Markt wins cross country, takes over men's lead

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Karl Markt (Felt Otztal X-Bionic) won the men's point-to-point cross country race and moved into the overall lead at the Cyprus Sunshine Cup. The Austrian topped Switzerland's Fabian Giger (Rabobank Giant Offroad Team) by 36 seconds and Czech Jan Skarnitzl (Rider Rubena Birell Specialized) by 1:08 to take the victory.

Markt leads Giger by 59 seconds on general classification while Skarnitzl holds third, 1:07 off the pace.

The decisive moment in the 44.7km men's race occurred on the long uphill singletrack section which started at km 35. Markt and Sweden's Emil Lindgren (Rabobank Giant Offroad Team) led while Periklis Ilias (Greek National Team - Protek) followed in third place, all part of a 15-man lead group. Then, Ilias made a mistake which helped Markt and Lindgren to go clear.

The lead duo topped the climb with a 20-second lead over Giger, the first chaser. "I couldn't follow them because of Periklis but when I saw it's my teammate Emil with Karl, I thought it would be okay because Emil is a good downhill rider," Giger said.

Unfortunately, Lindgren suffered a flat on the descent which caused him to crash while in the race lead. The Swede was forced to ride the remainder of the race on his rim and he dropped to 12th place by the finish.

Markt soloed through to the finish for the win, followed by Giger and Skarnitzl.

"I had another good day and was lucky that Emil was crashed," said Markt. "When we were pushing the pace uphill nobody was able to follow us. I hope for the same legs tomorrow to secure the overall title."

Giger hopes for a better performance in the final day's racing. "My shape is okay and maybe I could have been able to follow Karl and Emil. I hope to make the podium tomorrow."

Skarnitzl had some difficulties of his own en route to a third place on the day and overall. "It was good today but in the long downhill I had problems with my chain. As a result I was not possible to follow Fabian. Maybe I would have been able to follow him, but it's only a maybe".

Langvad extends lead

Opening day time trial winner Annika Langvad (Easton Rockets) prevailed for the second straight day with a dominating performance in the elite women's event. The Dane bettered runner-up Lene Byberg (Specialized Factory Team) by 4:03 and Elisabeth Brandau (Central Haibike) by nearly six minutes. The victory puts Langvad 5:17 ahead of Byberg overall while Blaza Klemencic (Felt Otztal X-Bionic) lies in third place, 6:48 behind.

"It went perfect for me," said Langvad. "My tactic was not go as fast in the beginning and it went well, when I was able to follow the juniors."

"It was an on and off today," said Byberg. "I need to find the balance in my speed. It was not possible to follow Annika but I did not feel bad."

The Cyprus Sunshine Cup concludes on Sunday with a cross country race.