With the organization of cycling races and the participation in international races on Rhodes island - Greece for the National Mens team, the riders return to the racing action!
The National Cycling Cup starts - Road Championships moved to Autumn
As mentioned in the announcement of the Cypus Cycling Federation, as soon as a relaxation of the Covid-19 mitigation measures, which prevented the organization of races and events for individual sports, was announced, the managing board met immediately and approved the proposal of the technical committee for the rescheduling of the cycling calendar on the island. The immediate response was made possible, since the governing body of the sport in Cyprus, in cooperation with the event organisers, never ceased to examine possible scenarios, to cover all possible dates of race resuming.
Provided that the necessary permits are issued by the Ministry of Health, the riders will stand once again on the start line during the weekend of April 17-18, with two hill-climb time trial races being held. The action will start with the Stavrovouni hill climb on Saturday, April 17th, a race organized by Agrotis Bicycle Center and will continue on the Klirou-Fikardou course the following day, where Omonoia Lefkosias will take over the organization.
The most important stops in the redesigned calendar are the international mountain bike race which will be co-organized in Lythrodontas on April 25th by Agios Mnason cycling club and the Lythrodontas community, as well as the National Championship races which are planned to be held on the following dates:
- 12/6/2021: MTB Marathon Championships - Fterikoudi - Organiser: APOEL
- 11/7/2021: MTB Olympic Format Championships - Troodos - Organiser: Cyprus Cycling federation
- 13/10/2021: Road - Time Trial Championships - Organiser: Cyprus Cycling federation
- 17/10/2021: Road Race Championships - Organiser: Cyprus Cycling federation
- 31/10/2021: MTB Eliminator Championships - Organiser: Irakleitos club
- 21/11/2021: MTB Downhill Championships - Organiser: Cyprus Downhill club
The road championships were initially planned for May, but due to the long racing pause, and to limit the possibilities of cancellation, it was decided to move them to October.
In total, 26 racing days are planned, each one of which includes 15-20 races for all the official racing categories, as well as open races for the sport fans!
See the revised national calendar
The men's national team is in Rhodes
A full National team, comprising of 7 riders, is already in Rhodes and getting ready to race in two international road events to be held between 4 and 11 of April on the Greek island.
The team is comprised of Andreas Miltiades, Alexandros Agrotis, Alexandros Matsangos, Constantinos Thimides, Constantinos Pavlides, Christos Philokyprou, and Stavros Theophanous. They will be supported by Stavros Georgiou, the general secretary of the federation and Anestis Kourmpetis, in his first race as a National coach/selector, a role he undertook last January.
The Cyprus National team will race initially on April 4th, at the Rhodes GranPrix and then between 8 and 11 of April at the 4-day Tour of Rhodes. Our athletes will line up against 169 other riders, belonging to 25 other teams. Amongst them three other National teams and some of the teams of the top European cycling race circuit - the Europe Tour.
Due to the measures against Covid-19 in Cyprus since January, the team arrived in Rhodes without any racing kilometers on their legs, which will be a disadvantage compared to their competitors. Nevertheless, since they took advantage of the long raceless period to prepare optimally, they have high hopes for some good racing days, hoping for the best outcome possible!
Andreas Miltiades in finish sprint action during the 2019 Tour of Rhodes
In past years, Cypriot riders fared well in the Rhodes international races, with both Alexandros Agrotis and Andreas Miltiades getting close to podium positions in individual stages as well as the General Classification. In 2018, Agrotis finished in the 4th position of the Under-23 General Classification of the Tour of Rhodes (10th overall) while Miltiades touched the podium in 2019 with a 3rd position on stage 2 as well as 4th overall in the General Classification.
It is noteworthy to mention the effort by the Cyprus Cycling Federation to refresh the National Team, with the presence of the three 19-year old riders, Philokyprou, Pavlides and Theophanous, for whom 2021 will be their first year in the Elite category.
