2011 Crocodile Trophy route announced

17th edition will cover 1,223km over 10 stages

Regina Stanger

Published: May 3, 2011 at 11:50 am

The 17th edition of the Crocodile Trophy will take place from 18-27 October this year. The mountain bike stage race will begin in Cairns, with riders covering 1,223km over 10 gruelling days before finishing in Cooktown, northern Queensland.

Billed by its organisers as the hardest, longest and most adventurous mountain bike race in the world, the bulk of the route takes place deep in the Australian Bush. “We stay overnight in little villages only twice, for all other stages we set up camp in the bush, rainforest, on rivers or lakes,” says race organiser Gerhard Schönbacher.

The top three finishers from the past two events have all confirmed their entry for 2011. Switzerland’s Urs Huber – winner of the last two races – registered last week, while the Netherlands' Bart Brentjens and Belgium’s Mike Mulkens are aiming to improve on second and third place finishes respectively in the previous two editions.

Registration is open to anyone and costs from £1,400 ($2,350) per person. Team applications at reduced rates are available. Additional packages such as bike servicing and tent servicing are available at increased rates. Applications are being accepted until 1 August and payment can be made on an incremental basis.

The 2011 stage plan is as follows:

  • Stage 1 (98km) - Tuesday 18 October 2011: Cairns-Lake Tinaroo
  • Stage 2 (127km) - 19 October: Lake Tinaroo-Koombooloomba
  • Stage 3 (122km) - 20 October: Koombooloomba-Gunnawarra
  • Stage 4 (85km) - 21 October: Gunnawarra-Irvinebank
  • Stage 5 (121km) - 22 October: Irvinebank-Mt.Mulligan
  • Stage 6 (162km) - 23 October: Mt. Mulligan-Mt. Mulgrave
  • Stage 7 (151km) - 24 October: Mt. Mulgrave-Laura
  • Stage 8 (128km) - 25 October: Laura-Kalpowar
  • Stage 9 (130km) - 26 October: Kalpowar-Munburra
  • Stage 10 (99km) - 27 October: Munburra-Cooktown

For further information, visit the Crocodile Trophy website or contact Gerhard Schönbacher at schoenbacher@croc.at.

The race will finish in cooktown for the first time in 2011: the race will finish in cooktown for the first time in 2011 - Regina Stanger