Crocodile Trophy
Philipp Ludescher wins a tight race by seconds - Cooktown - Ayton, 80km
Press Release / 27.10.2010
The youngest participant of the Crocodile Trophy won over Allan Oras (EST) and Cory Wallace (CAN) in a thrilling finish sprint. Fellow-Austrian Christoph Sokoll had to watch the race, which had been cut short for the Carinthian rider due to a broken collar bone.Not a day passes without any challenges for the organisers of the Crocodile Trophy. From mudslides and a race restart to broken-down depot cars and a tragic fatality – the crisis management skills of organiser Gerhard Schönbacher and his crew have been challenged quite a bit at this year's event. On the ninth Trophy day now, a new stage track had to be spontaneously identified. "The Bloomfield River's water levels are extremely high this year. To cross it would be totally irresponsible," explained Gerhard Schönbacher at the daily rider briefing.
Thus, instead of the demanding and steep Zig-Zag-track, the loop around the stage destination of Ayton was shortened to a ten-kilometre lap on gravel and asphalt and the stage's length was 80km all up, instead the originally planned 124, but above all, the 700m of climbing were eliminated.
The Team McSabotage, consisting of Rene Haselbacher and Philipp Ludescher, used these circumstances instantly. "Rene constantly attacked, while I was comfortably riding in the bunch", the stage winner recounts the race day. In the end, several of the eight riders in the leading bunch tried to break away and besides the Austrian, the Estonian Allan Oras and the Canadian Cory Wallace were successful. With 40 seconds in the lead the trio raced towards the finish, where Philipp Ludescher displayed all of his experience from his "real life" as an elite road racer. "I picked the tightest line in the last sandy corner before the finish line and was able to brazen it out", said the Austrian rider from Vorarlberg. Time-wise ex aequo, but with half a wheel length ahead upon yesterday's winner, the 23-year old secured the second-last possible stage win in 2:37.26.
Cory Wallace, who is a pro on the climbing sections, arrived at the finish line hanging onto the back wheels of his fellow escapees. Even though he would have liked to console himself with a Boomerang for the lost third place in the overall classification, the TransRockies winner and runner up at the recent 24H Solo World Championships in Canberra composedly accepted his defeat, "I can't do more than try hard and give my best. But the climbs were to short for me today and sprinting is not one of my biggest strengths. Maybe I'll have more luck tomorrow."
In the three master categories yesterday's results were repeated: the stage wins were claimed by the category leaders - Christof Mariën (BEL), Jaan Kirsipuu (EST), Hans Dielacher (AUS) und Abby McLennan (AUS).See All Event Posts
