Benetseder wins Crocodile Trophy stage 5 with monster solo effort

Josef Benetseder won the fifth and longest stage of this year's Crocodile Trophy at Granite Creek Dam in the mining country of Far North Queensland with a massive 12-minute advantage over race leader Australian Mark Frendo and Cory Wallace from Canada. Benetseder took the victory after an impressive solo race over 163km.  Liesbeth Hessens won another women's stage and continues to lead the women's overall.

More than half of the more than 900km have been completed thus far. Four stages, including an individual time trial at Laura, still lie ahead before the finish on Cooktown's Grassy Hill this Sunday.

It had been his plan all along, said today's stage winner Benetseder of his monster solo race at the Crocodile Trophy. "During the first big climbs on the second stage, I felt really good and knew that I had a chance on smooth terrain. I took it easy on the technical sections on the last two stages and went right from the start today," said the pro road racer, who had suffered three flat tires during yesterday's stage into Mount Mulligan and admitted worrying about mechanicals all day today.

None of the elite riders was able to catch up to Benetseder and at the Mitchell River Crossing, he had already gained eight minutes on the large field of more than 20 chasers. On the huge climbs through the Mt Windsor ranges west of the Daintree National Park the dry and radiating heat made riders suffer and the three elite race leaders Frendo, Wallace and Jiri Krivanek broke away from the chasing group. But Benetseder was in his element and kept increasing his lead to more than 10 minutes by the last feed zone 18km before the finish.

"I just tried to race consistently today and kept riding a fast but safe pace all the way. All went to plan, really," said the 30-year old Austrian as he arrived at the finish, covered in dust, mud and sweat.

Benetseder is no longer in contention for the general classification; however, he admitted that he still had his eyes on the Cooktown stage, which he won in 2012. "I might just give it another go," he said with a cheeky grin.

"I couldn't believe how strong Benetseder raced today," said Wallace at the finish, admitting that he had his eyes on the race leader Frendo all day and thought that they would catch Benetseder eventually.

"I tried to push the chase group really hard and kept attacking. But Frendo was there right away every time, and we wore each other out eventually."

Wallace finished third behind Frendo in a sprint finish at the end.

The Australian Frendo still has an 11-minute overall lead and will have to keep watching the Canadian on tomorrow's 118km stage to Laura.

During stage 6, racers will ride to Laura via the Old Coach Trail, an historic mining road. Rough and sandy terrain is in the cards as well as river crossings, and the riders are looking forward to re-entering civilisation in the little town of 80 residents near the Lakefield National Park.

Full Results

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Men stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Josef Benetseder (Aut) Team Eybl6:09:28
2Mark Frendo (Aus)0:13:42
3Cory Wallace (Can) Kona-MBC0:13:43
4Jiri Krivanek (Cze) Prestige0:21:09
5Matthew Page (GBr) A Cycling/Pivot0:30:18
6Paul Mashford (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans0:31:43
7Bevan Spratt (NZl)0:46:16
8Patrick Schörkmayer (Aut) Team-Beniva0:59:40
9Steve Rankine (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans1:04:13
10Bart Duraj (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home LoansRow 9 - Cell 2
11Adam Cobain (Aus) Amy Gillet Foundation1:08:09
12Alessandro Bianchi Perugini (Ita) asd s.martino emmedue bikepoint4:50:32
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Women stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Liesbeth Hessens (Bel)7:50:18
2Maria Cristina (Ita) GS Cicli Matteoni FRW1:05:04
3Giordana Sordi (Ita) SKYsport-Italy1:47:28
4Anne-Mette Mortensen (Den) Team Fit 4 Run3:05:40
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M1 stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mario Farberbock (Aut) Bikepalast.com6:36:53
2Huub Tankink (Ned) GT-YellowWings Racing0:32:15
3Johan Schrauwen (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?0:35:48
4Kristof Schrauwen (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?Row 3 - Cell 2
5Jürgen Hofer (Aut)1:17:28
6Martin Wisata (Aut) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing1:23:54
7Vincent Baert (Bel) One life. Live it!1:30:58
8Andreas Ueberrhein (Ger) Mountainbike-Freiburg1:41:42
9Matthew Moroney (Aus)1:48:41
10Bart Couckuyt (Bel)2:26:08
11David Vermander (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?3:17:06
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M2 stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Hans Planckaert (Bel) Smart Cycling Team6:53:37
2Hamish Morrin (NZl)0:19:04
3Zbigniew Mossoczy (Pol) Wertykal bikeBoard0:38:15
4Phil Welch (GBr) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing0:41:25
5Peter Mühl (Aut)0:49:54
6Dennis Valerius (Ned) Jobkitchen.be1:05:26
7Kristof Roelandts (Bel) One life. Live it!1:09:24
8Andy Tubbs (USA) andy tubbs1:25:56
9Christian Wenger (Aut) bikepalast1:56:23
10Wolfgang Mader (Aut) Dreamteam Tirol1:58:06
11Giovanni Montini (Ita) SKYsport-Italy2:03:04
12Georg Vinczencz (Aut) Radsport Waldherr2:11:49
13Steve Bunton (NZl) Cervo Rosso / Flat Out Forty2:44:27
14Robert Waters (GBr)Row 13 - Cell 2
15Kurt Alderweireldt (Bel)Row 14 - Cell 2
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M3 stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Peter Selkrig (Aus) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing7:09:08
2Daniele Bertozzi (Ita) GS Cicli Matteoni FRW0:46:14
3Radim Novotny (Cze) Prestige2:03:51
4Simon Gillett (Aus) Amy Gillett Foundation2:28:56
5Gerhard Grassmugg (Aut) Rofa-Sport Graz2:49:57
6Robert Topfer (Aus) Amy Gillett Foundation3:46:59
7Chris Wessels (Aus)3:47:00
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Masters men stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Franz Schmidhofer (Aut) race4two - carinthia29:56:18
2Mario Slabe (Aut) race4two - carinthiaRow 1 - Cell 2
3Drik Oostvogels (Bel) One Eight Five Vets 20:15:30
4Marc Coninx (Bel) One Eight Five Vets 20:15:31
5Luc Peeters (Bel) One Eight Five Vets 10:15:54
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Teams stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
2Jon Standage (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans CA25:01:39
1David Stallan (Aus) AMDF - Australian Mitochondrial Disease Federation26:33:07
1Isaac Tonello (Aus) AMDF - Australian Mitochondrial Disease Federation26:33:36
2Brendon Skerke (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans CA1:39:52
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Men general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mark Frendo (Aus)19:03:45
2Cory Wallace (Can) Kona-MBC0:11:00
3Jiri Krivanek (Cze) Prestige0:38:27
4Josef Benetseder (Aut) Team Eybl1:17:11
5Paul Mashford (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans1:29:29
6Matthew Page (GBr) A Cycling/Pivot1:52:31
7Steve Rankine (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans2:01:22
8Patrick Schörkmayer (Aut) Team-Beniva2:19:52
9Bart Duraj (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans2:39:01
10Bevan Spratt (NZl)3:00:37
11Adam Cobain (Aus) Amy Gillet Foundation3:06:32
12Alessandro Bianchi Perugini (Ita) asd s.martino emmedue bikepoint10:59:53
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Women general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Liesbeth Hessens (Bel)23:26:01
2Maria Cristina (Ita) GS Cicli Matteoni FRW6:05:42
3Giordana Sordi (Ita) SKYsport-Italy6:20:16
4Anne-Mette Mortensen (Den) Team Fit 4 Run9:04:49
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M1 general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mario Farberbock (Aut) Bikepalast.com19:57:34
2Johan Schrauwen (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?1:27:42
3Kristof Schrauwen (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?1:32:17
4Huub Tankink (Ned) GT-YellowWings Racing3:35:01
5Martin Wisata (Aut) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing4:09:34
6Jürgen Hofer (Aut)4:11:20
7Andreas Ueberrhein (Ger) Mountainbike-Freiburg4:44:56
8Vincent Baert (Bel) One life. Live it!5:27:57
9Matthew Moroney (Aus)6:29:51
10Bart Couckuyt (Bel)7:50:09
11David Vermander (Bel) Houtambacht - Who killed Joe?11:39:20
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M2 general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Hans Planckaert (Bel) Smart Cycling Team20:55:57
2Hamish Morrin (NZl)1:01:57
3Phil Welch (GBr) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing2:23:50
4Peter Mühl (Aut)2:28:20
5Zbigniew Mossoczy (Pol) Wertykal bikeBoard2:29:33
6Kristof Roelandts (Bel) One life. Live it!2:51:07
7Dennis Valerius (Ned) Jobkitchen.be3:38:14
8Andy Tubbs (USA) andy tubbs4:04:25
9Steve Bunton (NZl) Cervo Rosso / Flat Out Forty6:04:09
10Christian Wenger (Aut) bikepalast6:04:46
11Georg Vinczencz (Aut) Radsport Waldherr6:08:57
12Giovanni Montini (Ita) SKYsport-Italy6:15:37
13Robert Waters (GBr)6:27:54
14Kurt Alderweireldt (Bel)6:58:38
15Wolfgang Mader (Aut) Dreamteam Tirol8:23:06
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M3 general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Peter Selkrig (Aus) Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing22:07:26
2Daniele Bertozzi (Ita) GS Cicli Matteoni FRW3:21:00
3Simon Gillett (Aus) Amy Gillett Foundation5:50:35
4Radim Novotny (Cze) Prestige7:12:45
5Gerhard Grassmugg (Aut) Rofa-Sport Graz7:15:13
6Robert Topfer (Aus) Amy Gillett Foundation9:19:54
7Chris Wessels (Aus)10:39:20
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Masters men general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Franz Schmidhofer (Aut) race4two - carinthia29:56:18
2Mario Slabe (Aut) race4two - carinthiaRow 1 - Cell 2
3Drik Oostvogels (Bel) One Eight Five Vets 20:15:30
4Marc Coninx (Bel) One Eight Five Vets 20:15:31
5Luc Peeters (Bel) One Eight Five Vets 10:15:54
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Teams general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1David Stallan (Aus) AMDF - Australian Mitochondrial Disease Federation26:33:07
1Isaac Tonello (Aus) AMDF - Australian Mitochondrial Disease Federation26:33:36
2Jon Standage (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans CARow 2 - Cell 2
2Brendon Skerke (Aus) Tenni's - Cairns Home Loans CARow 3 - Cell 2

 

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