The 4th Stage of a stage race usually has some fatigue starting to show. And maybe that’s exactly what Cory Wallace needed to snare his stage win today on the out and back loop from Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park.
Wallace had been training for The Munga, which he was set to race with Australian Jason English. The Croc Trophy would be a great addition for his training – 9 days racing in the heat and dust, and of course some jungle. But he was quick to admit yesterday that he was a little ‘cooked’ for the Croc. Which would be ok if The Munga was still on, but as it was postponed it meant he was just too fatigued to be where he wanted to be.
Staring Death in the Face
Although Stage 3 avoided the dirt road climb through Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park, today we launched straight up it. Launched might not be the right word for everyone – but after seeing Ivan Rybarik warming up (and snapping a chain while doing so) he really did launch off the front of the bunch as the gradient increased. It’s fair to say the bunch broke up pretty badly then, and those with heavy legs drifted back, and those with better legs got away.
The pace took its toll. Photo: Regina Stanger
And maybe everyone else is now at Cory’s level of fatigue, as on one of the loose, dusty descents once out of the mountain bike park, Cory was able to drop his rivals and build a gap. This was also around the time the front group came across a wild bull.
“That bull’s horns were wider than my handlebars”, confirmed Greg Saw, who was forced off the track, crashed and suffered nasty rashes from a Stinging Tree, a vicious native plant, to escape the wild animal’s attack.
Austria’s Guido Thaler was happy with his fourth place and said that he enjoyed the many different terrains and settings that the race track offered today. “There were long, steady climbs, which really suit me, especially now that I’ve finally recovered from my jetlag. The sandy sections reminded me of home – it was like riding in snow”
The feed zone was especially welcome on the return leg. Photo: Regina Stanger
Cory rode solo to the finish, with a lead of about 2.5 minutes over Ramses Bekkenk, who swapped his number plate off his full suspension bike back onto his hardtail for today’s stage. Greg Saw came in 3rd in the leader’s jersey, and it will stay on his shoulders, although he missed presentation as he was having wounds seen to.
Further back, there was some misdirection on course. Where the course hit some road out near Ravenshoe it sounds like some people saw arrows from a local road race or similar and missed the markings to turn back onto a farm road. Quite a few riders ended up with a few extra kilometres.
But the route after this was great! Rolling firetrail near farmland, and then climbing back up, and into some rainforest on trails that must have been made with 4 stroke and a fist. It took concentration to negotiate the berms, ruts, fallen logs, and general slippery nature of this part of the course. When it finished, it was a few more kilometres of fast firetrails and technical double track before the climbs back over the range and to the mountain bike park.
I managed to collect a rock right onto my chainring on the final descent, doing my best to chase a bombing Andrew Lloyd into the finish. There was a bit of bent metal, but nothing that mechanic Micha couldn’t get fixed up. These guys are awesome on the tools and work hard every day to keep over 100 bikes rolling. They are fuelled purely by beer, soft drinks, sugar waffles and Tiesto.
Andrew Hall holds onto the Most Amateur jersey, despite (or due to?) his crank falling off in the middle of the race.
Imogen Smith won the women’s race, and still holds the Elite Women’s jersey.
Full results are online.