Crocodile Trophy
The Croc Bites Back!
News Release / 21.10.2010
The longest, hardest, hottest most adventurous Mountain Bike race kicked off its third stage today with a vengeance as riders launched their assault on the 144km stretch dividing Granite Gorge from Irvinbank.Cloudy skies and a light sprinkling of rain began today’s stage, and though the cloud cover proved a blessing, riders later faced the irony of being met by strong headwinds as the day progressed into the late afternoon, increasingly hampering their efforts as they struggled and pushed through the hills, carved through the rivers and crunched over some big shaky rocks.
Again dominating the field was Urs Huber (1) and Bart Bretjens (2). Following a puncture earlier in the stage, Brentjens together with Cory Wallace (29) who also punctured, fought back to reach the lead group and take the win in 5:18:34, Huber following inches behind in 5:18:35.
Huber, still the overall winner said “It was very hot up the top end with no wind. It was the hardest stage of the Crocodile Trophy�.
Still in the lead with an astounding 4 minutes up his sleeve, Huber is racing in the blue winners jersey with rival Brentjens following close on his tail racing in the black, orange and red points jersey.
Proving all it takes is a puncture to change a race, Mike Mulkins (3) who pushed through alone to trail behind the leaders by only (4 mins 1 sec) finishing today’s stage in 5:22:36.
“I’m very happy, it was hard and some of the rockier sections I found it easier to just spin over them, but sometimes we (Mulkins with Huber, Brentjens) also had to get off the bikes as we had no traction in our tyres. I’m very happy with my ride today, I found my rhythm again� said Mulkins of the stage.
Cory Wallace (29) who has come third in the past two stages fell victim to the crunching rocks “I got two punctures and it was bad timing� he said of today’s stage.
Masters winner and today’s first Australian rider through 55 year old Hans Delacher (79) from Byron Bay finished 13th coming in at 6:6:22, only narrowly escaping the outburst of headwind, “It was a perfect race, I got to see so much, I jumped on with some younger guys but when we got to the hill I pulled back, I needed to ride my own race� He said.
Continuing her winning streak, Cairns local Abby McLennan (91) from team ‘Rattle n Hum’ proved her strength and determination by completing the stage in 7:13:44 despite the difficulty of the terrain and the ever increasing headwind.
Abby says of the stage, “What a day� she continues “It’s the hardest, ride and race that I’ve ever done in my life, there was no relief anywhere, even on the bitumen roads were strong head wind/cross wind, and everything else was hard, rough, rocky terrain that you can’t get any rhythm or speed going and it just wears your body out slowly, it was really tiring, lucky I had the boys there to keep me going�.
Friday’s stage sees riders challenge the longest stage of the race pushing their way 157km’s towards Chillagoe battling the heat and the sand as they say goodbye to the last of the lush tropics and hello to the hot dry savannah lands who await their challenge over the following 4 stages.See All Event Posts
