Gordon takes Crocodile Trophy lead as Classens wins stage 3
Overnight leader England drops to second overall
The Netherlands' Bart Classens took his second stage win in a row on stage 3 of the 2019 Crocodile Trophy on Monday, while South African Alan Gordon became the new race leader, taking over from Australian home hope Michael England.
Classens won the third stage from Ringer's Rest to Wondecla by a convincing 2:49 over Brandan Marquez Fernandez of Spain, with Gordon taking third place, 3:38 behind the winner, and England finishing fourth, another 2:22 back.
"I'm happy with almost three minutes of a gap to second place today. I hope that I can make up a bit of time from now on in the general classification," said Classens in a race press release, with the Dutchman having lost over 14 minutes on the opening stage on Saturday.
He now sits in fourth overall, 8:52 down on new leader Gordon, who leads England by 1:56, with Marquez Fernandez third, just ahead of Classens and 8:16 behind Gordon.
"I don't know anyone here, and so I sort of had an aim to finish in the top three, but I wasn't sure if that was feasible," said the new race leader.
"It's my first time in Australia, and while plenty of my mates have spoken about doing the Croc, I decided to actually sign up. It seemed like a really cool race to do," Gordon said.
The MTB stage race's sole elite women's competitor, Austria's Angelika Tazreiter, finished 10th on the stage, and is now 12th on the overall classification.
1 | Bart Classes (Ned) | 3:22:05 |
2 | Brandan Marquez Fernandez (Spa) | 0:02:49 |
3 | Alan Gordon (RSA) | 0:03:38 |
4 | Michael England (Aus) | 0:06:00 |
5 | Stijn Van Boxstael (Bel) | 0:07:04 |
6 | Lukas Kaufmann (Aut) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Alex Malone (Aus) | 0:20:13 |
8 | Carel van Wyk (RSA) | 0:30:08 |
1 | Angelika Tazreiter (Aut) | 4:36:09 |
1 | Alan Gordon (RSA) | 9:49:09 |
2 | Michael England (Aus) | 0:01:56 |
3 | Brandan Marquez Fernandez (Spa) | 0:08:16 |
4 | Bart Classens (Ned) | 0:08:52 |
5 | Stijn Van Boxstael (Bel) | 0:24:28 |
6 | Lukas Kaufmann (Aut) | 0:31:38 |
7 | Alex Malone (Aus) | 0:35:15 |
8 | Carel van Wyk (RSA) | 1:45:04 |
1 | Angelika Tazreiter (Aut) | 11:43:32 |
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets
After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59
Join now for unlimited access
Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Lack of communication and bad timing create nightmare for former NCL riders
Riders say 'the delivery was cold' with a 2-minute Zoom call from league Monday to cancel season -
Anna Shackley forced to retire due to heart irregularities
'We are very sorry to see Anna's cycling career end like this' says sports manager Danny Stam -
'Riders like me are rare' - Alessandro De Marchi produces vintage breakaway win at 37
Italian veteran takes first win since Tre Valli Varesine 2021 -
FDJ-SUEZ could be a front-runner in the race to sign Tour de France winner Demi Vollering
'The rumours that link Demi Vollering with FDJ-SUEZ only confirm the viability of the team' says manager Stephen Delcourt