By John Flynn
Despite only being two stages into the Crocodile Trophy, racers were already feeling the effects of the hot and dusty conditions.
Marc Herremans finished stage two Wednesday only to be placed on a saline drip to address his dehydrated condition. He is planning to start the third stage on Thursday. In stage two, racers faced the seering temperatures of North Queensland as they traversed 107km from Irvinebank to Koombooloomba.
Austrian Stefan Rucker (Elk Haus) worked together with Italian Mauro Bettin (Dream Team) to take first and second for the stage. Ondrej Fojtik (Toyota Dolak) was with the duo until he ran out of water and soon began to feel the effects. Bettin, who won stage one, goes into stage three as the overall leader.
Rucker said that it was "much hotter than last year".
Stay tuned to Cyclingnews for full coverage, including video clips, during the rest of the Crocodile Trophy.
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