Australian-born but Norway-based mountain biker racer, Greg Saw, has confirmed that he will return to Australia to defend his 2014 Crocodile Trophy title.
Saw moved to Norway a decade ago, but returned to Australia, and his home town of Atherton, for the Crocodile Trophy in a bid to fight homesickness. He missed the heat of Far North Queensland, and hoped that racing the Croc Trophy would ‘cure’ him. It actually did the opposite. He’s moving here.
“after being in Australia last year and visiting my old home on the Atherton Tablelands I have made plans to move my family of 2 young boys over to Australia from the Norwegian Winter.”
Saw was a surprise winner of sorts in 2014, but mostly as a lot of the press hadn’t heard of him. He will enjoy no such luxury in 2015, but hopefully a less eventful race, without bulls chasing him into stinging trees.
2014 women’s winner Imogen Smith has made no plans to return in 2015, citing lasting fatigue after the race in 2014.
“I was pretty burnt out after a big year in 2014, that finished with the Crocodile Trophy. It took me months to recover, and I wasn’t able to prepare adequately for my 2015 goals. It’s a great event, but for me the timing isn’t quite right, given I’d like to race XCO in 2016. This doesn’t mean I will never go back. I’d like to get back one year and I hope the women’s field continues to grow. It would be great to see a lot of ladies turn out in 2015.”
We will need to wait to see what the shape of the start list is, but as a S1 ranked UCI race the Crocodile Trophy is an attractive opportunity for UCI points for elite riders, and a great racing experience for amateurs. Brendan Johnston of Trek Racing Australia has expressed his interest in racing the Crocodile Trophy, as has Ireland’s Ryan Sherlock.
Brendan Johnston has considered racing the Crocodile Trophy.
Nina Gassler is set to confirm her return, after a terrible accident with a motorist north of Cairns prevented her from starting in 2014.
The Crocodile Trophy has also announced that they will be paying equal prize money for men and women, in accordance to the UCI rules and their race regulations.
The Crocodile Trophy has changed a lot in the past twenty years, and the current route could be viewed as being the most achievable. It’s certainly the most attractive to a mountain biker. The route takes in a variety of terrain from singletrack used in the Cairns World Cup, old logging roads over 1200m high, World Trail singletrack at Atherton MTB Park, back country bush tracks where your ability to pick a line and read terrain is paramount, and a couple of stages where being able to ride hard in the wind is very advantageous. And of course… the Bump Track to finish.
Bump track DH. Part of your time trial into Port Douglas. Photo: Tim Bardsley-Smith
It is difficult for a mountain bike race to be all things to all people, but the Crocodile Trophy seem to have found a mix of meeting the needs of the world’s elite, while still offering a true mountain bike adventure for amateurs. For further details look to our event page.