Crocodile Trophy
The longest hottest stage yet.
Media Release / 22.10.2010
The longest stage of the worlds hardest, hottest most adventurous mountain bike race fired off at 8am this morning as the cool air of Irvinebank burnt off into the hot dry savannah of Chillagoe - 157km ride away. Blue skies and red sand were the colours of the day as riders worked their way up from the valley of Irvinebank and headed further west towards the red centre to their camp at Chillagoe for the following two stages. Surprised expressions were seen at the front when a new face, 3 stage Tour de France winner (EST) Jaan Kirsipuu (50) led the sprint in for the 5th stage, finishing in 4:55:03 tailed by another new face (AUT) Ludescher Philipp (14) in 4:55:30 who was shadowed by fellow Austrian Allan Oras (15) who claimed third place in 4:55:40.
Kirsipuu said of his win "Being a stage winner feels very good, I did expect Bart to win but I tried 3 times to get away and I did on the third try. I do think that there are more chances for me to win on the flat stages as I am not a hill climber."
"I came on this race because of the adventure and also to see Australia and the nature".
Following this pack Bart Brentjens (2) and Urs Huber (1), pushed in 4th and 5th completing the stage in 4:55:42. Huber is still leading the field however on time as he has 4mins and 22 secs lead on closest competitor, Brentjens. Huber said of the stage "the first 100km were easy I just went out at my own pace and just kept my own rhythm but I was alone somehow, when I realised there was a tailwind then I thought about trying the impossible and push harder (to increase the gap), but I knew that they could possibly still catch me (because I was riding alone) so I am not disappointed. The road was better than last year though and much less sand, I am not good in sand so this was good. It was very hot."
Cairns local Abby McLennan (91) from team ‘Rattle n Hum' who is currently leading the women home, used the well known terrain to her advantage, powering in at 6:21:15 maintaining her solid middle standing in the pack as 40th through the gates out of a race of 91 riders. Abby says of the stage, "It was hard, hot and long, we were in a group of 12 (riders) and it was really great to have the boys pushing me through and pulling me along at their pace, I'm still feeling pretty fresh for the next stages so I'm just trying to push as hard as I can and enjoy it as much as I can."
"I was undecided as to whether I would compete again this year and Scott kept talking about it with me so I decided that I really wanted to go one better and get on the podium again this year and try for second, I can't believe I'm coming first it's all my dreams come true."
Saturday's stage pushes the limits with a 100km round sprint of sun, sand and sweat, with riders attempting to gain time on their competitors and pray for no mechanicals.See All Event Posts
