Antri Christoforou took another commanding victory on home soil in Cyprus by winning the Aphrodite Cycling – Women for future just days after taking victory in the individual time trial.
Part two of a collection of three one day races, the Cypriot champion was helped by her teammates to dominate on the hilly finale with Barbara Malcotti coming over the line in third. Jesse Vandenbulcke and Makayla MacPherson also finished inside the top ten with Katie Clouse eleventh, with the trio doing much of the work to make the racing throughout the day.
“I am very happy about being on the podium with barbara again,” the 30-year-old said afterward. “She is very strong at the moment. I am happy because the girls worked a lot for me today and I wanted to take the win for them.”
Even with a changed course due to snow, the route was no less hilly with the peloton tackling three laps of a longer climb before a one-kilometer-long ramp to the finish. Human Powered Health dominated much of the race, with MacPherson and Clouse setting a high tempo until the lead group shrunk to twelve riders on the second lap.
The squad then began using numbers to their advantage with Vandenbulcke attacking a few kilometers out before Malcotti slingshotted off the first move and accelerated on the final ramp.
“A small group got to her and then I know that it was my job to finish it off because of the work they did,” says Christoforou. “I attacked with 200 meters to go, in a very hard finish and I made it,” she exclaimed.
Malcotti then held on for third behind Urska Pintar (BTC City Ljubljana Scott), with the trio separated by just two seconds.
The Aphrodite Cycling Race concludes on Saturday as the riders tackle a hilly route from Tochni to the uphill finish at the picturesque Stavrovouni Monastery.
Women’s racing continues this week in the United Arab Emirates at the UAE Tour. Follow live updates on our social media channels and watch the four stages on GCN+/Eurosport.
Aphrodite Cycling Race – Women for future results
1 CHRISTOFOROU Antri – Human Powered Health 2:39:48
2 PINTAR Urska – BTC City Ljubljana Scott 0:01
3 MALCOTTI Barbara – Human Powered Health 0:02
4 ZABELINSKAYA Olga – Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team 0:05
5 KUSKOVA Yanina – Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team 0:08
6 COLJE Maaike – Activate Cyprus Mixed Team 0:10
7 MISYURINA Margatrita – Tashkent City Women Professional Cycling Team 0:31
8 VANDENBULCKE Jesse – Human Powered Health 0:37
9 MACPHERSON Makayla – Human Powered Health 1:04
10 ELEFTHERIADOU Aikterini – Greece National Team 1:56
11 CLOUSE Katie – Human Powered Health 2:30
