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10th Crocodile Trophy - NE
Australia, October 16-31, 2004
Main Page Results Gatorade Dream Team diary Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 8 - October 25: Burketown - Burketown ITT, 30 km
Elli triumphs in race of truth
Italian claims third stage win at Crocodile Trophy
By John-Michael Flynn in Burketown, Queensland Australia
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It may have had little bearing on the overall race standings, but Italian Alberto Elli scored a significant psychological victory today in stage 8 of the Crocodile Trophy mountain bike race. Following yesterday's dramatic stage finish and allegations of cheating which were leveled at his Gatorade Team overnight, Elli responded today in the only way possible, by blasting away his rivals in the 'race of truth'.
Elli's time of 50 minutes 30 seconds was more than half a minute in front of his nearest rival, Czech Ondrej Fojtik, while race leader Australia's Adam Hansen finished 1 minute and 34 seconds behind Elli in third. The Gatorade Team leader, who last year won four stages of the Crocodile Trophy, is now well on the way to repeating the result in 2004.
"I'm happy because last year I won the stage before the time trial and the time trial this year the same, I won the stage yesterday before the time trial," Elli said
Today's race, a 30 kilometre all-out effort, started and finished at one of Australia's famous outback watering holes, the Burketown Pub. Riders were then sent on an a lonely journey across a desolate saltpan, an entirely new experience for most of the competitors.
"Today was the first time I race on a salt lake it was hard because there was a lot of wind, front wind," Elli said. "It was wind, corrugations, sand, wind."
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Race leader Adam Hansen who finished third today, apparently restraining himself with several more big stages ahead after tomorrow's rest day. "I lost almost two minutes to Alberto on the way out," Hansen said. "What happened on the way back I wasn't too concerned over, I didn't really want to push it."
Much needed rest
Tomorrow's rest / travel day will be much welcomed by competitors in the Crocodile Trophy of 2004. With four consecutive stages to follow, all in the vicinity of 140 kilometres in length, the journey from Burketown to Dunbar by road will give riders the chance to put their feet up, relax and recover.
2004 stage winner, Austrian Robert Hotter is looking very much forward to the break, after battling with fatigue in recent days. "I spent seven days of racing now and today is really the first day I feel it's going to improve a lot," Hotter said. "So I hope that in two days I'm really fit for the race."
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Wednesday's Stage 4 of the Crocodile Trophy is a 149 kilometre journey from Dunbar to Imooya as the world's toughest mountainbike race heads across Cape York towards Australia's Northern tourist city of Cairns.
Photography
Images by Mark Watson/mwphotography.com.au
- Jochen Doll rides on through the extreme heat while mirages of water appear all around
- Salt, Sand and Alberto Elli - A winning mix for stage 8 of the 2004 Crocodile Trophy.
- Even in the remote wilderness you will find strange locals yelling 'kiss my *#se!' as David Woods discovered
- Alberto Elli powered to victory in the TT stage of the Croc trophy
- Adam Hansen limited his losses to Elli and conserved his enregy to finish third
Results
1 Alberto Elli (Ita) Team Gatorade 50.30 2 Ondrej Fojtik (Cze) 0.35 3 Adam Hansen (Aus) Cairns Coconut Caravan Village 1.34 4 Mario Amann (Aut) Baustoff + Metal 1 3.29 5 Martin Kiechle (Ger) 3.56 6 Salvatore Paolo Albano (Ita) Pedalie Tarvisiano 4.25 7 Thomas Moderbacher (Aut) Team Skinfit Austria 6.13 8 Andreas Dunn (Ger) Baier-QANTAS-German A 6.18 9 Gerhard Gulewicz (Aut) Bikestatioin-Salinenimmobilien:com 6.31 10 Tilo Koch (Ger) Renz Radsport Braunlingen 7.25 11 Lars Erik Johnson (USA) Gatorade Dream Team 7.48 12 Sibl Radoslav (Cze) Team Sport Nora 7.53 13 Adam Socha (Aus) 8.53 14 Robert Hotta (Aut) Team Sport Nora 8.55 15 Peter Dammerer (Aut) Team Hervis No 1 9.03 16 Willi Wagner (Aut) Team Hervis No 1 9.07 17 Andreas Muhlbacher (Aut) Team Skinfit Austria 10.53 18 James Grant (Aus) Cairns Coconut Caravan Resort 11.10 19 Dave Woods (Aus) Cairns Coconut Caravan Resort 12.51 20 Loris Macor (Ita) Pedale Tarvisiano 13.30 21 Andrew Wegener (Aus) 13.45 22 Peter Raymann (Aut) Team Hervis No 2: 14.17 23 Stephan Adelsmayr (Aut) Drahteselkinik 18.37 24 Giancarlo Schoemberg (Ita) Pedale Tarvisiano 18.52 25 Hans Weber (Aut) Team Fluxus 19.16 26 Anita Waiss (Aut) Team Skinfit Austria 19.30 27 Perry Moerman (Bel) Gatorade Dream Team 20.20 28 Toru Watanabe (Jpn) Team Sport Nora 23.23
