Greek gods looked down favorably on Gran Fondo Apollo-Aphrodite on 4 October in the city of Limassol, Cyprus, blessing participants with beautiful sunny Mediterranean blue skies.

The 96km race retraced 10,000 years of ancient sites linked to the gods of Olympus – specifically Aphrodite and Apollo.

In the Men’s race, Alexandros Matsangos (ELITE CYCLING) had the gods on his side as he soloed to victory in a time of 2:20:59. Alexandros Agrotis finished second in 2:21:00 and Georgios Fattas (POP) earned the third and final podium spot with a time of 2:21:20.

In the Women’s category, Dutch cyclist Annemiek Stegehui (POP) was fastest, finishing in 2:57:54. Kalia Lazarou took second place with a time of 3:04:50, while Sarah Toms crossed the finish line in 3:05:23 to take third place.

The race wound through idyllic villages, past ancient Greek monuments and up 1500m into coastal mountains before finishing in the ancient city of Kourion.

Worldwide Gran Fondo and Gravel Fondo Calendar