The Crocodile Trophy is an annual eight-day mountain bike stage race held in North Queensland, Australia. The race typically covers around 750 kilometres (466 mi) over 8 stages and used to be known as one of the most demanding mountain bike races in the world, called 'the hardest, longest and most adventurous MTB race in the world'. In recent years however the race became more and more accessible. The race is however still known for the heat and the rough terrain of the Australian Outback.

Crocodile Trophy
Race details
DateOctober
RegionNorth Queensland, Australia
DisciplineMountain bike racing
TypeStage race
OrganiserGerhard Schönbacher
Race directorGerhard Schönbacher
Web sitewww.crocodile-trophy.com Edit this at Wikidata
History
First edition1995 (1995)
Editions26 (as of 2022)
First winner Harald Maier (AUT)
 Meg Carrigan (AUS)
Most wins5  Urs Huber (SUI)
Most recent Wolfgang Krenn (AUT)
 Elodie Kuijper (NED)

History

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The race was originally intended to take place in Vietnam. The event would last 18 days, starting in Saigon and finishing in Hanoi. But after spending two weeks in Vietnam race organisers Gerhard Schönbacher realized it was not possible to organise the event in Vietnam. Later on he found an alternative in Darwin and decided that the first route of the Crocodile Trophy would run from Darwin to Cairns.[1] The race's route would change every year.

Classifications

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The Crocodile Trophy's leaders jersey is awarded after each stage to the rider with the lowest overall time. The rider who has the lowest overall time will wear the jersey at the next stage. The cyclist who is awarded the jersey after the final stage is the overall winner of the race.

The first five riders to cross the finish line at each stage will score points that count toward the Points classification. The rider who holds the most points will wear a special jersey.

Winners

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Year[2] Winner Male Winner Female
1995   Harald Maier (AUT)   Meg Carrigan (AUS)
1996   Harald Maier (AUT)   Brigitte Kurka (AUT)
1997   Jaap Viergever (NED)   Regina Stanger (AUT)
1998   Harald Maier (AUT) no entries
1999   Jaap Viergever (NED) no entries
2000   Simon Apperloo (NED)   Carrie Edwards (USA)
2001   Jaap Viergever (NED)   Mieke Deroo (BEL)
2002   Jaap Viergever (NED)   Mieke Deroo (BEL)
2003   Roland Stauder (ITA)   Rosi King (AUS)
2004   Adam Hansen (AUS)   Anita Waiss (AUT)
2005   Adam Hansen (AUS)   Kim Proctor (AUS)
2006   Christoph Stevens (BEL)   Dominique Angerer (AUT)
2007   Mauro Bettin (ITA)   Michela Benzoni (ITA)
2008   Ondrej Fojtik (CZE)   Karen Steurs (BEL)
2009   Urs Huber (SUI) [3]   Monique Zeldenrust (NED)
2010   Urs Huber (SUI)   Abby McLennan (AUS)
2011   Jeroen Boelen (NED)   Jessica Douglas (AUS)
2012   Ivan Rybařík (CZE)   Kate Major (AUS)
2013   Mark Frendo (AUS)   Liesbeth Hessens (BEL)
2014   Greg Saw (AUS)   Imogen Smith (AUS)
2015   Urs Huber (SUI)   Sarah White (AUS)
2016   Urs Huber (SUI)   Alice Pirard (BEL)
2017   Leandre Bouchard (CAN)   Haley Smith (CAN)
2018   Urs Huber (SUI)   Sarah White (AUS)
2019   Alan Gordon (RSA)   Angelica Tazreiter (AUT)
2022[4]   Wolfgang Krenn (AUT)   Elodie Kuijper (NED)

Wins per country

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Wins men Country
6   Netherlands
5   Switzerland
4   Australia
  Austria
2   Czech Republic
  Italy
1   Belgium
  Canada
  South Africa
Wins women Country
9   Australia
5   Austria
  Belgium
2   Netherlands
1   Canada
  Italy
  United States

References

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  1. ^ "the story of the Crocodile Trophy". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  2. ^ Cycling News, Crocodile Trophy Past Winners
  3. ^ "Willkommen auf der Fanpage von Urs Huber - Willkommen".
  4. ^ "Highlights 2022 - Crocodile Trophy SBS English Version". Alpentour Schladming Dachstein on YouTube. 23 March 2023. timestamp results: 23:52
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