Loeb is closing in on a third successive world title

The Citroen driver's eighth win of the season was secured when he came home 21 seconds clear of Marcus Gronholm.

Loeb now only needs to finish in front of Gronholm next time out in Turkey, or in the first four if the Finn wins, to clinch his third straight world title.

Gronholm finished in third place, 26 seconds behind Loeb.

Going into the third day, Loeb had a 21.8 second lead over Gronholm, which he extended when he won Sunday's opening stage.

Now we can hopefully go to Turkey and confirm the championship Sebastien Loeb

But the Ford driver proved he was not going down without a fight, winning the rest of the day's stages.

"It's my third win in a row in Cyprus," said Loeb after his eighth win of the season. "It doesn't get much better."

"I gave everything I could from start to finish.

"Marcus pushed me very hard for two days. Now we can hopefully go to Turkey and confirm the championship."

A disappointed Gronholm shrugged off his own setback, saying: "We are fighting to win rallies and manufacturers' (points). We are a bit down now, but wait, wait," he said.

"It was a big ask to try and catch Seb. The team decided that it was more important that we confirmed second place and collected championship points. After the first stage this morning it was time to be sensible."

Gronholm's team mate Mikko Hirvonen was third overall and said he would pay particular attention to the set-up of his Ford Focus in Turkey next month.

"I made a big mistake with the car set-up," Hirvonen said.

Rally of Cyprus final result:

1. S Loeb (Fr) Citroen Xsara 4hr 40min 50.4sec
2. M Gronholm (Fin) Ford Focus @ 21.2 secs
3. M Hirvonen (Fin) Ford Focus @ 5:16.1
4. M Stohl (Aut) Peugeot 307 @ 6:39.7
5. T Gardemeister (Fin) Citroen Xsara @ 8:40.4
6. X Pons (Sp) Citroen Xsara @ 10:05.9
7. H Solberg (Nor) Peugeot 307 @ 14:40.0
8. P Solberg (Nor) Subaru Impreza @ 15:21.5
9. C Atkinson (Aus) Subaru Impreza @ 17:15.0
10. M Wilson (GB) Ford Focus @ 25:21.0

Overall driver standings:
1. S Loeb (Fr) 112 pts
2. M Gronholm (Fin) 77
3. D Sordo (Sp) 41
4. M Hirvonen (Fin) 39
5. M Stohl (Aut) 33
6. P Solberg (Nor) 23
7. T Gardemeister (Fin) 20
8. H Solberg (Nor) 18
9. G Galli (It) 15
10. C Atkinson (Aus) 14