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Crocodile Trophy - NE
Australia, October 18-30, 2005
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Stage 13 - October 30: Port Douglas – Port Douglas, 45 km
Hansen wins 2005 Crocodile Trophy
Italy's World Cup Bettin champion wins final stage
By John-Michael Flynn at Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas Australia
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At the end of thirteen soul destroying days, the Crocodile Trophy of 2005 finished as it began, on a palm fringed beach in a tropical paradise.
And while the final stage belonged to Italy's champion Mauro Bettin, it was Adam Hansen, the local hero, who raised the biggest cheers from the crowd on magnificent Four Mile Beach, as he claimed his second successive Crocodile Trophy Victory.
It was a tribute to the re-discovered mental toughness of the Australian that after a season of self-doubt on the lonely roads of Europe where he is yet to make a name for himself in road cycling, he could return home and beat the best in the world, in a race which he has made his own.
When the minutes were finally tallied for the general classification at the end of today's beach criterium, Hansen had maintained a fifteen minute margin over his nearest rival Bettin, bringing to an end a memorable contest.
"Yeah, an amazing year, came back and did it again I can't believe it," an elated Hansen said upon claiming his second successive Crocodile Trophy.
It was a win which Hansen never had in his keeping until he crossed the finish line of today's final stage and there were some 'hold your breath' moments for the leader of the Cairns Coconut Caravan Resort team when he collided with Austrian Markus Eibegger mid-stage.
"As usual one of Gerhard's stages on a sandy beach, hard as, soft sand, all going good until I crashed with Markus," Hansen said.
"I lost Bettin and trying to get him back, I was too far behind to get him."
As he has done for most of this event, Bettin, the leader of the Felt-Shimano Dream Team, displayed superior technical skills riding through the soft sand on Four Mile Beach and the stage victory (his fifth for the Crocodile Trophy of 2005) was both well deserved and well received by fellow competitors.
Still, there were mixed feelings for the Italian, who might easily have won his first Crocodile Trophy, but for a series of flat tyres during stage four,
A fierce competitor on the bike, and gentleman off the bike, the World Cup champion is already planning to return and complete unfinished business.
"Maybe I love the race," Bettin admitted after claiming the trophy for winner of the points classification.
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"[If] I come back to the Crocodile, I think I bring one of my friends for the stages to work with me."
Hansen's back to back wins
When asked what the contributing factors were to his overall victory in this race, Adam Hansen put the win down to superior preparation.
In 2005, the reigning Crocodile Trophy Champion brought with him a team which included two of his Austrian road racing team-mates (Johannes Reiser and Stefan Rucker) along with Australians Struan Lomont, Joe McDonnell and Tim Northy.
While Hansen had to do much of the work alone in a constant contest with Bettin, Christophe Stevens and Austrian Heinz Zorweg, his team-mates were there when needed, and inside information about much of the race route also helped.
"I think I was more prepared, I trained a bit better and was a bit more used to the heat, I played a very smart race this year," Hansen said.
"Bettin lost some time at the start and then once I had the time I sat on, didn't waste any energy and I had a few cruisy days and that's how I won it."
The victory came at a great physical cost for the Australian, who will need weeks, perhaps months, to recover.
"I've got a fractured arm, I've got two stitches in my knee, grazes, bruises cuts, swollen knee, all your joints are sore from corrugations, it takes a good two weeks to get over it," a drained Hansen said.
But as is customary for many of the gladiators in this race, Hansen is vowing to return to defend the title in 2006.
"I can't not do this race. I love it too much. I'll be back."
Zorweg not so sure
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If there was a prize for toughest competitor in the Crocodile Trophy of 2005, those who witnessed the race would more than likely grant it to Austrian Heinz Zorweg.
The mountain man, whose skills as a cross-country mountain biker were perhaps surpassed by only by Bettin, finished today's final stage 26 minutes behind Hansen on GC, in third place.
It was a remarkable effort for a masters cyclist well into his forties, whose victory during stage four of the Crocodile Trophy turned out to be one of the highlights of the race.
But whether he returns to Australia to inflict further self harm, remains to be seen.
"I'm very happy I finished the race, it was very hard," Zorweg said. "It's only for the strongest cyclists of the world. You can't relax in any stages. Next year I don't know, we'll see."
Boehm happy to finish - but never again
For the sole female competitor in the Crocodile Trophy, the prospect of returning in 2006 is definitely not on the cards.
Astrid Boehm, an endurance triathlete from Copenhagen in Denmark, finished yesterday's penultimate stage in complete darkness and all up has spent more than 87 hours in the saddle over the past 13 days, almost 37 hours more than the race winner.
When asked if she would come back Astrid simply replied, "No, never again."
Still, the Dane had vowed from the start to complete the race and came through in the end, even after the loss of her support rider Ejnar Fausing, who was air-lifted from the out-back mid-race with a broken shoulder.
"It was very hard, my friend was injured but I had to continue," Astrid admitted.
Plenty of positives
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While the Crocodile Trophy of 2005 wasn't nearly as extreme as the 2004 event, the addition to the race of more 'pure mountain biking' stages had many competitors vowing to return again in 2006.
Only four competitors were forced to withdraw from this year's Crocodile Trophy, the remainder made it to Port Douglas with their bodies and spirit intact.
Struan Lomont, a support driver and masseuse for the Cairns Coconut Caravan Resort team in 2004, who chose to ride for Adam Hansen in 2005 understands better than most how tough 'The Croc' can be.
Like many of the Europeans, the local ambulance driver from Cairns is planning to be at the start line again in 2006.
"Last year I wouldn't have recommended it to anybody," Struan affirmed.
"This year I would recommend it to everybody.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mark Watson/mwphotography.com.au
- The final stage gets underway on the beach at Port Douglas
- Adam Hansen(Cairns Coconut Caravan Simplon) speeds away from most of the field.
- Number 1 - Adam Hansen celebrates a second Croc Trophy victory.
- Struan Lomont (Cairns Coconut Caravan Simplon) crosses the beach
- Adam Hansen on the podium with the trophy and a brace of Red Bull girls.
- The podium - a Red Bull girl, Heinz Zörweg (ARBÖ Wienstrom Lamster, 3rd), Adam Hansen(Cairns Coconut Caravan Simplon, 1st), Mauro Bettin (Dream Team), Astrid Boehm (Team ACM, 1st woman) and another Red Bull girl.
- Event organiser Gerhard Schoenbacher congratulates Adam Hansen on his second successive Croc Trophy victory.
Results
1 Mauro Bettin (Ita) Dream Team 1 46.23 2 Adam Hansen (Aus) Cairns Coconut Caravan Simplon 1 1.09 3 Christophe Stevens (Bel) 1.58 4 Jens Zemke (Ger) Dream Team 1 2.25 5 Heinz Zörweg (Aut) ARBÖ Wienstrom Lamster Fadewa 2.33 6 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Dream Team 1 2.36 7 Lars Erik Johnson (USA) Dream Team 2 4.18 8 Joe McDonnell (Aus) Cairns Coconut Caravan Simplon 2 5.18 9 Struan Lomont (Aus) Cairns Coconut Caravan Simplon 2 10 Tim Northy (Aus) Cairns Coconut Caravan Simplon 2 11 Matthias Buxhofer (Aut) VAV-Versicherung R. u. R. Völkl 12 Radoslav Sibl (Cze) Favorit Brno - Bikezone 13 Stefan Rucker (Aut) Cairns Coconut Caravan Simplon 1 14 Johannes Reiser (Aut) Cairns Coconut Caravan Simplon 1 15 Markus Eibegger (Aut) Team Rapso 16 David Wood (Aus) Dream Team 2 17 Christophe Desimpelaere (Bel) Team ACM 18 Astrid Boehm (Den) Team ACM 19 Mikkel Brinch Norgaard (Den) Team ACM 20 Harry Ensink (Ned) GTI team 21 Han Vaalt (Ned) GTI team 22 Guido Van Olffen (Ned) GTI team 23 Eric Paquay (Bel) Belgium Bikers Marathons 1 24 Bart Machiels (Bel) Belgium Bikers Marathons 2 25 Giancarlo Schönberg (Ita) Pedale Tarvisiano 26 Macor Loris (Ita) Pedale Tarvisiano 27 Peter Stenico (Aut) Peto 28 Jos Kerkhofs (Bel) Belgium Bikers Marathons 1 29 Karl Frank (Aut) SV Panaceo Post 30 Johannes Huber (Ger) SC Bergen Team Powerbar 31 Günter Rafeiner (Aut) Sport Nora 32 Robert Vlug (Ned) team.hollandonline.nl 33 Kim Proctor (Aus) 34 Knud Juul-Jensen IRE Team ACM 2 35 Claude Dabaliz NZA 36 Paul West (GBr) Endura/Shred 37 Beat Lustenberger CH Trek-VC Züri 2 Final General Classification 1 Adam Hansen (Aus) Cairns Coconut C. Simplon 1 50.34.41 2 Mauro Bettin (Ita) Dream Team 1 15.47 3 Heinz Zörweg (Aut) ARBÖ Wienstrom Lamster F. 26.53 4 Christophe Stevens (Bel) 32.40 5 Matthias Buxhofer (Aut) VAV-Versicherung R. u. R. Völkl 57.31 6 Radoslav Sibl (Cze) Favorit Brno - Bikezone 1.49.03 7 Jens Zemke (Ger) Dream Team 1 2.51.33 8 Kai Hundertmarck (Ger) Dream Team 1 3.11.57 9 Lars Erik Johnson (USA) Dream Team 2 4.25.11 10 Robert Vlug (Ned) team.hollandonline.nl 4.42.29 11 Markus Eibegger (Aut) Team Rapso 4.51.59 12 Tim Northy (Aus) Cairns Coconut C. Simplon 2 5.31.13 13 Stefan Rucker (Aut) Cairns Coconut C. Simplon 1 5.58.05 14 David Wood (Aus) Dream Team 2 7.33.32 15 Johannes Reiser (Aut) Cairns Coconut C. Simplon 1 7.59.24 16 Peter Stenico (Aut) Peto 8.12.29 17 Joe McDonnell (Aus) Cairns Coconut C. Simplon 2 8.31.02 18 Struan Lomont (Aus) Cairns Coconut C. Simplon 2 8.37.40 19 Macor Loris (Ita) Pedale Tarvisiano 8.42.15 20 Johannes Huber (Ger) SC Bergen Team Powerbar 9.04.42 21 Guido Van Olffen (Ned) GTI team 9.27.24 22 Mikkel Brinch Norgaard (Den) Team ACM 10.50.57 23 Harry Ensink (Ned) GTI team 11.26.50 24 Christophe Desimpelaere (Bel) Team ACM 12.42.02 25 Knud Juul-Jensen IRE Team ACM 2 12.48.18 26 Bart Machiels (Bel) Belgium Bikers Marathons 2 12.57.40 27 Kim Proctor (Aus) 13.38.06 28 Beat Lustenberger CH Trek-VC Züri 2 15.47.10 29 Karl Frank (Aut) SV Panaceo Post 18.15.22 30 Jos Kerkhofs (Bel) Belgium Bikers Marathons 1 20.08.53 31 Eric Paquay (Bel) Belgium Bikers Marathons 1 21.28.22 32 Han Vaalt (Ned) GTI team 24.44.37 33 Giancarlo Schönberg (Ita) Pedale Tarvisiano 26.04.44 34 Günter Rafeiner (Aut) Sport Nora 30.12.34 35 Claude Dabaliz NZA 31.49.05 36 Paul West (GBr) Endura/Shred 33.16.05 37 Astrid Boehm (Den) Team ACM 36.50.57 DNF Ejnar Fausing (Den) Team ACM 2 DNF Rudi Donckers (Bel) Belgium Bikers Marathons 1 DNF Salvatore P. Albano (Ita) Team Bike Tarvisio 2005 DNF Reinhard Hörmann (Aut) VAV-Vers. R. u. R. Völkl
