The Crocodile Trophy

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Hansen Wins Crocodile Trophy

John-Michael Flynn / 30.10.2005

At the end of thirteen soul destroying days, the Crocodile Trophy of 2005 finished as it began, on a palm fringed beach in a tropical paradise.

And while the final stage belonged to Italy’s champion Mauro Bettin, it was Adam Hansen, the local hero, who raised the biggest cheers from the crowd on magnificent Four Mile Beach, as he claimed his second successive Crocodile Trophy Victory.
It was a tribute to the re-discovered mental toughness of the Australian that after a season of self doubt on the lonely roads of Europe where he is yet to make a name for himself in road cycling, that he could return home and beat the best in the world, in a race which he has made his own.

When the minutes were finally tallied for the General Classification at the end of today’s beach critierum, Hansen had maintained a fifteen minute margin over his nearest rival Bettin. Bringing to an end a memorable contest.

“Yeah, an amazing year, came back and did it again I can’t believe it,� an elated Hansen said upon claiming his second successive Crocodile Trophy.

It was a win which Hansen never had in his keeping until he crossed the finish line of today’s final stage and there were some ‘hold your breath’ moments for the leader of the Cairns Coconut Caravan Resort team when he collided with Austrian Markus Eibegger mid-stage.

“As usual one of Gerhard’s stages on a sandy beach, hard as, soft sand, all going good until I crashed with Markus,� Hansen said.

“I lost Bettin and trying to get him back, I was too far behind to get him.�

As he has done for most of this event, Bettin, the leader of the Felt-Shimano Dream Team, displayed superior technical skills riding through the soft sand on Four Mile Beach and the stage victory (his fifth for the Crocodile Trophy of 2005) was both well deserved and well received by fellow competitors.

Still, there were mixed feelings for the Italian, who might easily have won his first Crocodile Trophy, but for a series of flat tyres during stage four,

A fierce competitor on the bike, and Gentleman off the bike, the World Cup Champion is already planning to return and complete unfinished business.

“Maybe I love the race,� Bettin admitted after claiming the Trophy for winner of the points classification.

“I come back in Crocodile, I think I bring one of my friend for the stages to work with me.�



Hansen’s Back to Back Wins

When asked what the contributing factors were to his overall victory in this race, Adam Hansen put the win down to superior preparation.

In 2005, the reigning Crocodile Trophy Champion brought with him a team which included two of his Austrian road racing team-mates (Johannes Reiser and Stefan Rucker) along with Australians Struan Lomont, Joe McDonnell and Tim Northy.

While Hansen had to do much of the work alone in a constant contest with Bettin, Christophe Stevens and Austrian Heinz Zorweg, his team-mates were there when needed, and inside information about much of the race route also helped.

“I think I was more prepared, I trained a bit better and was a bit more used to the heat, I played a very smart race this year,� Hansen said.

“Bettin lost some time at the start and then once I had the time I sat on, didn’t waste any energy and I had a few cruisy days and that’s how I won it.�

The victory came at a great physical cost for the Australian, who will need weeks, perhaps months, to recover.

“I’ve got a fractured arm, I’ve got two stitches in my knee, grazes, bruises cuts, swollen knee, all your joints are sore from corrugations, it takes a good two weeks to get over it,� a drained Hansen said.

But as is customary for many of the so-called ‘gladiators’ in this race, Hansen is vowing to return to defend the title in 2006.

“I don’t know, I can’t not do this race I love it too much, I’ll be back.�

Zorweg Not So Sure

If there was a prize for toughest competitor in the Crocodile Trophy of 2005, those who witnessed the race would more than likely grant it to Austrian Heinz Zorweg.

The mountain man, whose skills as a cross-country mountainbiker were perhaps surpassed by only by Bettin, finished today’s final stage 26 minutes behind Hansen on G.C., in third place.

It was a remarkable effort for a masters cyclist well into his forties, whose victory during stage four of the Crocodile Trophy turned out to be one of the highlights of the race.

But whether he returns to Australia to inflict further self harm, remains to be seen.

“I’m very happy I finished the race, it was very hard,� Zorweg said.

“It’s only for the strongest cyclists of the world you can’t relax in any stages.

“Next year I don’t know, we’ll see.�

Astrid Happy to Finish – But Never Again

For the sole female competitor in the Crocodile Trophy, the prospect of returning in 2006 is definitely not on the cards.

Astrid Boehm, an endurance triathlete from Copenhagen in Denmark, finished yesterday’s penultimate stage in complete darkness and all up has spent more than 87 hours in the saddle over the past 13 days, almost 37 hours more than the race winner.

When asked if she would come back Astrid simply replied, “no never again.�

Still, the Dane had vowed from the start to complete the race and came through in the end, even after the loss of her support rider Ejnar Fausing, who was air-lifted from the out-back mid-race with a broken shoulder.

“It was very hard, my friend was injured but I had to continue,� Astrid admitted.

Plenty of Positives

While the Crocodile Trophy of 2005 wasn’t nearly as extreme as the 2004 event, the addition to the race of more ‘pure mountain biking’ stages had many competitors vowing to return again in 2006.

All up only four competitors were forced to withdraw from this year’s Crocodile Trophy, the remainder made it to Port Douglas with their bodies and spirit intact.

Struan Lomont, a support driver and masseuse for the Cairns Coconut Caravan Resort team in 2004, who chose to ride for Adam Hansen in 2005 understands better than most how tough ‘The Croc’ can be.

Like many of the Europeans, the local ambulance driver from Cairns is planning to be at the start line again in 2006.

“Last year I wouldn’t have recommended it to anybody,� Struan affirmed.

“This year I would recommend it to everybody.�See All Event Posts