Five riders still have their legs in the game for the overall standings ahead of the final cross-country race. So the pace is very high right from the start. Maxime Marotte (FRA/BH-Sr Suntour-KMC) is the first of the quintet to have to let the lead group go. Six riders, including Grant Ferguson (GBR/Betch.nl Superior Brentjens) and Olympic champion Jaroslav Kulhavy (CZE/Specialized Racing) are at the front. Defending champion Fabian Giger is then the next to give up the fight for overall victory - he loses contact.

Three riders remain. The leader Florian Vogel (SUI/Focus XC) is in control, Stephane Tempier (FRA/BH-Sr Suntour-KMC) hangs on to his rear wheel and Henrique Avancini (BRA/Cannondale Factory Racing) attacks several times. "On the climbs and downhill," says the Brazilian. "But Florian was simply the strongest today. He is a deserved winner.

Florian Vogel was able to counter all attacks, while Tempier had problems on the penultimate lap. He loses a few seconds and is unable to catch up again. "It was too hard for me today. Henrique and Florian were simply better, no question. I gave it everything I had. I had to suffer quite a bit on the last lap, but in the end, third place is okay for me. It was the first race of the season and it was certainly good training," said the Frenchman.

On the final lap, the door to overall victory is still open for Avancini. He has to take 17 seconds off Vogel. But it is the Swiss himself who takes action. Two kilometers before the finish, Vogel attacks and escapes. "Sorry." Vogel pats his rival on the shoulder at the finish, "I wanted to play it safe and make sure Tempier didn't come back. If I had crashed, I could have lost everything."

There is certainly no need to apologize for his second stage win. Avancini is satisfied. "I didn't win, but it was a good four days for me. I'm in good shape, but there are still things I can improve," says the South American.

Florian Vogel crosses the finish line 20 seconds ahead and celebrates his first Afxentia overall victory. "The legs are really good again today. I was also able to ride tactically. I then went on the offensive when I realized that Tempier was having problems on the climbs. Yesterday he was so strong on the downhill that I wanted to play it safe. It went really well for me," explained the two-time World Cup winner from Switzerland. Only eleven seconds separated him and Tempier before the final stage.

Olympic champion Jaroslav Kulhavy had his best of four days at the end and finished the cross-country race in fourth place: "Today went better. Overall, I was too tired, but as training it was okay."

Neff with back pain - Langvad in rhythm

In the women's race, it was only the 5.4-kilometre start lap when a leading group was still together and the tension in the battle for overall victory remained high.
Then Annika Langvad (DEN/Specialized Racing) decides to step on the gas before entering a singletrail. "I knew I had to be the first in there. From then on, it went pretty well, I was able to ride my own rhythm. When I heard that I had 1:40 minutes on Margot, I decided not to take any more risks. I'm in very good shape and have a very good base for the Cape Epic," said Langvad, completely satisfied with her third overall victory in the Afxentia stage race after 2010 and 2012.

Jolanda Neff (Stöckli Pro), who was only 37 seconds behind before the stage, is not in a position to fight for the overall classification. "The first 20 minutes went reasonably well, but then the back pain became too strong, I just couldn't accelerate any more," explained Neff at the finish, her face contorted by pain. The 22-year-old overall World Cup winner loses more and more positions and time, so that in the end she also loses second place overall to Margot Moschetti. Neff finishes 13th

.

In the overall standings, Neff finishes third, directly ahead of her compatriot

Kathrin Stirnemann (Haibike-Ötztal). The Eliminator World Champion finished third on the final stage and was very satisfied. "It was even better than yesterday and that's a good sign. Now it's all about recovering for the Cape Epic," says Stirnemann. Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (NOR/Multivan-Merida) will be her teammate there. The 42-year-old nine-time world champion from Norway got off to a bad start, but then rode her way up to fourth place. "I had problems in the start phase and then it was difficult to overtake. At this time of year I have a diesel engine, but I think it was okay," says Dahle-Flesjaa. Fifth place on the fourth stage went to Yana Belomoina (UKR/Betch.nl Superior Brentjens), who can show her best performance on the final day.

Junior champion and master of masters

Junior World Champion Simon Andreassen from Denmark confidently prevailed on all four days and won his Afxentia premiere. "It was a good decision to come to Cyprus. I enjoyed the races and the beautiful trails here," explains the Dane. Andreassen fails to raise his hands in celebration as he crosses the finish line. The reason: "I had an average value of 340 watts on my computer and I didn't want to get below that level," he said with a smile. That's why he didn't stop pedaling. There's nothing like setting yourself goals.

The 1996 Olympic champion from Atlanta, Bart Brentjens (NED/Betch.nl Superior) has no real competition in the Masters category. "It was good to ride the Afxentia. The cross-country race at the end was tough, I'm not used to that anymore. But it was good preparation for the Cape Epic," says the 46-year-old Dutchman.

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