It is opening winner Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing) who decides the second 52-kilometre stage of the Afxentia stage race - but not by choice. The Olympic silver medal winner from Rio 2016 suffered a puncture on the longest downhill, blocking the riders behind him. This gave Frenchman Jordan Sarrou (BH-Sr Suntour-KMC) and Dane Sebastian Carstensen Fini (CST Sandd American Eagle) the chance to escape.

The duo defended their lead of up to 40 seconds almost until the final, sometimes brutal climb, which was around five kilometers long. But before that, Carstensen crashed heavily in a bend and lost contact with Sarrou, who is known as a good climber. The Frenchman thus won the stage with a 51-second lead over the Pole Bartlomej Wawak (Kross Racing), who caught up with Carstensen Fini on the last 50 meters of the climb. The latter battled on the Pole's rear wheel and secured third place on the podium, 58 seconds behind Sarrou.

Jaroslav Kulhavy loses around two and a half minutes due to the defect, but he really steps on the gas again in the chase. On the final climb, he even reaches the chasing group and finishes seventh, one minute behind Sarrou. As second overall, just 13 seconds behind Sarrou, he kept his chances in the overall classification alive.

Thomas Litscher (jb Brunex Felt), second in the time trial the day before, lost all chances of a top placing due to a total of three defects. "I have new material and now is the time to test. I wasn't able to assess it like that beforehand," says Litscher, who reaches the finish 14 minutes behind.
Fabian Giger is gaining momentum. Wawak's team colleague also delivers a strong race and finishes the stage in fifth place, just under a minute behind winner Sarrou.

Jordan Sarrou: "When Sebastian crashed, I just tried to give everything on the climb to keep the lead. I'm happy about this stage because I was in the lead after the downhill and very happy about the win. But the cross-country race on Sunday will be decisive for the overall standings."

Bartlomej Wawak: "It was like every year here, the climb to Lefkara is super tough. Only my teammate Fabian Giger and the Austrian Karl Markt worked in the chasing group. So we couldn't get any closer to Jordan and Sebastian. I felt good myself and am pleased that I made it onto the podium."

Sebastian Carstensen Fini: "The crash happened to me because I was too close to Jordan's rear wheel and didn't see the ground. I then tried to get up the climb as quickly as possible to defend my podium place. I felt good the whole time. Now it hurts and I will probably need stitches." Carstensen Fini was bleeding on the right part of his bottom and on his right elbow.

Jaroslav Kulhavy: "When I had the puncture, I was sure that the race was over for me. But luckily the technical zone came earlier than in previous years. I lost maybe two and a half minutes and then rode pretty crazy fast after that. Now I'm back in the game, there are still two stages to go. Overall, I'm very happy with my condition."

Michiel's strong start on the final climb

As in the men's race, it was the long descent in the women's race that was decisive. Ukrainian Yana Belomoina (CST Sandd American Eagle) was in the leading position when she suffered a puncture. The 2015 World Championship bronze medallist loses all chances in the overall standings, almost ten minutes behind the winner Michiels.

Her bad luck puts Sabine Spitz (WIAWIS) alone in the leading position. The German is around 30 seconds ahead of Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Merida Gunn-Rita). The Norwegian then has company from behind in the person of Barbara Benko (Focus XC), Githa Michiels (Versluys) and the Dutchwoman Anne Terpstra (Ghost Factory Racing) in the yellow jersey.

As the chasing group rides into the final climb, Githa Michiels attacks. The Belgian champion gets out of the saddle and leaves her line a little. Barbara Benko has to take evasive action and gets stuck on a wall. The Hungarian champion has to get off her bike and loses contact. Michiels shows a strong finish. About two kilometers before the finish, she reaches Sabine Spitz and passes her immediately, ultimately winning the stage by 26 seconds and also taking the yellow jersey.
Dahle-Flesjaa finished in third place, 32 seconds back, with Benko in fourth place, 54 seconds behind. In the overall standings, Michiels leads after two of four days with 24 seconds ahead of Benko and 28 seconds ahead of Spitz.

Githa Michiels: "I didn't expect that. I didn't feel particularly good today and burst on the first climb. I then took it a bit easier because I knew that the last climb would be very tough. I found a good group and was able to come back. Now I'm enjoying this moment and tomorrow we'll see how it goes."

Sabine Spitz: "When I passed the Dipotamus Dam, I was able to look back and saw a chasing group. I was able to defend my lead until the last climb. When Githa caught up with me, she passed me straight away. I didn't want to overreach, but I'm more than happy with my condition."
Sabine Spitz had to undergo knee surgery last fall and was therefore only able to start her pre-season preparation late.

Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa: "I suffered like hell, like the other ladies probably did too. I can't complain about my form, especially as I had a sinus infection before the trip to Cyprus. I tried to go at my own pace. Going into the last climb, I thought 'oh no', but the others probably felt the same. Without a defect like yesterday, I had fun today in the great landscape."

www.cyclingcy.com

Cyprus Sunshine Cup, Afxentia 2017, stage 1
Men Elite
1.	Jordan Sarrou (FRA)	02:02:52
2.	Bartlomiej Wawak (POL)	02:03:44
3.	Sebastian Carstensen Fini (DEN)	02:03:50
4.	Jan Skarnitzl (CZE)	02:03:51
5.	Fabian Giger (SUI)	02:03:51
Women Elite
1.	Githa Michiels (BEL)	02:25:15
2.	Sabine Spitz (GER)	02:25:41
3.	Gunn Rita Dahle Flesja (NOR)	02:25:48
4.	Barbara Benko (HUN)	02:26:09
5.	Anne Terpstra (NED)	02:26:31