-country mountain biker won in dominant style at Round 2 of the Cyprus Sunshine Cup, held on Sunday, by the ancient city of Amathus, on the southern coast of the island. With Round 2 in Men and Women, Cyprus Sunshine Cup wrapped up for this year.
According to a press release, Gunn Rita took the lead shortly after the field completed the start loop, and from there she went on to establish a lead of up to 45 seconds.
In pursuit was the Belgian Champion, Githa Michiels and behind her was the young Dane, Malene Degn. Racing for the first time since the World Championships in Cairns, Degn was unsure of how the race would go, but was ultimately very happy with this test of form.
After four laps Dahle-Flesjaa took victory by 35 seconds from Michiels. Degn was third a further two minutes back.
With her win today, Dahle-Flesjaa takes the overall Cyprus Sunshine Cup title, an orange jersey that she will surely treasure after such an enjoyable stay here in Cyprus over the past weeks. This will be Dahle Flesjaa’s final Sunshine Cup as a professional, and we are hugely humbled to have had her race here over the years.
In the Elite men’s field, Karl Markt led from early on but he had to shake off the likes of Jan Skarnitzl, Gregor Raggl and Daniel Federspiel before he could claim victory.
Markt kept up the high pace and by lap three Skarnitzl and Raggl could no longer hold the wheel. At the finish, both riders were full of praise for the winner who was simply too fast for them today. Skarnitzl has had some sickness since Afxentia, and Raggl conceded that he always struggles for speed in the early races, and so both riders dropped back and consolidated their 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.
With 70 points from Afxentia and 100 points for the win today, Markt claimed the overall Cyprus Sunshine Cup victory, just as he did back in 2011. In second place overall is his team mate and Austrian compatriot, Gregor Raggl.
With a 5th place today and 50 points from Afxentia, Swede Michael Olsson takes the third place overall.