September 21/17 21:55 pm - Crocodile Trophy Stage 6

Posted by Editoress on 09/21/17
 

Canada strikes again: Andrew L'Esperance wins the stage into Wetherby

The Crocodile Trophy arrived at Wetherby Cattle Station high up on the escarpment from Port Douglas. Four of the top five finishers were elites after a 102km/1000vm marathon from Skybury Coffee Plantation. Andrew L'Esperance won the sprint against Leandre Bouchard and claimed his first stage win in 3:26:08 ofthe sixth stage of the MEPT – Crocodile Trophy. The Australian elite Ben May (+11:28) finished in third and the Japanese rider Hioyuki Okamoto (+13:39) in fifth, with Erik Dekker, the amateur leader, coming in fourth (+11:30). Canadian elite woman, Haley Smith, finished 12th position again today with a gap of only 21:58 to her partner L'Esperance.

Andrew L'Esperance

Wetherby Cattle Station is one of the oldest of its kind in Australia – established around 1878 by gold prospectors traveling between Port Douglas and the Hodgkinson River gold fields along the historic Bump Track, which runs right past the front doorstep of the homestead, would stay overnight at the station for a meal and to rest their pack animals.

Logistical operation in the Outback
The logistics at the MEPT - Crocodile Trophy are an incredible undertaking. Four-wheel drive and cooling trucks transport the outdoor kitchen equipment, tents, food and general supplies, mobile mechanical and medical stations as well as the riders luggage from each stage destination to the next. "All the food and general supplies as well as all hire equipment is sourced locally in the Cairns and Port Douglas regions", explained Stanger who brings experienced staff from overseas and hires local team managers who lead the backpacking crews.

"They say it takes a village to raise a child, sometimes it feels like it takes a whole township to keep the Crocodile Trophy moving each day", Stanger said. Apart from the organisational challenges of running a stage race in the remote Australian Outback it's the sheer amount of supplies and the volume of food that is required to keep it going. "Our riders eat a good 80kg of bananas a day at the feed stations out on track and close to a ton of water melons throughout the entire event. About 20 litres of milk are served every day as well as 15 dozen eggs and 65kg of meat – if there's pasta on the menu, we go through a godo 50kg of it per day", she explained.

With two stages to go in this year's event, the MEPT - Crocodile Trophy crew and riders will stay at Wetherby for two nights, no doubt refueling with juicy beef from the farm. Tomorrow will be a 78km/1050vm marathon through Kuranda National Park along the Twin Bridges Road before the final stage will be an individual time trial in reverse order of the general classification down the infamous Bump Track and along the Four Mile Beach shores into the finish in Port Douglas.