Crocodile Trophy
Flight Centre Team Goes for Glory
Media Release / 09.10.2008
Australia’s Merida-Fight Centre team has set itself the ambitious goal of claiming both the men’s and women’s titles when the famed Crocodile Trophy hits the dusty outback roads of Australia’s tropical north on October 21st. Spearheaded by Western Australia’s Tim Bennett, who last year excelled in reaching the bottom step of the podium behind Italy’s Mauro Bettin and The Czech Republic’s Ondrej Fojtik, the team will return in 2008 with a bolstered line-up, featuring in-form riders and world-class talent.
Joining Bennett once again for the journey will be last year’s fellow Crocodile Trophy debutant Nick Both, whose form of late has been outstanding, including a second overall placing at the Flight Centre Epic.
Bookending the men’s lineup for Merida-Flight Centre is Adrian Jackson, whose credits including winning the 2004 & 2008 World Mountainbike Orienteering Championships along with the 2008 editions of Tasmania’s “Wildside� and the “Central Australian Mountainbike Enduro�.
“With Tim, Nick and A.J., we believe we have the right mix of skills to take a serious tilt at winning the Crocodile Trophy,� Team Director Peter Creagh said.
“The 2007 event was an excellent learning experience and our riders grew in confidence with every day as they realised they could match the Europeans.�
But it won’t just be the Europeans the Merida-Flight Centre team will need to worry about in 2008. The start-list features a quality group of Australians including 2006 World 24 Hour Champion Craig Gordon (Rockstar Racing) and one of mountain biking’s ultimate survivors, the legendary down hiller turned endurance racer, Johnny Waddell.
“Gordon is a tough competitor and I know the boys will enjoy the daily dogfight,� said Creagh. “But our goal is to win the GC and I suspect it’s the Czech team (VIG+ Racing) we will need to be most concerned about.�
Merida-Flight Centre won’t be focused solely on winning the men’s title in 2008 with its newest team member lining up in the women’s race.
Former ironwoman Jo Bennett (wife of Tim) has decided to enter Australia’s outback classic, and is already considered to be one of the favourites to take home the Women’s “Saltie�.
Bennett recently decided to shift her focus full-time to mountain biking, with The Croc Trophy her first serious stage-race campaign.
It also provides a chance to renew the rivalry with another of Australia’s top female mountain bikers, The Sunshine Coast’s Naomi Hansen, after the two shared the honours at the recent Flight Centre Epic.
“Whatever Jo achieves at this race will be a bonus for us as a team,� Creagh said.
“We are looking to Jo as a long-term project and we know with the Crocodile Trophy that it’s a race where results are often commensurate with experience.�See All Event Posts
