The men's race turned into a battle between two compatriots when Dutchman Rudi van Houts dropped out of the three-man leading group. Earlier, his Spanish team-mate José Antonio Hermida had suffered a puncture and dropped back. On the third of six laps, the Czechs Ondrej Cink and Jan Skarnitzl increased their lead to half a minute, while the Swiss Thomas Litscher fought his way up to the chasing group. Cink and Skarnitzl stayed together until the last lap. Then Cink, last year's overall fifth in the World Cup, pulled out a lead on a climb. "Ondrej was a little stronger in this section every lap and I couldn't close the gap on the last lap," said Jan Skarnitzl, explaining the decision. "It was a great race and I'm happy with the result. Ondrej was very strong."

The victorious Cink crossed the finish line 17 seconds earlier and was naturally delighted with his first win of the season. "I felt tired during the week and didn't feel so good yesterday either. But today was perfect. It was a very, very good day for me," said Cink. Behind the two Czechs, Thomas Litscher finished in third place and said with satisfaction: "Finally it went well. That reassures me. My first lap didn't go so well, but then I was able to ride a good rhythm."

With a puncture to victory
The 21-year-old U23 world champion gets a puncture on the first lap. 40 seconds behind the three leading women at the time, she starts the second of four laps in seventh position. She fights her way back into the lead on this lap. By the end of the third lap, together with Klemencic from Slovenia, she rides eight seconds ahead of Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (NOR) and a further 15 seconds ahead of Maja Wloszczowska (POL).

The duo quickly increase their lead and the final downhill leads to an exciting finish. Blaza Klemencic leads and Jolanda Neff can't get past for the time being. Both reach the asphalt passage in Voroklini. "Blaza took the outside line and I was able to slip through on the inside," Neff explains how she passed the Slovenian. "I felt very good on the climbs and I wasn't slow on the downhill either. But Jolanda is so fast on the downhill, I had no chance," admits Klemencic.
With the victory in Voroklini, Neff also takes the overall victory in the Cyprus Sunshine Cup.

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