The BH-Sr Suntour-KMC duo tried to act tactically as a team on the second stage. "The plan was for us to go into the long singletrail in first and second position, but Stephane couldn't overtake," explains Maxime Marotte after he reaches the finish 23 seconds behind.

So Marotte comes out of the long singletrail with a 20-second lead with just over 20 kilometers remaining. The chasing group, led by Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factory Racing), closed the gap again and as the final four-kilometre climb up to Lefkara began, the battle for the stage win was on.

Around 400 meters before the finish, in a very steep passage, Grant Ferguson (Betch.nl Superior-Brentjens) attacked. "I had to try, why wouldn't I", laughs the Brit. "Of course I tried to win the stage, but I'm surprised I managed it," he adds.

No one can follow him straight away. Henrique Avancini, who was seen as the strongest rider on the day by a number of competitors, missed the attack. "Grant started at the right moment, but nothing is decided. I hope I can surprise him again tomorrow," says Avancini. And: "It's true, for a while I had the feeling that I was the strongest in the group. My form is pretty good and I hope I can continue that on Saturday."

Stephane Tempier lost nine seconds and took third place on the podium. "Grant was extremely strong on that last climb, but we're in a good position with the team in the overall standings. We'll see what kind of strategy we can ride tomorrow." He is now eleven seconds behind Forian Vogel, who can defend his leader's jersey in fourth place. Stage winner Ferguson is also eleven seconds behind. This promises a very exciting stage on Saturday in Lythrodontas.

Langvad remains cool
In the women's race, the situation is clearer. Annika Langvad (Specialized Racing) and Jolanda Neff (Stöckli Pro) come together on the last long climb to Lefkara. "I wasn't sure whether Jolanda wasn't that strong today or whether she would mount a counter-attack. That's why I tried to choose my rhythm so that I could still react. But she couldn't follow me," said Langvad, explaining how she won the stage and slipped into the yellow jersey. "It was so cool today. Last year Jolanda left me behind on the downhills, but today I was able to keep her behind me. I tried to stay cool and knew that I was strong on the last climb. Yeah!"

Jolanda Neff does not look disappointed. "I'm not at the same point as last year, I know that. I started my preparation later. That's no excuse, Annika was very, very strong today. Congratulations to her. I'm not dissatisfied because I know why," says the young Swiss. And then, addressing Margot Moschetti (Betch.nl Superior Brentjens), she adds: "She was very, very strong on the climbs, respect". Neff loses 1:24 minutes to Langvad.

Margot Moschetti (Betch.nl Superior Brentjens) formed the leading group with Neff and Langvad after the first climb, but lost contact on the long downhill. "I then rode my own pace, but the feeling was very good today," says a grinning U23 runner-up. She loses 2:55 minutes to Langvad.

Kathrin Stirnemann finished fourth, 7:40 minutes back. "I'm very happy with that," says the Haibike Ötztal rider from Switzerland. She is not happy with the fact that her future Cape Epic partner Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Multivan-Merida) had a tire puncture just at the time of the race when they were riding together. "Too bad, I thought we could ride together for a while, but she had a puncture right after the second technical zone," said Stirnemann, annoyed. Dahle-Flesjaa then had another puncture after the third technical zone and crossed the finish line a long time late. Elisabeth Osl (Ghost Factory Racing) from Austria finished fifth on the day (+9:06).

Photos© Armin Küstenbrück and Erhard Goller

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