Canadian Cyclist

 

October 21/14 10:29 am - Crocodile Trophy: Stage 4. Wallace wins


Posted by Editoress on 10/21/14
 

Cory Wallace escapes charging bull to claim stage win on Atherton Tablelands
While the overall race lead remains with Atherton's Greg Saw, today the Crocodile Trophy camp is celebrating its fourth elite stage winner with Cory Wallace. The Canadian National Marathon Champion finishes almost three minutes ahead of Ramses Bekkenk (Ned) and Greg Saw after a wild ride, literally, only narrowly escaping the attack of a wild bull. The Austrian Guido Thaler achieves a personal best at the Crocodile Trophy with a fourth place ahead of Milton Ramos (Esp). The Elite Women Imogen Smith calls today's stage "the best one yet".

 

PHOTO

Cory Wallace wins stage 4 - photo by Kenneth Lorentsen

 

Today's stage had been a wild ride, said Cory Wallace, as he crossed the finish after 3:11:10.81, which pushed him up into third overall and only half a minute behind Ramses Bekkenk (Ned) who advanced into second place after four stages. "On the first section before the technical feed zone suddenly there was this herd of wild cows and this black bull - it was huge - was chasing us", Wallace recounted the close encounter with the "locals" that must have motivated him to pedal even harder, because he arrived at said feedzone with a 2-minute gap to a chaser group including Bekkenk, Greg Saw, the Austrian Guido Thaler and Milton Ramos from Spain, who weren't as lucky as Wallace. They had to duck and dive to get away from the bull. "I've raced the Crocodile Trophy three times already, but that was the single scariest moment so far", admitted Wallace.

"That bull's horns were wider than my handlebars", confirmed Greg Saw, who was forced off the track, crashed and suffered nasty rashes from a Stinging Tree, a vicious native plant, to escape the wild animal's attack. Austria's Guido Thaler was happy with his fourth place and said that he enjoyed the many different terrains and settings that the race track offered today. "There were long, steady climbs, which really suit me, especially now that I've finally recovered from my jetlag. The sandy sections reminded me of home - it was like riding in snow", he drew an unexpected analogy. While several riders in the mid-field reported snake sightings on various sections of the tough race track, Ramos lost almost 10 minutes against the overall leader Saw and drops back to fourth place in the general classification.

In windy conditions, today's stage had riders climb to the top of the Great Dividing Range, which is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest land-based range in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 kilometres from the northern tip of Queensland all the way through New South Wales and deep into the southern Victoria. Because of its location near the coast and specific topography, it is a relatively well-watered and fertile area - the Atherton Tableland region is one of the "fruit bowls" of Australia.

Imogen Smith in her element in Atherton
"This must have been the best Croc stage ever", the rider from Sydney proclaimed at the finish today. "It just had everything - open fire road climbs, dark and moist jungle trails, sandy sections, rocky descents, river crossings - it was hard, but I actually really enjoyed it", she added. With her strong performance and positive attitude Imogen Smith has earned the respect of fellow racers and the men in particular. "I am the only Elite Women this year, so when I ride, after an hour or so, I try not to let any of the guys overtake me, it keeps me motivated on a long day", explained Imogen Smith today. "The Crocodile Trophy is a really friendly race and I enjoy the atmosphere out on track and in the event centre", she added. The fastest amateur woman today was Sandra Starkey from Melbourne and Rita Esteves still leads the category by almost one and a half hours after four stages overall. Rita Esteves chose the Crocodile Trophy and Australia as her honeymoon destination and her new husband Tiago Silva won in the male amateur 30+ category, adding another boomerang to the family collection after Rita's stage win yesterday.

And again the Canberran riders were victorious - Andrew Hall keeps the amateur leader jersey, Jason Chalker in the 40+ and Garry James in the 50+ categories. Ondrej Slezak successfully defends the "Best Australian" leader jersey yet again.
Report courtesy Crocodile Trophy


Stage 4: Atherton to Atherton, 72 km

All results Category Time
1 Cory Wallace Can) KONA Factory Team EM 3:11:10
2 Ramses Bekkenk (Ned) Koga KMC EM at 2:39
3 Greg Saw (Aus) iHus-Spiuk Norge EM 2:40
4 Guido Thaler (Aut) CRAFT - Rocky Mountain EM 9:22
5 Milton Ramos (Esp) Intense-TowCar EM 12:17
6 Márton Blazsó (Hun) Kross Hungary EM 12:38
7 David Rosa (Por) Liberty Seguros/Movefree EM 14:55
8 Ondrej Slezak (Cez) Way2live Quantum Racing EM 15:39
9 Jiri Krivanek (Cze) Prestige hotel EM 16:28
10 Ivan Rybarik (Cze) Way2live Quantum Racing EM 18:05
11 Yuki Ikeda (Jpn) Topeak/Ergon/Canyon EM 22:46
12 Leander Hamelink (Ned) EM 25:49
13 Jindra Knot (Cze) Way2live Quantum Racing A1 26:11
14 Silva Tiago (Por) A2 26:53
15 Alexander Geelhaar (Ger) Redheads Team / RC Schnaittach EM 27:03
16 Bjorn Rondelez (Bel) desperate husbands EM 29:18
17 Andrew Hall (Aus) Vie 13 kustom apparel A2 31:23
18 Jürgen Hofer (Aut) Jürgen Hofer A2 34:12
19 Michel Pannekeet (Ned) MTB Team Giant/Theo Schilder A A2 36:58
20 Lander Vanhee (Bel) desperate husbands A2 44:02
21 Grant Webster (Aus) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racin A2 44:45
22 Jason Chalker (Aus) Vie 13 kustom apparel A3 45:18
23 Dan McNamara (Aus) Vie 13 kustom apparel A2 45:21
24 Timothy Goulding (Aus) A3 45:21
25 Garry James (Aus) Redheads Team / RC Schnaittach A4 46:36
26 Jaysen Searle (Aus) desperate husbands A3 49:19
27 Andrew Lloyd (Aus) Vie 13 kustom apparel A1 51:34
28 Mike Blewitt (Aus) Jürgen Hofer EM 51:47
29 Pascal De Meulenaer (Bel) MTB Team Giant/Theo Schilder A A3 53:17
30 Adrian Scott (Gbr) desperate husbands A2 57:13
31 Tom Smets (Bel) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racin A3 57:18
32 Marco Mosti (Ita) Vie 13 kustom apparel A3 57:24
33 Lieven Machtelinckx (Bel) A3 57:38
34 Michal Kafka (Cze) Way2live Quantum Racing A2 57:40
35 Robert Kleiner (Cze) Way2live Quantum Racing A3 1:00:25
36 Timothy Nelson (Gbr) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racin A2 1:00:42
37 Clayton Locke (Aus) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racin A3 1:02:01
38 John Cosgriff (Aus) Team Redarc A4 1:02:43
39 Marchel Van der Heyden (Ned) Harsco metals A3 1:04:57
40 Gavin Rumbles (Gbr) CC Luton A3 1:06:37
41 Alex Kooijman (Ned) Way2live Quantum Racing A3 1:07:02
42 Andrew Radcliffe (Aus) the greatcyclechallenge & Ride A4 1:07:19
43 Geert Biesmans (Bel) A3 1:08:13
44 Marthijs Wegdam (Ned) Scholten Cycling A2 1:08:39
45 Jim Knudsen (Den) JJ Peleton A4 1:09:50
46 Thomas Begert (Ger) Redheads Team / RC Schnaittach EM 1:11:55
47 Heikki Segaert (Bel) A2 1:12:49
48 Pierre Castagne (Bel) A3 1:13:33
49 Benoit Smeuninx (Bel) A1 1:14:14
50 Ronny Raeymakers (Bel) Desert Duvel's A3 1:15:31
51 Martin Wisata (Aut) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racin A2 1:19:27
52 Jason Derecourt (NZl) A2 1:20:40
53 Warren Pike (Aus) CycleFNQ/Crank'D A3 1:21:10
54 Dominique Van der Bruggen (Bel) Alu-team A3 1:22:03
55 Max Lelli (Ita) Italian Cistyc Fibrosis Founda A3 1:22:23
56 Matteo Marzotto (Ita) Italian Cistyc Fibrosis Founda A3 1:22:23
57 Iader Fabbri (Ita) Italian Cistyc Fibrosis Founda A2 1:22:24
58 Davide Cassani (Ita) Italian Cistyc Fibrosis Founda A4 1:22:24
59 Bronislav Skovajsa (Cze) Six Monkeys A3 1:24:41
60 Diedrik De Mulder (Bel) A2 1:26:18
61 David De Chellis (Aus) Get up. A3 1:26:52
62 Filip Bloch (Cze) Way2live Quantum Racing A3 1:28:44
63 Jason Smith (Aus) A3 1:28:59
64 Imogen Smith (Aus) Subaru-MarathonMTB.com EW 1:33:22
65 Georg Vinczencz (Aut) Radsport Waldherr A4 1:34:50
66 Markus Alschner (Aut) Bike Experience Vienna A3 1:34:53
67 Paul van Hattem (Ned) Scholten Cycling A4 1:36:21
68 Freddy Cassiers (Bel) A4 1:42:53
69 Garrett Sherman (Can) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racin A2 1:43:22
70 Olaf Trenner (Ger) Trenner der Renner A3 1:45:03
71 Erik Van Meel (Bel) A4 1:45:58
72 Radim Novotny (Cze) Prestige hotel A4 1:47:44
73 Marek Tichy (Cze) A1 1:48:39
74 Jesper Ravn (NZl) JJ Peleton A3 1:55:37
75 Vincent Gouverneur (Bel) A3 1:55:44
76 Vincent Maillen (Bel) A3 1:55:45
77 Michael Klemens (Aus) A3 1:59:52
78 Sandra Starke (Aus) AF 2:05:31
79 Hans-Peter Schärer (Sui) A3 2:10:55
80 Patric Wiedmer (Sui) A2 2:10:56
81 Willem Hopstaken (Ned) Scholten Cycling A3 2:16:57
82 Rita Esteves (Por) AF 2:19:45
83 Tania Tryhorn (Aus) AF 2:38:54
84 Sharman Parr (Aus) AF 3:07:11
85 Greg Parr (Aus) A4 3:07:11
 
GC
 
Elite Men
1 Greg Saw (Aus) iHus-Spiuk Norge 11:50:36
2 Ramses Bekkenk (Ned) Koga KMC at 11:02
3 Cory Wallace Can) KONA Factory Team 11:34
4 Milton Ramos (Esp) Intense-TowCar 13:53
5 Yuki Ikeda (Jpn) Topeak/Ergon/Canyon 36:34
6 Márton Blazsó (Hun) Kross Hungary 37:20
7 Ivan Rybarik (Cze) Way2live Quantum Racing 41:20
8 Ondrej Slezak (Cez) Way2live Quantum Racing 41:24
9 Guido Thaler (Aut) CRAFT - Rocky Mountain 43:17
10 Jiri Krivanek (Cze) Prestige hotel 43:38
11 David Rosa (Por) Liberty Seguros/Movefree 1:12:44
12 Bjorn Rondelez (Bel) desperate husbands 1:30:57
13 Leander Hamelink (Ned) 1:35:04
14 Alexander Geelhaar (Ger) Redheads Team / RC Schnaittach 1:53:33
15 Mike Blewitt (Aus) Jürgen Hofer 2:13:01
16 Thomas Begert (Ger) Redheads Team / RC Schnaittach 4:01:02
 
Elite Women
1 Imogen Smith (Aus) Subaru-MarathonMTB.com 16:29:50

 

Previous stages

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

 

Return to Canadian Cyclist homepage | Back to Top


 
 | 
 Privacy Policy | Contact | Subscribe to RSS Feed  | Logout
 © Copyright 1998-2024 Canadian Cyclist. All rights reserved.