The Crocodile Trophy

---

Second Stage Win for German Hundertmarck

John-Michael Flynn / 29.10.2005

Celebrating in style, carrying his bike above his shoulders, German Kai Hundertmarck of the Felt-Shimano Dream Team climbed the steps to the top of historic Grassy Hill in Cooktown, Australia today to record his second stage win for the 2005 Crocodile Trophy.

It was an emphatic victory for the former Telekom cyclist turned ironman triathlete, who once again rode away from the lead bunch and continued alone for eighty kilometres across corrugated roads, winning the stage the hard way.

The German built a lead of close to ten minutes and maintained the margin, driving hard into the South-East trade winds as the epic race left the outback behind for good and reached Australia’s Far Northern coast.

Hundertmarck came to the Crocodile Trophy not knowing what to expect. Today, as he cast his sights seaward from atop the same hill where Captain James Cook once stood searching for a navigable channel through the Great Barrier Reef, Kai could sense his mission was just about complete.

“I’m happy, it was my goal to win a stage, I won two so it’s even more than I expect,� an elated Hundertmarck said.

“I had fun, I suffered, it was a great adventure and hopefully I survive the last two days.�

Respite for Riders on Tough Stage

Today there was some respite for the cyclists with cooler conditions than expected during what is traditionally one of the toughest stages of the Crocodile Trophy.

The one hundred and forty two kilometre journey between Laura and Cooktown included 90 kilometres of corrugated dirt road, with even the most technically proficient cyclists having trouble keeping up momentum as their bikes and bodies were shaken to the core.

For Hundertmarck’s team-mate Jens Zemke, the day almost ended in disaster.

Passing through a creek crossing in a section of relic gondwanan forest in the Lakefield National Park, Zemke went ‘over the hangers’, smashing his elbow on rocks.

“We came just downhill normally it’s a little bit shallow water,� Jens recalled of his major ‘off’.

“I don’t know, maybe I miss this bridge under water it was such deep and I fall over there.�

Jens was patched up on-the-run by the race doctor and fought on to keep his place in the bunch containing the key protagonists, among them his team leader Mauro Bettin, Adam Hansen of the Cairns Coconut Caravan Resort team, Belgian Christophe Stevens and Austrian Heinz Zorweg.

The pack largely stayed together until the final climb up Grassy Hill where Bettin made up a handful of seconds on Hansen, with Stevens coming home in fourth place.



Fight For Overall Race Victory a Cliffhanger!

The fight for the overall classification of this race is set to be a cliff hanger with the key contenders unable to rest easy heading into the crucial Daintree stage tomorrow.

It is there where the battle for the General Classification will be settled once and for all.

There will be a thirteenth stage of the Crocodile Trophy in Port Douglas on Sunday, and while stage honours will be up for grabs, the beach criterium won’t count towards the final race standings.

On current standings Australia’s Adam Hansen holds a margin of 16.44 over Austrian Heinz Zorweg, with Italy’s Mauro Bettin in third place, twenty five minutes behind the leader.

It is fair to say, however that Hansen is not as proficient with the technical side of mountain biking as Italy’s Bettin or Austria’s mountain man Zorweg.

“Bettin’s actually worried about Heinz, he thinks he’ll win,� Hansen revealed post-stage.

“I know Bettin’s not feeling well and we obviously saw Heinz not feeling well on that hill and Heinz actually congratulated me for the win in the Croc Trophy, so it looks like he’s already given up.�

But the Australian is hesitant about making bold predictions of his own success on the infamous C.R.E.B. track, which traverses the world heritage listed Daintree Rainforest.

“To win it, the creb? Don’t know yet,� Hansen said.

“I feel like I’m ten minutes better this year than last year on the CREB, we’ll see.�

In the back of Hansen’s mind is the flat tyre Bettin suffered during stage four of the world’s toughest off-road cycle event, when the leader of the Felt-Shimano Dream Team excelled on the technical mountain descents.

Had the mishap not occurred, there is every chance the Italian would be leading the General Classification heading into the Daintree stage.

Appearing exhausted as he reached the summit of grassy hill this afternoon, Bettin was looking very much forward to tomorrow, when the conditions will perfectly suit the U.C.I. Mountainbike Marathon World Cup champion.

“Only one kilometre very fast today,� Bettin said of his attack on the final climb.

“Tomorrow one stage very strong, tomorrow will be o’k.�

While the winner is likely to come from one of Hansen, Zorweg or Bettin, several riders are still in contention for podium placings.

One of them is Belgian Christophe Stevens who has been among the strongest riders in the 2005 Crocodile Trophy, and who came here with the express intention of getting on the podium.

“Today I was the strongest on the climbs, felt really really good yere,� Stevens claimed.

“If I have the same legs for tomorrow I can finish on the podium, I’m pretty sure about that.

“Tomorrow is the last stage of the croc so we’re going to give it one hundred per cent.�
See All Event Posts