The Crocodile Trophy

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World Cup Champion Mauro Bettin Arrives

John-Michael Flynn. Photos; Mark Watson / 17.10.2005

U.C.I. World Cup Champion Mauro Bettin will carry winning form into the Crocodile Trophy mountain bike race which begins later today Australian time in the steamy tropics of Townsville, North Queensland.

Fresh from claiming third place in the final round of the Marathon World Cup Series in France (a result which gives him the World Cup Title for 2005!), Bettin jetted into Australia on Sunday Night and chose to take a well earned rest before embarking on a light training ride Monday afternoon.

Emerging from the comfortable surrounds of The Lakes Resort in Cairns, Bettin said he was “very very happy,� with the World Cup result.

The rider who will start the Crocodile Trophy as team leader of the Felt-Shimano Dream Team has strong support to draw upon including Germany’s Kai Hundertmark and Jens Zemke, both of whom are seasoned veterans of elite stage racing.

But significant doubts still hang over Bettin’s capacity to rapidly acclimatize in the sometimes searing heat of Australia’s North.

“I will stay with the group maybe the first three stages,� Bettin revealed of his immediate race plan.

But how long that plan lasts will depend upon the form of Bettin’s
main rivals. In particular Adam Hansen of Cairns, the reigning Crocodile Trophy champion, who will lead the Cairns
Coconut Caravan Resort team.

“I think Hansen is the rider to win after last year,� Bettin said of his fellow protagonist.

When the final start list for the 2005 Crocodile Trophy was revealed today it contained the names of 41 riders who will embark on the 1400 kilometre journey between Townsville and Port Douglas, via the rugged roads of Australia’s remote outback.

The field includes individuals and teams from eleven countries including Austria, Germany, Denmark, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, The Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and The United States.

The event begins with a 30 kilometre prologue on the foreshore at Rowes Bay in the Tropical city of Townsville. It’s a mere tempter for what is to come, as the race heads firstly into the rainforest covered mountains of Tropical Queensland, then on into the dusty dry outback.

Over the next two weeks the Crocodile Trophy will trace its way north, into the Savannah lands of lower Cape York, via Mount Mulgrave and the mythical Quinkan country of Laura, before returning to Australia’s Tropical North Coast at Cooktown.

The penultimate stage will take cyclists through the magnificent Daintree rainforest, before the race finishes on Four Mile Beach in the idyllic haven of Port Douglas.See All Event Posts