Just about a month ago the 17th Crocodile Trophy finished with a victory of the Dutch racer Jeroen Boelen and Jessica Douglas from Australia. Now the arrangements for 2012 have already been made. And they hold a lot of new plans for the mountain bike stage race in the Australian Outback.
The most adventurous stage race in the world will start in Far North Queensland on 20th October 2012 with a bang: for the first time the World Cup tracks at Smithfield in Cairns will be included for stage one of the Crocodile Trophy. The 30 km race loop on the technically challenging terrain will also allow local Australian and New Zealand riders to race with the international Crocodile Trophy crowd and there are plans to open up stage two from Cairns to Lake Tinaroo to the public as well. In previous years, locals have lamented how little the local communities are involved in the event – from organisation through to competing. By having one or two days as events in which other racers can take part (without the whole race commitment) it may help bring the Croc Trophy into the greater Australian consciousness. The Trans Rockies and Trans Wales have demonstrated how shorter events can be combined within a longer event to help increase participation.
From Cairns, the following eight days will challenge the technical skills of participants more than ever before. “The stages will be shorter, however, they will include considerably more mountain bike tracks”, promises event organizer Gerhard Schönbacher. Furthermore, a time trial in the historic mining town of Irvinebank will add some variety. Overall, the participants will ride 866 km with the longest stage covering 136 km. With the unprecedented rainfalls in the 2011 edition, the modified Stage 4 in Irvinebank was almost set to be a time trial. It seems Schönbacher has been taken by the idea.
ill riders be as shelled? Shorter stages do make for faster races. There will be hurt.
Interestingly, the drop from 10 days to nine may prove to be popular. Many stage races have found that reducing the distance has done nothing to detract form the event. The Trans Germany race dropped from seven days to four, and had a huge boost in popularity. The Sudety MTB Challenge changed from eight days to five with a prologue, and is growing every year. Towards the end of the Croc this year, many riders were just too tired, and worn out.
Speaking to Subaru-MarathonMTB.com rider Justin Morris, he was light-hearted about the changes. “”Im glad I did the last of the hard Crocodile Trophy’s. That is like seriously HALF the distance we did! I might just walk it next year! I think it does take away from what the race is reknowned for though, in all seriousness.”
The Outback will continue to be centre-stage with the cattle station at Mt. Mulligan, Mitchell River and the Bicentennial National Trail all being included in the stage plan of the endurance race in the Australian bush. And also the legendary stage through the “Quinken Aboriginal Reserver” from Maytown to Laura will be revived and included after a ten year break.
Croc Adventure
In addition to the individual and team of three classifications another category will be offered in 2012. The “Croc Adventure” team category will be offered exclusively for teams of two (male, female, mixed). The participants in this category are required to ride together and come across the finish line each day not more than two minutes apart from each other. This matches with many other large Mountain Bike Stage Races.
“With this category team spirit and mutual support are in the spotlight”, explains organizer Gerhard Schönbacher. “After all, most of the times, together you are stronger. When it comes to mechanicals or endurance lows, the team partners can help and push each other, and there is also always someone to rely on to draft with.” That is true, but mixing paired and solo racing has an odd dynamic, and the presence of paired racing brings up the issue of tow ropes.
This year’s exceptional performances of tandem riders from Italy and Belgium have made the organizers include this category in the program for 2012 again. Furthermore, the total participant limit has been raised to 200 riders to avoid individual and team racers missing out on racing spots. Thus a crowd of 300 athletes, supporters and organizational crew will arrive at the Crocodile Trophy finish line on 28th October 2012. After the successful premiere on Grassy Hill in Cooktown this year, the spectacular landing site of the legendary Captain Cook will crown the stage race at its grand finale also in 2012.
Stage 1 Saturday 20.10. Cairns Smithfield 30 km
Stage 2 Sunday 21.10. Cairns – Lake Tinaroo 92 km
Stage 3 Monday 22.10. Atherton – Irvinebank 125 km
Stage 4 Tuesday 23.10. Irvinebank (timetrial) 40 km or 90 km circuit race
Stage 5 Wednesday 24.10. Irvinebank – Mt. Mulligan 115 km
Stage 6 Thursday 25.10. Mt. Mulligan – St.Georg Out. 136 km
Stage 7 Friday 26.10. St.Georg Out – Maytown 110 km
Stage 8 Saturday 27.10. Maytown – Laura 82 km
Stage 9 Sunday 28.10. Laura – Cooktown 136 km
Total 866 km
For more information, go the Crocodile Trophy website.