A single second is all that separates the top two riders in the elite men's category approaching the halfway mark of the 2018 Crocodile Trophy mountain bike stage race.
After the third of eight stages, Swiss riders Konny Looser and Urs Huber can barely be split, with Looser currently holding the slim advantage and therefore the race lead.
It was Huber who won stage 3 on Monday after getting the better of Looser on the shortened, 68km route around the Herberton National Park in Far North Queensland, Australia, with a start and finish in the town of Herberton.
However, after the discovery of a "military ordnance" – some kind of explosive device – close to the start of the stage, the organisers made the decision to delay the start and then shorten the day's stage from the originally planned 80km.
Luxembourg's Soren Nissen started the day almost 12 minutes down on the two leading riders in third place overall, but going off course on stage 3 saw him handed a 29-minute time penalty. Although he retains third place overall, he's now over 40 minutes down on Looser and Huber.
In the women's elite race, Australia's Lucy Coldwell won the stage and extended her lead to 27 minutes over compatriot – and winner of stage 2 the previous day – Sarah White, with Belgium's Sjoukje Dufoer in third spot.
Tuesday's stage 4 could see some bigger time gaps and therefore changes in the overall standings as the riders of the 2018 Crocodile Trophy go against the clock in a 38km individual time trial between Herberton and Irvinebank.
"An individual time trial can always shake things up," said Crocodile Trophy founder Gerhard Schönbacher.
"Tomorrow [Tuesday] the riders will be started at one-minute intervals and in reverse order of the general classification. So you actually get to chase a 'physical target', which is a huge incentive to make up time, but you are also in a wild race against the clock."
Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urs Huber (Swi) | 3:35:12 |
| 2 | Konny Looser (Swi) | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
| 3 | Philipp Wetzelberger (Aut) | 0:29:10 |
| 4 | Matthias Grick (Aut) | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
| 5 | Sören Nissen (Lux) | 0:29:11 |
| 6 | Milan Damek (Cze) | 0:42:23 |
| 7 | Leander Hamelink (Ned) | 0:58:23 |
| 8 | Tom Vandenbussche (Bel) | 1:51:26 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucy Coldwell (Aus) | 5:01:51 |
| 2 | Sarah White (Aus) | 0:02:54 |
| 3 | Sjoukje Dufoer (Bel) | 1:52:06 |
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