2009 Crocodile Trophy - Stage 7
Brentjens claims his fifth consecutive victory but still trails by just over a minute over Huber. Zeldenrust takes another victory with 5 seconds over McLennan.

Stage 7  

The great Dutchman Bart Brentjens today claimed his fifth consecutive Crocodile Trophy stage against a backdrop of searing heat, serious crashes and remarkable feats of endurance from com-petitors who struggled to reach the finish of the 151 kilometre journey from Mount Mulgrave to Laura.

With the mercury hovering above 45 degrees for most of the day, conditions were at the absolute extreme of what riders could tolerate on a day when they also had to negotiate stony trails, deep corrugations and sand patches on the Outback roads of Australia’s Cape York.

At the end of five agonising hours in the saddle, Brentjens finally managed to shake race leader Urs Huber, Belgian Mike Mulkens and Slovenia’s Jure Robic in a sprint finish. In the process he gained only a handful of seconds on time bo-nuses, with opportunities running out to haul in the race lead of the Swiss Huber, which stands at 1 minute and 1 second.

“That was long and hot, it wasn’t that good as it was sup-posed to be on the roadbook, pretty rough terrain, rough gravel, some loose parts , loose sand and the heat, the heat kills you every day,” a visibly exhausted Brentjens said.

“Urs, he was pushing the hammer down really hard from the river crossing, he already spent a lot of energy and I was on his wheel.”

Brentjens is looking to tomorrow’s Queen stage from Laura to Cooktown to possibly launch an attack on the overall race leader, who continues to hang on in the toughest of circumstances.

“Definitely if there will be a chance I will do it, but today it was hot and I know from yesterday, I blew up before the finish,” Brentjens said.

“I try to make a good attack maybe tomorrow or the day after.”

Huber appears to be feeling more confident by the day, knowing the profile over the next two stages includes numerous hills, where the Swiss mountain man is most at home.

“I think today was the last flat stage so Brentjens have won five seconds again,” Huber said.

“So I still have one minute in front overall and the next two days are with more mountains so I think that’s good for me.”

Disaster Strikes For Australia’s Prete
Stage seven of the Crocodile Trophy turned into a disaster for Australia’s Tropical Tableland Discovery Team after its leader, teenager Josh Prete, crashed heavily at the crossing of the Palmer River and snapped his right collarbone.

Up until that point, the burgeoning Australian talent was riding with the race leaders, but his Crocodile Trophy cam-paign went to hell crossing the very same river which his Grandfather once mined for gold.

“Just going into the Palmer River it was really sandy and dusty and there was about four guys in front of me,” Prete said.

“I couldn’t see anything and just went straight down onto my collarbone and I think someone hit from behind.”

Prete was treated on scene by race doctor Alexandra Reimann before being transported to Cook-town hospital for x-rays.

He returned to the Crocodile Trophy campsite this evening to view x-rays of the injury with Doctor Reimann and fellow competitor Dr Andrew Graham who is also an orthopaedic surgeon. The prognosis is that the injured collarbone will require surgery.

“I’m happy that I exceeded my expectations in this race, but unhappy that I didn’t finish,” a clearly disappointed Prete said.

“I wanted to have one really good stage, which is what I was hoping for, but I’ll have to come back next year.”

Zeldenrust Wins Women’s Sprint
Today’s women’s race also ended in a sprint finish after the group containing the three racer leaders stayed intact over the 151 kilometre journey.

Eager to place her stamp of authority on the race at the end of it’s most difficult stage, Dutch race leader Monique Zeldenrust outsprinted her rivals Abby McLennan and Lisa Pleyer to maintain her absolute stranglehold on the race.

“I know the other girls wanted to win today, but I really wanted to win this stage too,” a determined Zeldenrust said.

McLennan, who continues to gather strength, placed second, with Pleyer third.

How Hot Was Today’s Race?
The heat on today’s Crocodile Trophy stage seemed to catch riders by suprise, given so-far this has been a relatively cool Crocodile Trophy.

Monitoring the conditions on course, Dr Andrew Graham of the Jungle Patrol Wilderness Medicine Team provided insight into the seriousness of the climate situation.

“It was on the clock 45.5 degrees Celsius, pretty accurate gauges and everyone would have had minimum ten litres of water,” Dr Graham said.

“Some of the bigger guys had 14 litres of water today.

“It’s certainly as tough as I’ve seen, certainly tougher than walking the Kokoda trail.”

“I’m fortunate that the boys looked after me, it brought back flashes of Hawaii,” Parr said.

“The guys were great and they got me through.

“It’s only like one day in Hawaii, it’s what day seven today? Hawaii’s easy compared to this.

“It wasn’t too bad out there,” Neal said.

“I even stopped and had a swim in a Billabong.”

Tomorrow’s queen stage from Laura to Cooktown will be another diffi-cult challenge. The race will pass through real crocodile country in Lake-field National Park, before riders battle a stiff headwind into Cooktown. The ultimate reward will be finishing atop Grassy Hill, where views over the Pacific Ocean await.

Men's Results Stage 7
Mount Mulgrave - Laura 151 km
1 Bart Brentjens NED Trek-Brentjens mtb racing team 5:00:19 0:00:00
2 Urs Huber SUI Team Stöckli-Craft 5:00:19 0:00:00
3 Mike Mulkens BEL 5:00:19 0:00:00
4 Jurij Robic SLO Matej & Jure 5:00:41 0:07:49
5 Steve Rankine AUS Tropical Tablelands Discovery 5:08:08 0:07:58
6 Kai Hundertmark GER Dream Team 5:08:17 0:07:58
7 Tomas Kozak CZE Di-ELCOM-Outdoor sports club 5:08:17 0:07:58
8 Shane Taylor AUS 5:15:32 0:38:56
9 Daris Zubani ITA NEVIPROGETTOAVVENTURA 5:39:15 1:20:29
10 James Banner-Smith AUS Rattle N Hum 6:20:48 1:20:29
11 Morten Larsen DEN Team Sun-Print 6:22:36 1:22:17
12 Ivan Negro ITA NEVIPROGETTOAVVENTURA 6:23:33 1:23:14

Elite Women Stage 7 Results
1 Monique Zeldenrust NED 6:20:43 1:20:24
2 Abby McLennan AUS Rattle N Hum 6:20:48 1:20:29
3 Lisa Pleyer AUT Roadbike Holidays - KTM 6:21:32 1:21:13
4 Eva Hasek CZE Outdoor sports club 7:52:53 2:52:34
5 Sharman Parr AUS jungle patrol; wilderness medicine 7:56:58 2:56:39

M1 Stage 7 Results
1 Isaac Tonello AUS 5:14:04 0:14:07
2 Nikolaus Syc GER 5:14:26 0:14:07
3 Alexander Valdiek GER JRV Team Deutsche Sepsisgesellschaft 5:14:26 0:38:56
4 Franz Preihs AUT Radsport Kotnik-Focus 5:39:15 0:38:56
5 Raimund Burböck AUT 5:39:15 0:38:56
6 Glen De Bont BEL Shifting Gears 5:39:15 0:38:56
7 Sam Brovender CAN Team SDC Chris Nicholson 5:39:57 0:39:38
8 Per Imer DEN Team Sun-Print 5:39:59 0:39:40
9 Sam Nathan AUS Team Nathan 5:47:40 0:47:21
10 Ron Whitehead AUS Ron Whitehead 6:20:58 1:20:39
11 Dennis Bergen DEN Team Sun-Print 6:21:13 1:20:54
12 Jesse Hovestreijdt NED out

M2 Stage 7 Results
1 Milan Spolc CZE Dream Team 5:08:17 0:07:58
2 Erich Reith AUT 5:26:59 0:27:07
3 Branko Grah AUT Team RC Sereno 5:27:26 0:32:48
4 Frederik Zierke GER Dream Team 5:33:07 0:39:39
5 Pieter van Rooyen SAF Team Van Rooyen 5:39:58 0:39:39
6 Chris Nicholson AUS Team SDC Chris Nicholson 5:40:48 0:40:29
7 Günter Weichbold AUT 5:55:13 0:54:54
8 Pio Tomasetig ITA Team Tomesetig 6:11:16 1:10:57
9 Scott McLennan AUS Rattle N Hum 6:11:16 1:10:57
10 Yvan Vekemans BEL Belgian Power/Granville 6:11:16 1:10:57
11 Kees Zuidhoek NED Team Kees Fietsshop 6:11:16 1:10:57
12 Josef Neururer SUI Velolade-Hittnau.ch 6:11:16 1:10:57
13 Rudolf Hansgut CZE 6:33:52 1:33:33
14 Jörg Steenbock GER WINGSforLife.com 6:48:08 1:47:49
15 Marten Zeldenrust NED 6:51:01 1:50:42
16 Bernhard Weixelbaum AUT Team RC Sereno 7:15:49 2:15:30
17 Mohammed Boufessile BEL Belgian Power/Granville 7:30:31 2:30:12
18 Geert Matthijs BEL Team Matthys 7:30:31 2:30:12
19 Willemjan Hopstaken NED Team Kees Fietsshop 7:52:53 2:52:34
20 Paul van Hattem NED Team Kees Fietsshop 7:53:27 2:53:08
21 Hennie Schoonheim NED 7:53:33 2:53:14
22 Aaron Pickett-Heaps AUS 7:55:43 2:55:24
23 Theo Molenbrugge NED Theo Molenbrugge 7:55:45 2:55:26
24 Greg Parr AUS jungle patrol; wilderness medicine 7:56:58 2:56:39
25 Andrew Graham AUS jungle patrol; wilderness medicine 7:56:58 2:56:39
26 Erik Stokman NED 8:31:42 3:31:23
27 Erwin Klocker AUS 8:31:42 3:31:23
28 Heinz von Holzen SUI 8:31:42 3:31:23
29 Jan van Baast NED 8:31:42 3:31:23
30 Chris Neal AUS 9:42:45 4:42:26

General Classification After Stage 7
Elite Men
1 8 Urs Huber SUI Elite Team Stöckli-Craft 24:33:55 0:00:00
2 1 Bart Brentjens NED Elite Trek-Brentjens mtb racing team 24:34:56 0:01:01
3 9 Mike Mulkens BEL Elite 25:36:07 1:02:12
4 17 Jurij Robic SLO Elite Matej & Jure 25:48:26 1:14:31
5 16 Tomas Kozak CZE Elite Di-ELCOM-Outdoor sports club 26:11:35 1:37:40

General Classification After Stage 7
Elite Women
1 105 Monique Zeldenrust NED Female 30:11:54
2 Lisa Pleyer AUT Female Roadbike Holidays - KTM 31:36:35
3 Abby McLennan AUS Female Rattle N Hum 31:44:15
4 Eva Hasek CZE Female Outdoor sports club 36:55:25
5 Sharman Parr AUS Female jungle patrol; wilderness medicine 41:16:09

General Classification After Stage 7
M1
1 Isaac Tonello AUS M1 Tropical Tablelands Discovery 27:03:40
2 Alexander Valdiek GER M1 JRV Team Deutsche Sepsisgesellschaft 27:22:41
3 Nikolaus Syc GER M1 27:29:37
4 Raimund Burböck AUT M1 28:03:53
5 Franz Preihs AUT M1 Radsport Kotnik-Focus 28:26:55

General Classification After Stage 7
M2
1 Milan Spolc CZE M2 Dream Team 26:35:46
2 Branko Grah AUT M2 Team RC Sereno 27:22:22
3 Erich Reith AUT M2 28:14:31
4 Frederik Zierke GER M2 Dream Team 28:43:26
5 Günter Weichbold AUT M2 28:48:14

Full Results

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