Olympic champion Spitz confirmed for Sunshine Cup

Olympic champion Sabine Spitz confirmed her participation in Cyprus Sunshine Cup. The German will lead a contingent of riders from nations such as Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Spitz traditionally uses the Mediterranean island as a place for early-season preparations. Last year, she won two races as she readied for her eventual gold medal ride in Beijing, China, at the Olympic Games.

"We are used to having Sabine Spitz in our competitions, but we are not used to having the Olympic champion," said Sunshine Cup organizer Michalis Hadjioannou. "This puts us on a higher level. Spitz will race at least two races of the Sunshine Cup series."

She will be joined at the races by fellow German Olympian Adelheid Morath and Junior World Championship runner-up Barbara Benkó.

The German national team will again visit Cyprus as in previous years, and joining the already confirmed Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm at the races will be top riders from several countries: Tim Böhme, Thomas Dietsch, German U23 champion Andy Eyring, Christoph Bischof, Marco Pirrazoli, Alexander Wetterhall and Karl Markt.