Crocodile Trophy: Grick, Dufoer take stage 5 wins in Skybury
17 October 2018 04:17
Crocodile Trophy Stage 5 from Irvinebank to Skybury was a fast and furious 95km marathon race that resulted in two new names on the top step of the elite category podiums. Austrian Matthias Grick won the sprint finish in the men's, and Belgian ex-pro road racer Sjoukje Dufoer won the women's. There were no change overall, Urs Huber kept a narrow 1:10 lead ahead of fellow Swiss racer Konny Looser, while Australian Sarah White increased her lead over Lucy Coldwell to 11:25. The first section of stage 5 led the peloton across the historic mining region of Stannary Hill, and the racers had to deal with extremely rough conditions, big rocks and ruts on the track.ADVERTISEMENT Stage 5 had been regarded as the first ‘easy’ stage, and of the race today’s fourth, Soren Nissen said, “We all thought that it would be a relaxed race, however, Urs Huber set a very high pace from the start.” A lead group of four quickly formed: Grick, Huber, Looser and Nissen worked together all day and had “wanted to reach the finish as quickly as possible," Nissen continued. “I tried to attack, but couldn’t break away," he explained and added that he had underestimated the Swiss riders’ strength and that it had been difficult backing up a very busy European racing season with a tough race like the Crocodile Trophy. “Orginally the Croc was my big goal for this year and to fight for the overall win, but I have competed at so many events, I’m just not strong enough this year," Nissen concluded. Huber keeps lead, says race will be defensive to the finish Belgian ex-road pro wins stage on honeymoon
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