The Cyprus Sunshine Cup 2024 was completed with the 25th edition of the historic race “Afxentia” in the Macheras Forest, with Anne Terpstra from the Netherlands confirming her dominance in this year’s event in the women’s category and Israeli Gil Ly Gonen emerging victorious in the men’s category, with a difference of two seconds from Ukrainian Oleksandr Hudyma.

A press release said Terpstra reached the Macheras race first at the finish, as happened in the two previous races in ancient Amathus and Tochni. Second overall was Lotte Koopmans, also from the Netherlands, and third was Jitka Cabelicka from the Czech Republic.

Israel’s Gil Ly Gonen won the event, despite being off the podium for the first time in Sunday’s race due to a problem he encountered during the course with a bicycle component, finishing fifth, after first place in Ancient Amathus and second place in Tochni. Second overall was Ukrainian Dmytro Titarenko and third was Lukas Kobes from the Czech Republic.

Of the Cypriot entries, the highest placements were held by Constantina Georgiou in the women who took the sixth place in the overall ranking and George Kouzis who ranked 12th overall.

The Cyprus Sunshine Cup, established in 1997, is one of the oldest and most important Mountain Bike events in the world. The event is returning to the UCI Mountain Bike calendar in 2024 after four years. There is a new format with three Cross-Country races on February 21, 24, and 25. The event attracts some of the biggest names in Mountain Bike in the world.

The race in Macheras took place in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Costas Koumis, who said that the Cyprus Sunshine Cup is “one of the most important ambassadors for sports tourism in Cyprus, as it promotes our country and its beauties around the world”.

This year the event hosted athletes from 14 countries, not only from Europe but also from the US and Mexico, as well as national teams such as Greece and Ukraine, he said.