Márton Blazsó wins stage 7

The longest stage of the 2014 Crocodile Trophy took it's riders from the historic mining town of Irvinebank to the picturesque Skybury Coffee Plantation near Mareeba. The reigning Hungarian National Marathon Champion Márton Blazsó was in his element in the hot Outback temperatures and won today's stage ahead of Cory Wallace (CAN) and Greg Saw, who again defended his leader jersey. Imogen Smith, the Elite Woman, braves the tough conditions and finishes in mid-field.

The MacLaughlin family welcomed the Crocodile Trophy racers and supporters today at their beautiful Skybury Coffee plantation near Mareeba and joined the camp for the winner's celebration. As riders praised the delicious coffee, the super-sweet bananas and juicy papayas that are grown on their property, organiser Gerhard Schönbacher called Skybury a "paradise of a stage finish". Skybury is Australia's oldest coffee plantation and its largest exporter of home grown coffee.

Breaking away from a strong lead group and racing solo towards the finish at Skybury, past lush papaya and banana fields, the Hungarian National Marathon Champion Márton Blazsó crossed the line as the winner in 4h11:26.60. “This is the biggest success in my mountain bike racing career for me", he beamed at the finish line at Skybury Coffee Plantation today and added that the hot temperatures were ideal racing conditions for him. He explained further that his hometown Szeged was located in the Great Southern Plain of Hungary and that due to the high number of sunshine hours annually, Szeged was often called "City of Sunshine". The 34-year old added that he had trained over summer in and around his hometown and the heat had prepared him for racing conditions like today in Tropical North Queensland.

Greg Saw has iron grip on overall lead

The stage win today pushes Blazsó up into fifth overall position - he lies just under an hour behind the overall leader Greg Saw. With a gap of 1:39 Cory Wallace and Greg Saw came in as second and third today. Wallace is chasing the overall leader jersey hard, but Greg Saw is putting up a fight, still holding on to it by 8:55 minutes.

"I'm not giving up yet", said Cory Wallace today. "There are two more days to go - two more days to race hard", he added. Greg Saw was cautiously optimistic, but still wary of the many mechanicals and tough conditions for bodies and bikes on the race track. "I'm just grateful that today everything went to plan. That gives me a lot of confidence and energy", he said.

Great result by the Czech rider Jiri Krivanek, who came in fifth today behind Milton Ramos (ESP), who moved into third position overall, trading places with Ramses Bekkenk (NED) who had mechanical problems today and finished with a gap of over 24 minutes today as eleventh.

Elite Woman Imogen Smith finished well today and currently sits in 53rd position overall in the almost 90-strong racing field. "There are 20 really good elite guys and another 20 strong amateurs in front in the generall classification. In the midfield I have a few in mind that I still want to beat overall and that's a great motivation to keep for another two days", she explained her racing strategy for the remaining two days.

Tomorrow's stage will see the Crocodile Trophy travel onwards to the Wetherby Station, which is a cattle station established around 1878 and promises an authentic Outback experience.

 

Brief Results

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Elite men stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Marton Blazo (Hun) Kross Hungary4:11:26
2Cory Wallace (Can) Kona0:01:40
3Greg Saw (Nor) iHus-Spiuk NorgeRow 2 - Cell 2
4Milton Ramos (Esp) Intense-TowCar0:06:26
5Jiri Krivanek (Cze) Prestige Hotel0:07:06
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Elite women stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) Team
1Imogen Smith (Aus) Subaru-MarathonMTB.com
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Amateur men 1 stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jindra Knot (Cze)4:39:15
2Andrew Lloyd (Aus)0:04:53
3Benoit Smeuninx (Bel)0:41:40
4Marek Tichy (Cze)2:22:12
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Amateur men 2 stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Silva Tiago (Por)4:17:53
2Andrew Hall (Aus) Vie 13 Kustum Apparel0:00:01
3Lander Vanhee (Bel) Desperate Husbands0:15:53
4Dan McNarmara (Aus)0:18:05
5Patrick Wiedmer (Sui)0:18:14
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Amateur men 3 stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Max Lelli (Ita)4:17:18
2Jaysen Searle (Aus) Team Redarc0:18:33
3Jason Chalker (Aus) Vie 13 kustom apparel0:18:44
4Timothy Goulding (Aus)0:23:54
5Ronny Raeymakers (Bel)0:26:52
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Amateur men 4 stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Davide Cassani (Ita)4:49:06
2Garry James (Aus) Garry James0:02:23
3Jim Knudsen (Den) JJ Peleton0:16:12
4Paul van Hattem (Ned) Scholten Cycling0:19:32
5John Cosgriff (Aus) Team Redarc0:29:26
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Amateur women stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Sandra Starkey (Aus)5:38:42
2Rita Esteves (Por)0:03:28
3Sharman Parr (Aus)1:02:03
4Tania Tryhorn (Aus)2:02:03
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Elite men general classification after stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Greg Saw (Nor) iHus-Spiuk Norge22:41:23
2Cory Wallace (Can) KONA Factory Team0:08:55
3Milton Ramos (Spa) Intense-TowCar0:25:20
4Ramses Bekkenk (Ned) Koga KMC0:34:08
5Marton Blazo (Hun) Kross Hungary0:53:02
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Elite women general classification after stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) Team
1Imogen Smith (Aus) Subaru-MarathonMTB.com
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Amateur men 1 general classification after stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jindra Knot (Cze)26:07:18
2Andrew Lloyd (Aus)0:29:54
3Benoit Smeuninx (Bel)4:38:55
4Marek Tichy (Cze)9:46:08
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Amateur men 2 general classification after stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Andrew Hall (Vie 13 kustom apparel)24:34:04
2Silva Tiago0:10:33
3Lander Vanhee (desperate husbands)1:06:38
4Dan McNarmara (Aus)2:05:00
5Jürgen Hofer (Jürgen Hofer)2:20:08
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Amateur men 3 general classification after stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jason Chalker (Vie 13 kustom apparel)25:53:12
2Max Lelli (Italian Cistyc Fibrosis Founda)0:01:53
3Timothy Goulding0:57:14
4Jaysen Searle (Aus) Team Redarc1:36:44
5Lieven Machtelinckx1:42:23
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Amateur men 4 general classification after stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Garry James (Garry James)27:14:15
2John Cosgriff (Team Redarc)1:54:44
3Davide Cassani (Italian Cistyc Fibrosis Founda)2:45:44
4Jim Knudsen (JJ Peleton)3:29:25
5Andrew Radcliffe (the greatcyclechallenge & Ride)3:46:22
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Amateur women general classification after stage 7
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Rita Esteves (Por)35:00:54
2Sandra Starkey0:52:59
3Tania Tryhorn (Aus)4:20:35
4Sharman Parr (Aus)7:37:37

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