October 28, 2014 (Wetherby, Australia) – Ivan Rybarik won stage 8 and Greg Saw defended his overall lead in the International Crocodile Trophy on the 101km stage from Skybury Coffee Plantation to the historic Wetherby Cattle Station. In time for its 20th anniversary the Crocodile Trophy has been endorsed by the the world governing body UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) for sports cycling, which oversees international competitive cycling events. With the highest possible race status “S1” the Crocodile Trophy is the biggest stage race for individual competitors and for the first time will finish in Port Douglas and with Greg Saw and Imogen Smith two Australians are expected to win the elite categories.
Today the second-last Crocodile Trophy stage faced a bush fire thread and the organisers sent a team of quad riders onto the race track early in the morning to evaluate a bush fire threat in Kuranda Stage Forest. The race start had been re-scheduled and until the go-ahead at 9am the Crocodile Trophy riders mingled in the Skybury Cafe, enjoying the view towards the coast and Black Mountain. From 10am the race then took them past contained batches of fire, which was a very unusual experience especially for the overseas riders. Including today’s race, which she finished in just over four hours, Sydney-rider Imogen Smith has spent almost 35 hours in the saddle of her mountain bike since stage one of the Crocodile Trophy at Smithfield MTB Park a week ago. Tomorrow she will be the winning Elite Woman at the 20th Crocodile Trophy and is looking forward to crossing the line on Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas. “I had this race on my bucket list for quite a while and even though today’s was probably the hardest race I’ve ever done, I wouldn’t miss a minute of it all”, Imogen said at the finish today, her face lined with dust and dirt and the stresses and strains of the last eight days. In the women’s general classification she is currently leading by 4h41:47 ahead of Amateur Woman Rita Esteves from Portugal, who has a solid 40 minute lead in her category ahead of tomorrow’s last stage.Second consecutive win by Australian imminent at the Crocodile Trophy
The Crocodile Trophy winner from 2012 Ivan Rybarik (CZE) claimed his third stage win at the Crocodile Trophy. The runner-up from 2013, Cory Wallace, tried everything to get away from the current leader, Australian-born Greg Saw, to decrease the gap in the general classification, but admits defeat today at the finish. “It just didn’t happen this year… Greg Saw is a good rider and he raced consistently, good on him.”, said the disappointed Canadian. Greg Saw doesn’t dare to dream yet, but admitted that he was quietly optimistic about tomorrow’s last stage, which will be run in a time trial format. Greg Saw will be the last starter to descend onto the infamous Bump Track, chasing the field of almost 100 riders, who start from 10am in one-minute intervals.
“I’m not counting on a win yet – I will race very carefully tomorrow and am prepared to loose a bit of time, I don’t want to risk anything”, said Greg Saw ahead of tomorrow’s imminent second stage win of an Australian. Greg Saw now lives with his young family in Norway and is racing under his adopted country’s flag and concluded that he just “wanted to get the job done”. Like last year’s Crocodile Trophy, Mark Frendo from Brisbane, Greg Saw came into the race as the dark horse among high-profile international endurance and marathon racers and had raced aggressively from day one. A nasty incident with a native Stinging Tree left him with nerve damage on arms and legs, but Greg Saw persevered and kept racing determined and conservatively, defending his jersey every day since he took over the lead on day two. Still cautious he concluded today that “not everything was in the can yet” ahead of tomorrow’s time trial from Wetherby Station down the infamous “Bump Track”, one of Queensland’s iconic prospector and historic mining access roads and descending into Port Douglas, where the finish line will be located on Four Mile Beach.
Stage 9 Final
Imogen Smith and Greg Saw are the Elite Champions of the 2014 Crocodile Trophy. The 20th edition of the hardest mountain bike stage race in the world finished today at the breathtakingly beautiful Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas. The final stage was a time trial race from Weatherby Station via the infamous Bump Track to Port Douglas.
“I raced the Crocodile Trophy to reconnect with my home-country and to cure my homesickness for Australia”, said Greg Saw, the 2014 Elite Men’s Champion of the 20th Crocodile Trophy. The Australian-born now lives in Norway as a pro-cyclist and surprised many of the UCI Elite mountain bikers at the start of the nine day mountain bike stage race in Tropical North Queensland, which is generally considered to be the hardest one of it’s kind in the world and certainly the biggest and most prestigious one for individual participants. Endorsed by the International Cycling Federation (UCI) as an S1 event, the highest possible status for stage races, the Elite riders were able to collect valuable UCI points, which will contribute to the global ranking of cyclists. Greg Saw completed the race from Cairns via the Atherton Tablelands, Irvinebank, Skybury Coffee Plantation and the historic Wetherby Cattle Station to Port Douglas in 26h53:47 and said that it was one of the most important victories in his cycling careers as he was joined by almost 100 Crocodile Trophy finishers on Four Mile Beach, which was the destination of the event for the first time in its history. Saw’s female counterpart, Imogen Smith completed the gruelling event across rough Outback roads, tight singletracks, rainforest trails and a 4km finish on Four Mile Beach in 36h12:26. Imogen Smith stated today that it was the physical endurance skills that will have riders succeed in this event, but that one’s mental strength played a big role in finishing nine days of racing with a smile on your face. “I would love to see more women compete in the Crocodile Trophy. This was the hardest stage race I have ever done and I really enjoyed the racing experience and the diversity of trails and the parts of Australia that you won’t get to visit otherwise”, an elated Imogen Smith said today at the finish, adding and agreeing with Greg Saw that the might just come back next year to defend their titles.Ramses Bekkenk wins today’s time trial
The fastest rider to complete today’s 30km time trial from Wetherby Catte Station via the infamous Bump Track was Ramses Bekkenk (NED), who was the fastest one of five competitors to clock in a race time of under one hour. In today’s general classification, Bekkenk finished in 58:13.62 ahead of Milton Ramos from Spain (+10.69), Greg Saw (+47.99), the Italian former pro-cyclist Max Lelli (+1:15.65) and Australia’s Ondrej Slezak (+1:19.94).
Overall after nine stages and a gap of 7:53 minutes, Cory Wallace (CAN) came in second behind Greg Saw. Third was Milton Ramos (ESP) ahead of Ramses Bekkenk (NED) and the Hungarian Márton Blazsó.
Andrew Hall from Canberra in Australia was awarded with the fastest Amateur and fastest Australian title of the 2014 event and Guido Thaler was the fastest Austrian across all nine stages of the event.
The race organiser, Gerhard Schönbacher, himself an ex-pro cyclist from Austria, was pleased with this year’s event and today confirmed that arrangements for 2015 were already under way. He added that the race route was so popular with riders this year that it would be kept very similar for the 21st edition of the Crocodile Trophy.
Results
Stage 8
Elite Men
1. Ivan Rybarik (CZE) Way2live Quantum Racing 3:11:04.63
2. Cory Wallace (CAN) KONA Factory Team 11.05
3. Milton Ramos (ESP) Intense-TowCar 44.43
4. Márton Blazsó ( HUN) Kross Hungary 45.37
5. Ramses Bekkenk (NED) Koga KMC 2:18.72
Elite Women
1. Imogen Smith (AUS) Subaru-MarathonMTB.com 4:08:05.58
Stage 9
Elite Men
1. Ramses Bekkenk (NED) Koga KMC 58:13.62
2. Milton Ramos (ESP) Intense-TowCar 00:10.7
3. Greg Saw (NOR) Hus-Spiuk Norge 00:48.0
4. Ondrej Slezak (AUS) Way2live Quantum Racing 01:19.9
5. Cory Wallace (CAN) KONA Factory Team 01:54.1
Elite Women
1. Imogen Smith (AUS) Subaru-MarathonMTB.com 1:15:24.15
Final GC
Elite Men
1. Greg Saw (Nor) iHus-Spiuk Norge 26:53:47
2. Cory Wallace (Can) KONA Factory Team 0:07:53
3. Milton Ramos (Spa) Intense-TowCar 0:23:09
4. Ramses Bekkenk (Ned) Koga KMC 0:33:20
5. Marton Blazo (Hun) Kross Hungary 0:52:50
Elite Women
1. Imogen Smith (Aus) Subaru-MarathonMTB.com 36:12:26