Fojtik wins in Lake Tinaroo and takes overall lead in Croc Trophy

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Elite men

Ondrej Fojtik won stage 2 at the Crocodile Trophy, crossing the line with a 7:58-minute gap to second-place Ivan Rybarik (Rubena Rocky Trail Racing CZE). Canadian Cory Wallace finished in third.  Cory Wallace was third at 8:30.

The Australian favorite and 24-hour racer Jason English (RUOK Rocky Trail Racing) unfortunately had his race end too early due to a fractured collarbone from an accident in the last kilometres to the finish line.

Yesterday's stage winner Rybarik said that after the prologue race at Smithfield, today was the "real start of the Crocodile Trophy". Riders gathered at the Cairns Lagoon ahead of the second stage which covered 92km with 2,500m of elevation change.

After a neutral ride out of the city, the official start was high above Cairns and the pace was quick right away. Austrian road racing talent Patrick Konrad sprinted ahead on the sealed road towards Copperlode Dam and had an immediate lead of about half a minute on a chasing group of 20 riders. The chasing pack included the opening stage's top finishers in the elite and masters categories as well as a group of about 15 local riders from the Cairns MTB Club who participated in the new open classification.

After crossing the massive Copperlode Dam wall, riders entered the rough gravel roads of Dinden National Park and the beginning of the climbs, which had been dreaded by some. Konrad dropped back on the technical sections and a lead group of three riders formed with Rybarik, Wolfgang Krenn and Fojtik taking the front positions.

"My friend Ivan Rybarik attacked straight after the dam crossing and Krenn, and I stayed with him until the first depot when Ivan suffered a flat tyre", said Fojtik later of how he and Krenn raced onward. After 35km, they had about a two-minute lead on the chase groups - the closest was a trio with Wallace, English and Mike Mulkens, because Rybarik had suffered another flat tire and had fallen back to a
group of five riders, which included his teammate Ondrej Slezak. The group then worked together on the flat sections to make up ground.

At the 50km mark, it was still Fojtik and Krenn about two minutes ahead of English and Wallace, who had dropped a suffering Mulkens on the gruelling climbs in the midday heat, ahead of Rybarik who came closer with every kilometre. As Rybarik picked up his pace, Krenn said his energy levels dropped. "I ran out of water with about 15km to go until the second feed zone and the temperatures were relentless."

So it happened that as Fojtik sprinted away from the feed zone, Krenn, English and Wallace with Rybarik in pursuit arrived together and started the final section of the race with a 3:30-minute gap to Fojtik, who increased his pace and crossed the finish line at Lake Tinaroo as today's stage winner. "I had actually planned to save some energy today, but on the last climb I felt good and the thought of the leader's jersey was really motivating and kept me going," said the new Croc leader Fotjik at the finish.

English crashes out of race

Of the chasers, English was thought to be the strongest and as Fojtik crossed the finish line, all eyes were on the tree line, looking for
English and his Australian leader's jersey. Instead, Rybarik charged into the event centre and across the line with a 7:58 gap and reported an accident on the last kilometres involving English and Wallace.

Apparently in a narrow section of the already sealed road as they came towards the Lake Tinaroo campsite, a car coming towards Kauri Creek struck English and also Wallace, who narrowly escaped being hit by the car by riding off the road.

English was conscious and able to stand up, and Wallace raced towards the finish to alarm the Croc Trophy medical crew, who brought English and his bike with its cracked top tube back into the event centre.

"We are happy to report that Jason English is in good spirits and was sent to the nearby Atherton Hospital to get his shoulder X-rayed. Initial diagnosis is a fractured left collarbone, and Jason won’t be starting at stage 3 tomorrow. The whole Croc camp wishes him well and a speedy recovery."

Elite women

Australian endurance athlete Kate Major said that today's stage was tough, however, that she really enjoyed it. Living for the past years in the US, it had been her dream to participate in the Crocodile Trophy and see here home country’s remote Outback - on her bike.

"I've never done anything like this," she said at Lake Tinaroo today. "I take every day as it comes, I've done so much racing, so this is my holiday. I'm here to have fun and to ride through those rainforests was just magnificent today. You won't get that on a tourist bus, that's for sure!"

Stage 3

Tomorrow's stage after the official start in Atherton at 9:00 am will take the riders on a very rough route through some spectacular river crossings, more steep climbs and descents into Herberton. The road into Irvinebank is said to be good but hilly, where the 111km and 2,700m of climbing will test the endurance of all the riders.

The following videos include post-race interviews with top finishers and race footage.