Three-time Crocodile Trophy winner Urs Huber bounced back from the disappointment of a mechanical in the finale of stage 3 to take his second stage win of 2016. The Swiss rider remains the overall race leader with stage 3 winner Sebastien Carabin (Merida-Wallonie-Vojo Mag) sitting second overall.
In the women's race, Annemiek Van Vleuten suffered as the race leader took a wrong turn and saw her large lead in the morning become a 1:04:22 deficit to the winner Alice Pirard. The Belgian becomes the new race leader with half the race to come.
"The stage was not too difficult but got a bit tight at the 35km mark when I had a flat tyre. Bas Peters just flew past me and Sebastien Carabin went with him. I had to bridge the gap which was about a minute and managed to do so right before the flat part in the middle of the stage," Huber said of of his second stage win in four days. "Well, I think it wasn't very fair to attack when I had the mechanical, which I told them. Then I had another flat tyre and they waited for me, which I thought was very sportsman-like. Towards the finish Sebastien and I were equally strong, we didn't attack each other anymore and I was actually happy after two flats to being able to stay with him. I was able to claim the stage in a finish sprint."
For Pirard, to take her third win of the race and move into the leader's jersey was a surprise as she explained.
"I'm surprised that Annemiek is not here, she must have taken a wrong turn or crashed, because I heard during the race that she had a big gap, like 15 or 20 minutes. I hope she's ok and that she will come soon," she said. "For me it was a hard day, I was kind of in survival mode because I'm getting tired... just surviving in the forest. I did enjoy the last singletrack downhill though, that was really nice. We'll see.
"The next stages coming up are all really fast and rolling, which doesn't suit me generally, because I like the technical stages, but well, I'm so tired and in survival mode right now."
Stage 5 is the longest of the race at 131km with the riders to travel from Atherton to the Skybury Coffee Plantation.
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urs Huber (Swi) Team Bulls | 3:28:17 |
| 2 | Sebastien Carabin (Bel) Merida-Wallonie-Vojo Mag | 0:00:03 |
| 3 | Bas Peters (Ned) MijnBadLiv/Giant offroad team | 0:05:24 |
| 4 | Michiel Van Aelbroeck (Bel) WMTB.be | 0:07:27 |
| 5 | Matthias Grick (Aut) KTM Ebner Transporte Cycling Team Graz | 0:11:38 |
| 6 | Manuel Pliem (Aut) Team KTM-RAD.SPORT.SZENE | 0:18:52 |
| 7 | Stef De Louwere (Ned) Veco cycling team | 0:28:13 |
| 8 | Frédéric Ischard (Fra) Team velochannel.com | 0:46:23 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urs Huber (Swi) Team Bulls | 12:49:51 |
| 2 | Sebastien Carabin (Bel) Merida-Wallonie-Vojo Mag | 0:01:40 |
| 3 | Michiel Van Aelbroeck (Bel) WMTB.be | 0:46:29 |
| 4 | Bas Peters (Ned) MijnBadLiv/Giant offroad team | 0:50:35 |
| 5 | Manuel Pliem (Aut) Team KTM-RAD.SPORT.SZENE | 0:55:13 |
| 6 | Matthias Grick (Aut) KTM Ebner Transporte Cycling Team Graz | 1:06:11 |
| 7 | Stef De Louwere (Ned) Veco cycling team | 2:06:10 |
| 8 | Frédéric Ischard (Fra) Team velochannel.com | 3:11:41 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alice Pirard (Bel) Merida-Wallonie MTB Team | 4:44:59 |
| 2 | Ruth Corset (Aus) | 0:09:50 |
| 3 | Sarah Kaehler (Aus) Astute Financial Racing Team | 1:01:41 |
| 4 | Annemiek Van Vleuten (Ned) Orica-AIS / Scott | 1:08:31 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alice Pirard (Bel) Merida-Wallonie MTB Team | 17:02:43 |
| 2 | Annemiek Van Vleuten (Ned) Orica-AIS / Scott | 1:04:22 |
| 3 | Ruth Corset (Aus) | 1:16:54 |
| 4 | Sarah Kaehler (Aus) Astute Financial Racing Team | 2:54:47 |
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