Wallace sprints to Crocodile Trophy stage 4 victory

Today's Crocodile Trophy stage 4 into Mount Mulligan was decided with a gripping sprint finish. Repeating yesterday’s result, Cory Wallace claimed the victory ahead of Mark Frendo and Jiri Krivanek. Liesbeth Hessens increased her lead in the women's general classification.

The fourth Crocodile Trophy stage took riders out of the mining town of Irvinebank to Mount Mulligan Station via the historic Bicentennial National Trail across the Stannary Hills. The first section of the race track was very rough with a steep ascent and tough downhills and only the quad crew was able to accompany the riders with medical, media and organisational staff.

The Master 1 racer leader Mario Färberböck from Austria attacked right from the start and got away. "I knew that my only chance to be in the lead group towards the flat end of the race was to create a gap in the beginning," he said.

When the trio of Wallace, Frendo and Krivanek eventually caught up to him just before the first feed zone, the young bike shop manager from Salzburg hung on for dear life through the Mareeba region mango, avocado and pineapple orchards before heading north on wide gravel roads.

"Honestly, I was really suffering and was cramping, trying to stay on their wheels. So I'm a bit surprised that I was able to stay with them until the finish," Färberböck said.

When the Czech rider Krivanek kept attacking on those last hills, Wallace and Frendo answered the challenge by pushing hard and the lead group of four stayed together even in the rough bushland through Pinnacle Station, just before Kingsborough.

On the 20km of undulating gravel road to the finish line, the four racers put up a fight and Wallace was the only one who knew how to race into the last finish corner. "I lost the stage win here last year and I wasn't going to have that happen again. I knew to take the inside line and that was all I needed," said Wallace at the finish.

Frendo and Krivanek crossed the line in second and third with Färberböck crossing as today's fourth and winner of the Master 1 category.

"We were going to have a relaxed race today ahead of tomorrow's monster stage," said Wallace, still breathing hard from the sprint. "But Jiri and Mario wouldn't have it so we had to keep up with them."

One of the oldest racers in this year's Crocodile Trophy, Master 3 competitor Peter Selkrig, crossed the finish line ex aequo in fifth with M2 racer Hans Planckaert and Johan Schrauwen as well as the elite racer Patrick Schörkmayer from Austria. As 16th overall he will pick up his fourth stage win boomerang tonight. "I was going to take it easy today, but couldn't help myself but to give it all again, when I saw a fellow M3 racer in the chaser group with me. We were able to get away from him and rode together so well - the four of us decided to roll across the finish together," said the ex-pro road racer who only two years ago returned to racing with a mountain bike and who added that he really enjoyed the camaraderie among Crocodile Trophy racers in the Australian Outback.

With five days to go until Cooktown, Frendo held onto his race lead and after today's stage 4, he has a gap of almost 11 minutes on Wallace and more than half an hour on the Czech Krivanek. He wasn't going to let it get to his head though.

"We still have a long way to Cooktown," said Frendo.

Steve Rankine, the Fastest Australian-leader jersey holder had bad luck today. He racing right at the front, chasing the lead group hard and even catching up to them, but then had a flat tire with 10km to go and lost 21 minutes because of it. He finished in sixth place in the elite category, still, however, defending his fifth position overall and proving yet again that riders have to be switched on until the last day at the Crocodile Trophy.

Riders are bracing themselves for tomorrow's king stage over 163km and 3,000m of elevation to Granite Creek Dam.

Full Results

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Elite men stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Cory Wallace (Can) Kona-MBC4:04:54
2Mark Frendo (Aus)0:00:02
3Jiri Krivanek (Cze) Prestige0:00:06
4Patrick Schörkmayer (Aut) Team-Beniva0:15:22
5Paul Mashford (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans0:21:00
6Steve Rankine (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans0:21:01
7Bart Duraj (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans0:24:38
8Adam Cobain (Aus) Amy Gillet Foundation0:29:19
9Bevan Spratt (NZl)0:32:19
10Josef Benetseder (Aut) Team Eybl0:40:37
11Matthew Page (GBr) A Cycling/Pivot0:53:19
12Alessandro Bianchi Perugini (Ita) asd s.martino emmedue bikepoint1:51:06
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Elite women stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Liesbeth Hessens (Bel)4:37:44
2Giordana Sordi (Ita) SKYsport-Italy1:18:16
3Anne-Mette Mortensen (Den) Team Fit 4 Run2:13:18
4Maria Cristina (Ita) GS Cicli Matteoni FRW2:32:00
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M1 stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mario Farberbock (Aut) Bikepalast.com4:05:18
2Johan Schrauwen (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?0:14:58
3Kristof Schrauwen (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?0:20:25
4Jürgen Hofer (Aut)0:32:28
5Andreas Ueberrhein (Ger) Mountainbike-Freiburg0:33:31
6Martin Wisata (Aut) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing0:36:03
7Matthew Moroney (Aus)1:28:09
8Kurt Hannes (Bel)1:39:07
9Huub Tankink (Ned) GT-YellowWings Racing1:43:25
10Vincent Baert (Bel) One life. Live it!1:43:47
11Bart Couckuyt (Bel)2:28:41
12David Vermander (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?2:47:18
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M2 stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Hans Planckaert (Bel) Smart Cycling Team4:20:16
2Peter Mühl (Aut)0:04:32
3Hamish Morrin (NZl)0:11:44
4Kristof Roelandts (Bel) One life. Live it!0:17:18
5Zbigniew Mossoczy (Pol) Wertykal bikeBoard0:17:19
6Phil Welch (GBr) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing0:21:05
7Andy Tubbs (USA) andy tubbs0:29:35
8Steve Bunton (NZl) Cervo Rosso / Flat Out Forty0:31:33
9Robert Waters (GBr)0:56:01
10Dennis Valerius (Ned) Jobkitchen.be1:05:38
11Giovanni Montini (Ita) SKYsport-Italy1:10:32
12Georg Vinczencz (Aut) Radsport Waldherr1:10:42
13Kurt Alderweireldt (Bel)1:15:16
14Christian Wenger (Aut) bikepalast1:28:49
15Wolfgang Mader (Aut) Dreamteam Tirol2:56:38
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M3 stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Peter Selkrig (Aus) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing4:20:16
2Daniele Bertozzi (Ita) GS Cicli Matteoni FRW0:05:43
3Radim Novotny (Cze) Prestige1:13:26
4Simon Gillett (Aus) Amy Gillett Foundation1:29:25
5Gerhard Grassmugg (Aut) Rofa-Sport Graz1:57:42
6Robert Topfer (Aus) Amy Gillett Foundation2:07:39
7Chris Wessels (Aus)Row 6 - Cell 2
8Andrew Wily (Aus) Amy Gillett Foundation2:48:00
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Masters stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Franz Schmidhofer (Aut) race4two - carinthia5:39:51
1Mario Slabe (Aut) race4two - carinthiaRow 1 - Cell 2
2Drik Oostvogels (Bel) One Eight Five Vets 20:32:28
3Luc Peeters (Bel) One Eight Five Vets 1Row 3 - Cell 2
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Teams stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1David Stallan (Aus) AMDF - Australian Mitochondrial Disease Federation4:52:49
1Isaac Tonello (Aus) AMDF - Australian Mitochondrial Disease FederationRow 1 - Cell 2
2Brendon Skerke (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans CA0:23:28
2Jon Standage (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans CARow 3 - Cell 2
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Elite men general classification after stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mark Frendo (Aus)12:40:35
2Cory Wallace (Can) Kona-MBC0:10:59
3Jiri Krivanek (Cze) Prestige0:31:00
4Steve Rankine (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans1:10:51
5Paul Mashford (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans1:11:28
6Josef Benetseder (Aut) Team Eybl1:30:53
7Patrick Schörkmayer (Aut) Team-Beniva1:33:54
8Matthew Page (GBr) A Cycling/Pivot1:35:55
9Bart Duraj (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans1:48:30
10Adam Cobain (Aus) Amy Gillet Foundation2:12:05
11Bevan Spratt (NZl)2:28:03
12Alessandro Bianchi Perugini (Ita) asd s.martino emmedue bikepoint6:23:03
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Elite women general classification after stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Liesbeth Hessens (Bel)15:35:43
2Giordana Sordi (Ita) SKYsport-Italy4:32:48
3Maria Cristina (Ita) GS Cicli Matteoni FRW5:00:38
4Anne-Mette Mortensen (Den) Team Fit 4 Run5:59:09
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M1 general classification after stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mario Farberbock (Aut) Bikepalast.com13:20:41
2Johan Schrauwen (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?0:51:54
3Kristof Schrauwen (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?0:56:29
4Martin Wisata (Aut) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing2:45:40
5Jürgen Hofer (Aut)2:53:52
6Huub Tankink (Ned) GT-YellowWings Racing3:02:46
7Andreas Ueberrhein (Ger) Mountainbike-Freiburg3:03:14
8Vincent Baert (Bel) One life. Live it!3:56:59
9Matthew Moroney (Aus)4:41:10
10Bart Couckuyt (Bel)5:24:01
11Kurt Hannes (Bel)7:27:00
12David Vermander (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?8:22:14
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M2 general classification after stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Hans Planckaert (Bel) Smart Cycling Team14:02:20
2Hamish Morrin (NZl)0:42:53
3Peter Mühl (Aut)1:38:26
4Kristof Roelandts (Bel) One life. Live it!1:41:43
5Phil Welch (GBr) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing1:42:25
6Zbigniew Mossoczy (Pol) Wertykal bikeBoard1:51:18
7Dennis Valerius (Ned) Jobkitchen.be2:32:48
8Andy Tubbs (USA) andy tubbs2:38:29
9Steve Bunton (NZl) Cervo Rosso / Flat Out Forty3:19:42
10Robert Waters (GBr)3:43:27
11Georg Vinczencz (Aut) Radsport Waldherr3:57:08
12Christian Wenger (Aut) bikepalast4:08:23
13Giovanni Montini (Ita) SKYsport-Italy4:12:33
14Kurt Alderweireldt (Bel)4:14:11
15Wolfgang Mader (Aut) Dreamteam Tirol6:25:00
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M3 general classification after stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Peter Selkrig (Aus) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing14:58:18
2Daniele Bertozzi (Ita) GS Cicli Matteoni FRW2:34:46
3Simon Gillett (Aus) Amy Gillett Foundation3:21:39
4Gerhard Grassmugg (Aut) Rofa-Sport Graz4:25:16
5Radim Novotny (Cze) Prestige5:08:54
6Robert Topfer (Aus) Amy Gillett Foundation5:32:55
7Chris Wessels (Aus)6:52:20
8Andrew Wily (Aus) Amy Gillett Foundation7:35:30
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Masters general classification after stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Franz Schmidhofer (Aut) race4two - carinthia18:56:18
1Mario Slabe (Aut) race4two - carinthiaRow 1 - Cell 2
2Drik Oostvogels (Bel) One Eight Five Vets 21:49:59
2Marc Coninx (Bel) One Eight Five Vets 20:00:01
Row 4 - Cell 0 Luc Peeters (Bel) One Eight Five Vets 1Row 4 - Cell 2
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Teams general classification after stage 4
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1David Stallan (Aus) AMDF - Australian Mitochondrial Disease Federation16:55:03
1Isaac Tonello (Aus) AMDF - Australian Mitochondrial Disease Federation16:55:32
2Brendon Skerke (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans CA0:17:56
2Jon Standage (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans CARow 3 - Cell 2

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