Kulhavy races to final stage victory as Markt wins overall

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A multi-lap cross country race wrapped up the action at the three-day Afxentia stage race, round two of the Cyprus Sunshine Cup. Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) grabbed the final stage win ahead of overall winner Karl Markt (Felt Ötztal X-Bionic) and Emil Lindgren (Rabobank-Giant). In the women's competition, leader Annika Langvad unfortunately missed the start. That left the door open for Blaza Klemencic (Felt Ötztal X-Bionic) to take the stage in front of Lene Byberg (Specialized), who won the overall. Anja Gradl was third.

In the morning, Kulhavy announced his intention to win the final stage on his brand new 29er full suspension bike. During the first half of the race, he appeared to stay calm, pedalling together with Lindgren, Markt and Henk-Jaap Moorlag (Ned/Rabobank-Giant) for the first two of six laps.

After lap three, Kulhavy accelerated, but Markt and Lindgren were strong enough to follow the increased pace. With two laps to go, Lindgren took his turn and tried to escape, but with no luck. It wasn't until the final lap that Kulhavy went to the front and established a small gap that he would keep until the finish.

"It was perfect today. In the first half of the race, I was saving energy, and in the second half, I went full gas," said Kulhavy of his strategy. "My legs were perfect and to ride with the 29er full suspension was amazing and gave me an advantage in the singletrack and on the downhills."
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Kulhavy defended his lead until the end of the stage, finishing seven seconds ahead of Markt. Lindgren was third at 10 seconds. Moorlag finished fourth.

Overall stage race winner Markt was happy with the GC win. "It was very easy today. In the last lap, I rode the flat section in front position, then Jaroslav attacked and on the climb, I didn't have the best legs any more. But at least the overall win was more important as to go for the stage. I'm happy with my shape, and I've been enjoying the Cyprus Sunshine Cup."

Third placed Lindgren said his performance today made up for yesterday's bad luck. "It was a little bit of revenge for yesterday. In the overall, I had lost too much time because of my puncture. It was a shame, but I had good legs today though Jaroslav was too strong. I tried to go for it with two laps to go, but I couldn't make it."

The battle for third in the overall classification was fought among the chasers Jan Skarnitzl (Rubena Birell Specialized) and Fabian Giger (Rabobank-Giant) as Kulhavy earned second overall. Giger was able to hold contact with Skarnitzl until the penultimate lap. Then Skarnitzl attacked, opened up a gap on Giger and extended it to more than the 10 seconds. Skarnitzl managed to ride himself into third place overall ahead of Giger.

"I lost contact with the leaders in the first lap," said Skarnitzl. "I felt tired after yesterday's race. Fabian and I were riding together and it was very hard to get him off my wheel. I'm satisfied about third place (overall). It's a big surprise."

Giger said he gave everything he had in he hard race, but noted that it wasn't enough. "That's racing. I felt a little bit empty."

Missing race leader opens the race up to others

When women's peloton got the starting signal, one very important racer was missing - the leader. Questions were answered 20 minutes later, when Annika Langvad's Easton Rocket Team arrived at the venue.

Team manager Bernhard Mollnhauer was shocked and blamed himself for the missed start, saying he though the start was two hours later than it was. "I have to take the full responsibility for that big mistake. I feel very sorry for Annika and Tatjana (Dold) who missed the race and everything else," said Mollnhauer.

According to Mollnhauer, Langvad was feeling understandably disappointed about missing the race and losing lots of UCI points and potentially the overall win.

From the beginning, Blaza Klemencic took charge of the race and soon got a gap over Lene Byberg. The Slovenian would go on to win the race.

"I had better legs today, and I'm happy with my first win this year," said Klemencic. "I crashed two times. I was racing with the hardtail, and I felt better with it. I'm sorry for Annika."

Behind Byberg, the German Anja Gradl was trying to hang on, but she gradually slipped back, to a gap of about 55 seconds by mid-race.

Toward the finish, Gradl worked her way partially back up, finishing 24 seconds off runner-up Byberg. But more importantly for the overall, Byberg was only 43 seconds behind Klemencic and therefore took the overall Afxentia title.

"It was a hard day. I could feel the race from yesterday," said Byberg. "I was suffering a little bit the whole race. I was hoping to get closer to Blaza in the end, but I didn't have the power. It was a hard start after that long break with these three stages, but I had fun out there."

Klemencic and Gradl finished second and third overall.

"I had a crash in the first lap while trying to overtake in a downhill," said Gradl. "It was my fault. Concerning the rest of the race, I was totally surprised that my legs were that good. Normally I'm not a good stage racer."

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