Crocodile Trophy: Stage 6
Ondrej Fojtik braves heat to take stage win at Maitland Downs
Another boomerang for the Czech Republic – Ondrej Fojtik claims his second stage win ahead of Ivan Rybarik (CZE) and Cory Wallace (CAN) after a gruelling stage. In the general classification the two Czech riders still dominate the field, with Rybarik leading ahead of Fojtik and Austrian Wolfgang Krenn was able to increase his gap to fourth Werner van der Merwe (UK) and Ondrej Slezak (CZE) who still is in fifth place. The Australian Kate Major is still leading the women’s classification and Steven Rankine from Mossman near Cairns takes over the Australian leader’s jersey.
The Crocodile Trophy camp will applaud two new faces on the elite male and female podiums: Wolfgang Krenn (above) from Austria wins ahead of Ivan Rybarik and Ondrej Fojtik in a thrilling finish sprint into the Mt Mulligan. The Belgian mountain bike marathon racer Alice Pirard finished as the fastest woman of the day.
Czech rider Ivan Rybarik wins the fourth stage of the 2012 Crocodile Trophy at Irvinebank today and the overall race result stays the same with Czech and Austrian riders dominating the top five positions: Rybarik leads ahead of fellow Czech rider Ondrej Fojtik in second and the Austrian Wolfgang Krenn is third. Ondrej Slezak (CZE) is fourth and Dominick Hrinkow (AUT) claims fifth overall place. With a solid performance, the Belgian rider Michiel Van Aelbroeck (BEL) was second at Irvinebank and Ondrej Fojtik crossed the line as third.
The Australian media has called it the “Czech domination” at the Crocodile Trophy and also their fellow riders admit that Ivan Rybrik and Ondrej Fojtik’s performances of the last three stages are to be admired. After today’s wild ride across the rough terrain of the Hasties Swamp National Park, Rybarik kept pushing hard and left Fojtik and the Austrian chaser trio with Hrinkow, Benetseder and Krenn behind. Whilst after almost four hours Fojtik finished second and Hrinkow ended up securing the third place, Kate Major was again the fastest female racer of the day and the Crocodile Trophy adventure was still in full swing with Mark Griffin and Aaron Lakeman increasing their lead in the new two-man team category.
Stage Two: Cairns – Lake Tinaroo l 92 km/2500 m
Ivan Rybarik had won two stages at the infamous stage race in 2008 and showed a strong performance today, adding a third Boomerang to his collection at the lap race in Smithfield today. Belgian rider Mike Mulkens came in second and the Australian 24 Hour Solo World Champion Jason English finished third and will be racing the Australian Leader’s jersey for Stage 2. All competitors had to complete 5 laps on the technically challenging 6km former World Cup course.
