The domination of Urs Huber in the Crocodile Trophy was finally broken by Austrian Lukas Islitzer, who out-sprinted the Swiss rider on the longest stage of the 2015 race.
Double-Crocodile Trophy winner Ondrej Fojitik is third ahead of Soren Nissen (Denmark) and Brendan Johnston (Australia). Sarah White remains the fastest woman.
The top five men broke away from the field on the steep climb to Stannary Hill, and stayed together for much of the searing stage. Islitzer won the bunch kick, and was thrilled to get the stage win.
"This is a dream come true. I've been racing way above my expectations at this event and I've been working really hard every day, racing with the leaders and today's win is just brilliant! I'm very happy," he said.
Huber was not too disappointed after taking five straight stage wins. He holds a lead of 16:49 on Nissen and rode to prevent any time loss.
"Today I rode a tactical race," Huber said. "I've been dominating the lead group over the last few days and didn't want to risk anything. But the pace was very high in our lead group of five and if anyone had attacked, I would have had to react."
"Lukas Islitzer took the win in a sprint in the end and is a deserving stage winner."
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lukas Islitzer (Aut) CRAFT - Rocky Mountain Team | 3:57:10 | |
| 2 | Urs Huber (Sui) Team Bulls | 0:00:01 | |
| 3 | Ondrej Fojtik (Cze) FORCE KCK - PROGRESS CYCLES | 0:00:06 | |
| 4 | Brendan Johnston (Aus) | 0:00:11 | |
| 5 | Sören Nissen (Den) Racing Team Stevens - iHUS | 0:00:25 | |
| 6 | Greg Saw (Aus) Energima Abax Hr | 0:11:07 | |
| 7 | Matthias Grick (Aut) KTM RAD.SPORT.SZENE Ausseerland | ||
| 8 | Nicholas Pettina (Ita) Gruppo Sportivo Forestale | 0:12:34 | |
| 9 | Milton Ramos (Esp) Intense-TowCar | 0:12:38 | |
| 10 | Ryan Sherlock (Irl) TR | 0:12:40 | |
| 11 | Vincent Arnaud (Fra) Cycle Tyres - Addictiv | 0:12:50 | |
| 12 | Manuel Pliem (Aut) KTM RAD.SPORT.SZENE Ausseerland | 0:13:49 | |
| 13 | Jiri Krivanek (Cze) Prestige - EthicSport | 0:14:47 | |
| 14 | Jindra Knot (Cze) SWEEP CYCLING | 0:27:47 | |
| 15 | Jeroen van Eck (Ned) MPL Specialized MTB Team | 0:31:18 | |
| 15 | Thomas Engelsgjerd (Nor) Energima Abax Hr | ||
| 17 | Anthony Lincy (Aus) Astute Financial Racing | 0:31:21 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarah White (Aus) Astute Financial Racing | 5:15:10 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urs Huber (Sui) | 22:13:17 | |
| 2 | Sören Nissen (Den) | 0:16:49 | |
| 3 | Brendan Johnston (Aus) | 0:31:05 | |
| 4 | Nicholas Pettina (Ita) | 0:47:15 | |
| 5 | Lukas Islitzer (Aut) | 0:51:34 | |
| 6 | Milton Ramos (Esp) | 1:19:14 | |
| 7 | Greg Saw (Aus) | 1:21:23 | |
| 8 | Matthias Grick (Aut) | 1:23:39 | |
| 9 | Ondrej Fojtik (Cze) | 1:36:28 | |
| 10 | Vincent Arnaud (Fra) | 1:43:02 | |
| 11 | Ryan Sherlock (Irl) | 1:47:33 | |
| 12 | Jiri Krivanek (Cze) | 2:37:59 | |
| 13 | Jindra Knot (Cze) | 3:24:53 | |
| 14 | Jeroen van Eck (Ned) | 4:16:03 | |
| 15 | Manuel Pliem (Aut) | 4:16:15 | |
| 16 | Thomas Engelsgjerd (Nor) | 4:37:48 | |
| 17 | Anthony Lincy (Aus) | 5:23:10 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarah White (Aus) | 31:11:28 |