Kulhavy claims Cyprus Sunshine Cup finale

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Jaroslav Kulhavy (Rubena Birell Specialized) didn't want to wait to see what strategies his competitors would employ during the men's event. After the first lap, the Czech went to the front, attacked and was never seen again until the race had finished. Kulhavy rode aggressively through the singletrack in the area near the Amathous archeological site and showed good early season form with his 3:05 victory over marathon World Champion Roel Paulissen.

This type of course suits me," said Kulhavy. "After my attack I could ride at my own pace and enjoy the race. I had a super bike and very good tires. At the moment I feel pretty good, and it was a perfect day in the sun."

As the gap to Kulhavy grew, Jan Skarnitzl (Dimp-Giant) and Thomas Litscher (MiG) tried to chase on the rocky 5.6km course.

Behind them Christoph Soukup (Merida) was looking strong, together with Frank Schotman (Stappenbelt-Specialized) and Russian Alexej Medvedev (Corratec). Soukup, however, would be hampered by a broken chain.

For a while René Tann (Germina) was riding in this group but he found the pace too difficult to handle.

Paulissen (Cannondale), however, would soon make his mark on the race. The marathon World Champion suffered a flat tire on the first lap and then put on a strong performance as he got back into the race. He soon passed Schotman and Medvedev and on the fifth of seven laps, he reached Litscher and Skarnitzl.

Litscher dropped off the pace and settled into fourth place, while Paulissen was able to drop Skarnitzl on the last lap to finish second.

"I'm disappointed with the flat tire but happy with the race itself," said Paulissen. "It’s difficult to pass on this course. It was warm weather again and the problems with my back are getting better. All in all I had a good feeling and I think that Cyprus was good training."

The Czech Republic's Skarnitzl was not unhappy with his third place because this meant he won the Cyprus Sunshine Cup overall title.

"I'm very happy, it's a perfect start to the season," said Skarnitzl. "I thought I could make it into the top five and now I'm the winner of the Sunshine Cup. That’s much more than I could expect.

"I enjoyed my two weeks on Cyprus. I'm still a student but this year I have a little break so I had more time to train."

Unexpected women's winner

Mona Eiberweiser was on nobody's list of likely winners in the women's event. It was her first race in the elite category and her first race in 2010, but the 2008 junior European champion attacked right after the start and soon found herself in the lead . The 19-year-old German got a lead of 15 seconds ahead of Denmark's Annika Langvad (HMTBK), who tried to close the gap, but was hindered by a puncture in her rear tire.

Eiberweiser extended her lead on the second of five 5.6km laps to one minute while her teammate Lisi Osl moved up from sixth position.

On the third lap the overall World Cup winner caught her other teammate Anja Gradl and when she was already close to Langvad, the Dane had to change her wheel.

The gap between Osl and Eiberweiser remained stable and so the young Bavarian grabbed the win and a perfect start in the elite category. Langvad was able to finish third and secured the Cyprus Sunshine Cup overall title.

"I was really surprised to be in front of the race," said Eiberweiser. "I had a pretty good start and then I tried to stay in that position. The course has a lot of narrow sections so I could ride my rhythm.

"I never thought I'd be able to win my very first race in the elite category, that’s great. This is a pretty good start to the season with my new team."

Eiberweiser's teammate Osl was pleased with her effort. "I'm satisfied but it was a hard race," said Osl. "After a lot of arduous training it was difficult, especially at the start. I needed two laps to recover. It was also my first time in singletrack this year and I made some mistakes.

"I'm also really happy for Mona. I think it’s a good motivation for her and it’s a perfect start in the elite category.

Despite having some bad luck with a mechanical, Langvad was satisfied with her overall win. "I'm very pleased with my ride," said Langvad. "I think I did the best I could. The other girls were very strong.

"I had a flat tire on the opening loop and I slowly lost air. I'm happy to win the overall. This is a really good start for the season."