Sunshine Cup Round 2 - Macheras Mountains, Cyprus

Overall Result

The team took on the three day stage race in the Marcheras Mountains for the fourth year in a row this weekend and in good company with five time National Champion, Oli Beckingsale and top UK Elite, Lee Williams.

The stage race is a gruelling three days starting with a Time Trial (one lap of the XC course). Day two is a point to point race with nearly 5000 feet of climbing and some fast technical downhills. The final day is a 5 lap XC race on a technical course deep in the Marcheras mountains.

Stage 1
After some good training since last weeks XC race in Voroklini the team were joined by Manager, Will Cooper and our Mechanic, Ian Roff. Alex was competing in his first three day event and got stuck into the Time Trial with his usual grit and determination to post a good time of 20.19 putting him in 10th place and a good start to the weekend.

Chris was the first rider off in the senior category and showed that he is in some very good early season form by clocking a time of 18.46; this was followed by a good time from Ben with a 19.28. Paul meanwhile was having a nightmare and after getting stuck behind a slow rider in the singletrack crashed trying to make up time finishing with a slightly disappointing 20.23.

Lee Williams of Wiggle posted a fast time of 18.43 while Oli was on a stormer clocking in at 17.06 putting him in 11th place in the standings.

Stage 2
After the flat out effort yesterday it was now time for the toughest stage with the point to point having everything from tough uphill singletrack to fast hold on tight descents!

Alex had an early start in the Junior race and rode solidly with a mature performance leaving him 8th on the day after watching the Russians do a through and off session along the stretches of fire road!

The Elite men’s field was a mass start of over 100 riders and after the pace car had turned away the race went full gazz up the 4km steep road before turning into the off road fun. Chris was in amongst the action straight from the gun and mixing it up with the World’s Elite riders – he continued to ride strongly with Lee Williams of Wiggle, the pair working together before Lee kicked on. Chris finished in a very strong 53rd position just a few minutes behind Lee who finished 33rd.

Ben and Paul were both riding hard a bit further back down the field and came in shattered in 71st and 73rd respectively. Oli was riding from the front and put in a great effort to finish just 3 minutes down on the winner in 17th place.

Stage 3
Day three is always the hardest with tired legs from the previous two days and usually some cuts and bruises from the tough sections of trail that the riders face.

The course has changed from previous years and whilst it’s great to ride it’s now even tougher with lots of tight uphill singletrack and steep gnarly descents. Alex was again an early start and got straight into the action before twisting his chain and having to chase back, which he did well to finish in 9th on the day and keeping very consistent throughout the three days.

Chris, Ben and Paul were all riding wheel to wheel around the start loop and all rode a strong final day to hold onto their respective overall positions without incident.

Oli had to retire on lap two after a bad crash in the point to point on the previous day had left him pretty sore. This left him without an overall for the three days, which was gutting considering the form he was in.

Lee had problems with his bike in the lead up to the race and took a loan of Alex’s Cannondale Flash for the race getting to the start line with just seconds to spare. This must have given him the incentive he needed as he put in a stunning performance to finish in 37th position on the day and 34th overall!

It has been a gruelling three days on the bike but now its time for some relaxation, recovery, coffee and hopefully a bit of sun. We say goodbye to Oli on Monday who has been a pleasure to have around and whilst Chris, Alex and Lee stay in Cyprus for the final round of the series in Amathous – Paul and Ben fly to Israel on Wednesday for three more races before returning home later on in March.

The team would like to thank all of their sponsors as well as the support of team manager and mechanic who have looked after all the guys here throughout the stage race!