Rybarik wins 2012 Crocodile Trophy title in Cooktown

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A crowd welcomed the 2012 Crocodile Trophy winners Ivan Rybarik and Kate Major on Grassy Hill in Cooktown on Sunday. Josef Benetseder took the final stage win for Austria ahead of Mike Mulkens of Belgium and Australian Luke Haines. Ondrej Fojtik claimed the overall second place behind his fellow Czech rider Rybarik while Wolfgang Krenn finished third.

Cooktown was Captain Cook's first landing place and a meeting place for the Aboriginal people of today's Far North Queensland. So it was only fitting that the Crocodile Trophy racers arrived at the historic Grassy Hill after days of immense efforts racing their bikes and experiencing adventures in the Outback together with likeminded cyclists from all over the world. Together they endured more than 900 kilometers and 16,000m of climbing and many will return home having found new friends for life.

Benetseder was the fastest rider of the day and claimed his first Crocodile Trophy stage win. "Last year I got second three times, so I came back to win a stage," said the beaming Austrian road racer. "It was much harder this year, and those technical mountain bike stages were challenging, but today I knew it was a stage for me."

The field had been started in staggered starts with the leaders in the GC riding out of Laura onto the wide and undulating gravel roads last. That way most of the riders arrived together on Grassy Hill and celebrated their achievements of the past nine days.

Czech rider dominates

With an impressive performance and four stage wins, Rybarik was crowned the 2012 Crocodile Trophy champion. He arrived together with second and third on the podium and after congratulating Fojtik and Krenn, he said, "I just had such a good time racing the Crocodile Trophy this year."

He added that he wanted to thank his wife Yana and daughter Elena who had supported him in preparation for the adventure stage race on the other side of the world and his Rubena Rocky Trail Racing Team. "My business partner Ondrej [Slezak] and his Hana were great and looked after me these past weeks and motivated me each day. We just had such a great time, in our team camp the atmosphere was always positive, we were chatting and talking about biking all the time. It was really the best environment for me to do well this year."

Race organiser Gerhard Schönbacher was content on Grassy Hill too. "This year we implemented a lot of new elements in the Crocodile Trophy. More mountain bike tracks, new stage destinations and even though the increased participant number meant a much greater logistical challenge in the Australian Outback, it definitely encourages us to keep improving our event."

Major wins women's contest

Australian Kate Major dominated the women's race, winning most stages and the overall title.

The Crocodile Trophy will be back in tropical far north Queensland in 2013 on October 19-26.

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