Stage 8 – Skybury Coffee Plantation to Wetherby
101km / 1400m
Chasers: Wallace, Ramos, Saw, Bekkenk
Ivan Rybarik wins today’s stage and Greg Saw again defends 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.
Imogene Smith
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.
Rita Esteves
“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.
