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 |
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Tour de France stage 13 LIVE - Can Pogačar cement GC lead on mountain time trial?
The second and final race against the clock at this year’s Tour de France will be a mountain time trial on the climb to Peyragudes -
Beauty and beast – How to make Mont Ventoux the best place for a Tour de France trip
The cycling paradise in southern France can be a nightmare if you don't prepare, so here are some tips to turn the beast into a good memory -
How to watch the Tour de France 2025: TV, streaming, official broadcasters
Where to watch the biggest race in the world this July -
Reverse engineering stage 13: How do teams prepare for a Tour de France mountain time trial?
In a discipline where marginal gains can mean the difference between winning and losing, how do teams get an edge on the competition?