Hatherly Top, but Wawak and Cink Victorious

Nullam at tellus volutpat

The beautiful but brutal XCO course in Macheras Forest was a fitting setting to wrap up an Epic race. It was another day, another win for Specialized in the Elite Women’s race whilst a tight fight for the overall made for intriguing Men’s race.

Despite knowing his teammate was sick, and that their overall lead was just 47.58 seconds, Bartlomiej Wawak had a big job on his hands today. Despite generally being stronger on the longer stages, the Polish Champion more than stood up to the challenge.

As they planned, Wawak was in the lead from the outset, but he was soon joined Alan Hatherly (Specialized) which piled on the pressure. As they predicted, Cink was struggling. However, with Simon Andreassen also back with Cink, the overall was more or less neutralised.

Bartlomej Wawak: „The tactics for today were different than we planned because Ondrej didn’t feel so good, a little sick, before the start so obviously I had a job to do today to save our gap! So I just followed Alan and tried to ride safe. I’m really happy because it’s my first win here in Cyprus – normally I finish in a strong place but never the win so it’s something special for me. ”

The marathon specialists from Future Cycling Northwave were in for a tough day trying to defend their second place against the cross-country stars, but Martin Stosek looked to have it well under control. He was riding in the top three together with Hatherly and Wawak in the early stages, but a flat rear tyre stripped the team of their podium position and they dropped completely out of contention.

Meanwhile, the youth and experience team of Christopher Blevins and Florian Vogel found themselves perfectly matched and riding together in the chase group. With Wawak and Hatherly off the front but Cink and Andreassen trailing behind, the Specialized duo managed to clinch the stage victory with fifth and eight places.

A strong last lap from Hatherly saw him pull clear of Wawak to cross the line first. This time gain was almost exactly matched by that of Cink over Andreassen, but the Specialized team clung onto second on the day and settled for second overall.

WOMEN: Langvad and Batten showing no weakness

Specialized Racing’s Annika Langvad and Haley Batten led into Stage 4 with a very comfortable 11 minute lead on the overall classification, but that did not stop them giving it full gas on the final day of racing. After the fast-starting Kate Courtney began to fade, Langvad took to the front and never looked back.

Behind, a chase group formed with Batten, Kate Courtney (Scott-SRAM), and Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing). Erin Huck (Scott-SRAM) then made it a strong-looking quartet, but it was not long before splits began to appear. Courtney was not having her best day and as she dropped back, Batten surged forward.

Specialized Racing and Scott-SRAM looked secure in second and third for the stage and for the overall, but third place was up for grabs for Jitka Cabelicka and Tanja Zakelj (Gapp Systems – UNIOR) if Trek Factory Racing faltered.

Despite not feeling particularly well yesterday, Emily Batty put in a solid ride today. The pressure was on after Cabelicka had a fast start, but the Czech Champion faded and Batty was ultimately able to finish comfortably ahead. This meant Trek took third on the day and defended third overall.

Winner Stage 1 (Pyrga – Kornos 19.5km):