Urs Huber wins his fifth Crocodile Trophy Champion title today in Port Douglas after eight days and 27:38:30,7 of racing and sets a new record in the 24-year history of the event. Fellow Swiss racer Konny Looser wins today’s stage and finishes second overall, however, claiming the points classification. In third is the Luxemburg National Champion Soren Nissen ahead of the Austrian Matthias Grick and the Czech rider Milan Damek. Cairns racer Sarah White claims her second Crocodile Trophy victory in the women’s classification with 36:10:25,6 ahead of Lucy Coldwell (AUS) and Sjoukje Dufoer (BEL).
“I’m extremely happy about this victory and that I achieved what I set out to at the start of this race”, said Urs Huber of his record-breaking fifth victory today. He explained that this was his sixth participation in 10 years and that a lot had changed in the event. “It used to be a road racers competition with long Outback highways and is now an event where you need to be an all-rounder, however, what is still the same is the fierce competition at the front end. You need to be a good technical rider, but know how to ride a tactical race too”, he said and that he had gone up and succeeded against the likes of Olympic Champion Bart Brentjens from the Netherlands. This year had been tough as well with fellow Swiss racer Konny Looser a strong contender. “I went into this race fully focused, all that counted was the overall win”, he explained his strategy, which got him the win by one minute overall.
The experienced ultra-endurance racer Sarah White is the Elite Women’s winner by 32:34 minutes ahead of fellow Australian and ex road-pro Lucy Coldwell, finishing in 13th place outright. She said, “I really enjoyed this race, there was great competition among us women and a second Crocodile Trophy victory means a lot to me.”
The Crocodile Trophy took racers from 16 different nationalities including 18 Australians on a spectacular eight-day stage plan through Tropical North Queensland with almost 700 km and more than 15,000 meters of elevation. Last Saturday they had started with a marathon from Cairns to Lake Tinaroo and day two and three they spent in Herberton and the surrounding Herberton Range National Parks. For the 16th time the Crocodile Trophy made a stopover in Irvinebank before heading North to Skybury Coffee for two nights. Wetherby Station hosted the event yesterday and today was a 50km race to Port Douglas, finishing with a fast descent down the escarpment towards the coast on the infamous Bump Track.
All racers gathered after the official timing finish outside of town and rode towards the finish line on Four Mile Beach together in memoriam of the four-time Crocodile Trophy finisher and longtime mentor of the event, Greg Parr. The Cairns cycling icon passed away earlier this year and the Crocodile Trophy finished in his honour today. A multiple race finisher herself, Greg’s wife Sharmie led the riders along Four Mile Beach.
“Greg has been greatly missed by all this year, he was always there to help us when we needed him”, said Crocodile Trophy founder Gerhard Schönbacher today. “He would have loved seeing us all arrive at the finish line together and I am so proud of all our competitors and their efforts this year”, he concluded.
The Crocodile Trophy will return to Tropical North Queensland from 12 – 19th October 2019.
“Greg Parr Wetherby to Port Douglas” Stage 8 | Results
Elite Men:
1. 3 Konny Looser (SUI) / BiXS Pro Team / 1:46:43 — 28.6 km/h Elite Men (1)
2. 1 Urs Huber (SUI) / Team Bulls / 1:46:53 +00:00:10 Elite Men (2)
3. 2 Sören Nissen (LUX) / Team Stevens-LAUF / 1:47:55 +00:01:12 28.3 km/h Elite Men (3)
4. 4 Milan Damek (CZE) / Bike World / 1:57:00 +00:10:17 26.1 km/h Elite Men (4)
5. 6 Matthias Grick (AUT) / KTM – Wohbefinden Graz ARBÖ /1:57:43 +00:11:00 25.9 km/h Elite Men (4)
Elite Women:
1. 101 Sarah White (AUS) / Astute Financial Racing Team / 2:20:34 — 21.7 km/h
2. 102 Lucy Coldwell (AUS) / 2:27:08 +00:06:34 20.7 km/h Elite Women
3. 103 Sjoukje Dufoer (BEL) / Honeymoon Tom & Sjoukje / 2:36:13 +00:15:39 19.5 km/h
OVERALL RESULTS Crocodile Trophy 2018
Overall Men Result after 8 Stages:
1. #1 Urs Huber / 27:38:30,7 — Elite Men (1)
2. #3 Konny Looser / 1:46:43 27:39:31,0 +00:01:00 Elite Men (2)
3. #2 Sören Nissen / 28:34:48,2 +00:56:17 Elite Men (3)
4. #6 Matthias Grick / 29:52:52,3 +02:14:21 Elite Men (4)
5. #4 Milan Damek / 30:32:19,4 +02:53:48 Elite Men (5)
Overall Women Result after 8 Stages:
1. #101 Sarah White 36:10:25,6 — Elite Women (13th outright)
2. #102 Lucy Coldwell 36:42:59,6 +00:32:34 Elite Women (16th outright)
3. #103 Sjoukje Dufoer 41:25:16,2 +05:14:50.60 Elite Women (26th outright)
Fastest Amateur: #314 Michal Láník (CZE) / miomove / 32:12:45,7 +04:34:15 Amateur Men 3 (1)
Fastest Australian: #301 Bart Duraj (AUS) / Astute Financial Racing Team / 32:50:50,9 +05:12:20 Amateur Men 3 (2)
Fastest Austrian: #6 Matthias Grick (AUT) / KTM – Wohbefinden Graz ARBÖ / 29:52:52,3 +02:14:21 25.9 km/h Elite Men (4)
Overall Amateur Result after 8 stages:
Amateur Men 1 | 204 Martin Plank (AUT) 32:19:41,4
Amateur Men 2 | 250 Luke Zweers (AUS) 38:11:34,6
Amateur Men 3 | 314 Michal Láník (CZE) 32:12:45,7
Amateur Men 4 | 408 Graeme Young (NZ) 37:17:19,1
Amateur Men 5 | 504 Giovanni Colagiacomi Capponi (ITA) 42:38:06,1
Amateur Women | 125 Mona Van Nassauw (BEL) 43:06:09,7
Highlight Video
coming soon
Photos: Regina Stanger
Images may be used free of charge in print and online for coverage in relation to this media release and the Crocodile Trophy event with photo credits. Click image to download high-res file.
Our top winners (l–r): Shaun Portegys and Timonthy O’Leary from New Zealand (Adventure Team), Matthias Grick from Austria (Best Austrian), Sarah White AUS (Elite Women Winner), Urs Huber SUI (Overall Winner), Konny Looswer SUI (Points Winner), Bart Duraj AUS (Best Australian), Mona Van Nassauw BEL (Best Amateur Woman), Michal Lanik CZE (Best Amateur Men).
Huber, Sarah White (middle holding Sharmie Parr´s hand) lead the peloton towards the finish line in Port Douglas in memoriam of Greg Parr.
A strong woman on a mission: Sarah White.
Record-breaking fifth Croc Trophy title: Urs Huber
