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September 21/17 21:55 pm - Crocodile Trophy Stage 6


Posted by Editoress on 09/21/17
 

Canada strikes again: Andrew L'Esperance wins the stage into Wetherby

The Crocodile Trophy arrived at Wetherby Cattle Station high up on the escarpment from Port Douglas. Four of the top five finishers were elites after a 102km/1000vm marathon from Skybury Coffee Plantation. Andrew L'Esperance won the sprint against Leandre Bouchard and claimed his first stage win in 3:26:08 ofthe sixth stage of the MEPT – Crocodile Trophy. The Australian elite Ben May (+11:28) finished in third and the Japanese rider Hioyuki Okamoto (+13:39) in fifth, with Erik Dekker, the amateur leader, coming in fourth (+11:30). Canadian elite woman, Haley Smith, finished 12th position again today with a gap of only 21:58 to her partner L'Esperance.

 

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Andrew L'Esperance


Wetherby Cattle Station is one of the oldest of its kind in Australia – established around 1878 by gold prospectors traveling between Port Douglas and the Hodgkinson River gold fields along the historic Bump Track, which runs right past the front doorstep of the homestead, would stay overnight at the station for a meal and to rest their pack animals.

Logistical operation in the Outback
The logistics at the MEPT - Crocodile Trophy are an incredible undertaking. Four-wheel drive and cooling trucks transport the outdoor kitchen equipment, tents, food and general supplies, mobile mechanical and medical stations as well as the riders luggage from each stage destination to the next. "All the food and general supplies as well as all hire equipment is sourced locally in the Cairns and Port Douglas regions", explained Stanger who brings experienced staff from overseas and hires local team managers who lead the backpacking crews.

"They say it takes a village to raise a child, sometimes it feels like it takes a whole township to keep the Crocodile Trophy moving each day", Stanger said. Apart from the organisational challenges of running a stage race in the remote Australian Outback it's the sheer amount of supplies and the volume of food that is required to keep it going. "Our riders eat a good 80kg of bananas a day at the feed stations out on track and close to a ton of water melons throughout the entire event. About 20 litres of milk are served every day as well as 15 dozen eggs and 65kg of meat – if there's pasta on the menu, we go through a godo 50kg of it per day", she explained.

With two stages to go in this year's event, the MEPT - Crocodile Trophy crew and riders will stay at Wetherby for two nights, no doubt refueling with juicy beef from the farm. Tomorrow will be a 78km/1050vm marathon through Kuranda National Park along the Twin Bridges Road before the final stage will be an individual time trial in reverse order of the general classification down the infamous Bump Track and along the Four Mile Beach shores into the finish in Port Douglas.

 

Stage 6, Skybury Coffee to Wetherby Station, 102 km / 1000 vm
1 Andrew L'Esperance (Forward Racing-Norco) 3:26:08
2 Leandre Bouchard (BH SR Suntour KMC) at 0:04
3 Ben May (Bicycle Riders/Specialized/Infinit Nutrition) 11:28
4 Erik Dekker 11:30
5 Hiroyuki Okamoto (INPULSE) 13:39
6 Daniel Beresford (Team Cycle Station/Hammer Nutrition/Norco) 14:32
7 Alex Malone (Cyclist Magazine) 16:08
8 Peter Lister (Corry Cycles ACE Racing) 19:11
9 Michal Kafka (Quantum Racing Team) 19:14
10 Balboni Vanni (BICISCOUT.IT) 19:16
11 Serge Muylle (Serge Muylle) 20:25
12 Haley Smith (Norco Factory Team) 21:58
13 Jean-Luc De Bruyckere (Bezmbikers) 22:31
14 Micheal Wilson 26:59
15 Brian Tracey (ECS) 28:06
16 Johnathan Todd 28:54
17 Peter Urdl 29:20
18 Mike Blewitt (Subaru-MarathonMTB.com) 32:20
19 Brendon Skerke (Astute Financial Racing Team) 33:10
20 Bart Duraj (Astute Financial Racing Team) 33:10
21 Cees De Ridder 35:49
22 Jürgen Krieber (MTB-Intersport Montafon/Fahrschule Mallin) 40:25
23 Peter Winfield 43:14
24 Pieter Van Der Eijk (MTB Team FATlab NL) 43:14
25 Nick Gatland (Nick & Nick) 49:35
26 Nick Smith (Nick & Nick) 49:36
27 Nick Hutton 49:40
28 Graeme Young 49:40
29 Jaroslav Slezak (Quantum Racing Team) 49:40
30 Grant Webster (Apollo Bicycles - nitelights - BBD - dust monkies) 51:58
31 Pieter Lanssens 52:23
32 Sebastian Arnstedt 55:21
33 Martin Wisata (Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing) 56:26
34 Luc Van Aelbroeck 56:27
35 Daniela Erni Ruoss (2XU) 56:52
36 Marc Russenberger (2XU) 56:52
37 Stefan Zorniger (Team Strassacker) 1:03:05
38 Michael Peters (Zelzer Racing Team) 1:04:02
39 Romana Fritz-Winter (Team Sportordination) 1:04:05
40 Robert Fritz (Team Sportordination) 1:04:05
41 Roman Pfister (ROMO Cycling Team) 1:09:00
42 Mick Ritchie (Cops at the Croc - Enduro Magazine) 1:11:28
43 Radek Jaros (Quantum Racing Team) 1:15:24
44 Alexander Onofre Brempel Ballester (Bikepoint Mallorca Racing Team) 1:19:22
45 John Harris (JH) 1:24:11
46 Sam Giblett 1:30:54
47 Greg Stanton 1:30:54
48 Roger Niverescu 1:32:26
49 Willem Dijk 1:38:42
50 Daniela Rebhan (Steil is geil) 1:40:46
51 Carsten Selbach (Steil is geil) 1:40:46
52 Damien Fenning 1:43:17
53 Paul Brown (Inparadise) 1:45:20
54 Jodi Brown (Inparadise) 1:45:20
55 Blake Coppo (Corry Cycles Ace Racing) 1:45:48
56 Richard Read (Cops at the Croc - Enduro Magazine) 1:48:56
57 Kylie Lindsay 1:49:30
 
GC
1 Leandre Bouchard (BH SR Suntour KMC) 23:26:47
2 Andrew L'Esperance (Forward Racing-Norco) at 1:31
3 Erik Dekker 1:04:18
4 Daniel Beresford (Team Cycle Station/Hammer Nutrition/Norco) 2:03:50
5 Alex Malone (Cyclist Magazine) 2:08:57
6 Ben May (Bicycle Riders/Specialized/Infinit Nutrition) 2:23:06
7 Hiroyuki Okamoto (INPULSE) 2:25:33
8 Michal Kafka (Quantum Racing Team) 2:40:28
9 Peter Lister (Corry Cycles ACE Racing) 2:52:22
10 Grant Webster (Apollo Bicycles - nitelights - BBD - dust monkies) 3:12:30
11 Haley Smith (Norco Factory Team) 3:30:22
12 Peter Urdl 3:54:10
13 Micheal Wilson 4:00:30
14 Johnathan Todd 4:23:32
15 Mike Blewitt (Subaru-MarathonMTB.com) 4:26:42
16 Jean-Luc De Bruyckere (Bezmbikers) 4:49:30
17 Martin Wisata (Il Pastaio / Rocky Trail Racing) 4:50:34
18 Jürgen Krieber (MTB-Intersport Montafon/Fahrschule Mallin) 5:11:26
19 Balboni Vanni (BICISCOUT.IT) 5:19:59
20 Brian Tracey (ECS) 5:20:58
21 Bart Duraj (Astute Financial Racing Team) 5:28:45
22 Brendon Skerke (Astute Financial Racing Team) 5:28:48
23 Nick Hutton 5:41:05
24 Graeme Young 5:42:35
25 Jaroslav Slezak (Quantum Racing Team) 5:45:16
26 Peter Winfield 6:01:42
27 Cees De Ridder 6:04:07
28 Richard Read (Cops at the Croc - Enduro Magazine) 6:19:09
29 Daniela Erni Ruoss (2XU) 6:22:24
30 Blake Coppo (Corry Cycles Ace Racing) 6:29:36
31 Serge Muylle (Serge Muylle) 7:22:04
32 Sebastian Arnstedt 7:51:20
33 Nick Smith (Nick & Nick) 8:09:57
34 Nick Gatland (Nick & Nick) 8:09:58
35 Radek Jaros (Quantum Racing Team) 8:13:47
36 Marc Russenberger (2XU) 8:14:40
37 John Harris (JH) 8:37:45
38 Pieter Van Der Eijk (MTB Team FATlab NL) 8:39:14
39 Luc Van Aelbroeck 8:45:53
40 Pieter Lanssens 8:49:12
41 Stefan Zorniger (Team Strassacker) 8:53:49
42 Romana Fritz-Winter (Team Sportordination) 8:55:54
43 Robert Fritz (Team Sportordination) 8:55:56
44 Michael Peters (Zelzer Racing Team) 9:05:21
45 Roman Pfister (ROMO Cycling Team) 10:34:38
46 Mick Ritchie (Cops at the Croc - Enduro Magazine) 10:51:02
47 Jodi Brown (Inparadise) 11:42:31
48 Paul Brown (Inparadise) 11:42:32
49 Willem Dijk 12:47:00
50 Daniela Rebhan (Steil is geil) 13:50:34
51 Carsten Selbach (Steil is geil) 13:50:34
52 Alexander Onofre Brempel Ballester (Bikepoint Mallorca Racing Team) 14:43:37



 

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