Today's Crocodile Trophy took the field from Laura to Hope Vale. As on the day before, temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius meant conquering 1100 meters in altitude over a stage length of 113 kilometers. On the penultimate day of this year's race, it was mostly over wide outback highways, so that a large peloton formed. These upgraded roads were very convenient for the road pro Josef Bewettender and so Benetseder was able to set a high pace right from the start. Finally, he attacked on a steep climb and pulled away from the rest of the field.
“I have to admit that I already had my eye on this stage at the start in Cairns. I knew that after the second aid station there were some steep climbs waiting for us. I took my chance and attacked.”, said Benetseder about the stage. The fastest Australian today was not, as usual, the current leader, Mark Frendo. Steve Rankine made it onto the podium for the first time at this year's Crocodile Trophy. He prevailed in the sprint against the Czech Jiri Krivanek.
Liesbeth Hessens also won the penultimate day of the trophy and extended her lead in the overall standings to 8:17:47 hours. The Italian Maria Cristina Prati was able to turn the tables on stage eight and beat her compatriot Sordi by almost 16 minutes. As a result, Prati was able to shorten the overall standings to 18 minutes - if she manages a similarly good race tomorrow, the last day, she could still oust Sordi from second place.
//Men
1. Josef Benetseder (AUT) 3:59:50
2. Steve Rankine (AUS) +0:05:53
3. Jiri Krivanek (CZE) +0:05:55
4. Cory Wallace (CAN) +0:05:56
5. Paul Mashford (AUS) +0:05:56
//Women
1. Liesbeth Hesse (BEL) 4:30:02
2. Maria Cristina Prati (ITA) +00:26:41
3. Giordana Sordi (ITA) +00:52:18
4. Anne-Mette Mortensen (DEN) +01:52:02