Liam Killeen started his season strongly with a third place finish in the opening race of the Cyprus Sunshine Cup series.

Seven riders formed a lead group early in the race, contested over five laps of a 6km course, with Killeen (Giant), Fabian Giger (Rabobank-Giant) and world cross country champion Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) going clear early in the final lap.

Kulhavy made his move on the final descent, before extending his lead on the climb to the finish to cross the line two seconds ahead of Giger, with Killeen a further one second adrift.

“I felt comfortable in the lead group,” said Killeen, who was riding a Giant XtC Composite 29er. “It’s good to be back in the front. It was a hard and fast race, maybe one lap too short. I hope to improve more and more.”

Kulhavy added: “It was a crazy race. After the start, I had bad legs. During the race, they became better and better. I managed to get into the lead before the downhill and then sprinted up the last climb.”