Wallace second in Crocodile Trophy

Canadian Cory Wallace finished second overall in the Crocodile Trophy, a mountain bike stage race in Australia. Wallace finished 12 minutes, 26 seconds back from overall winner Australian Mark Frendo. The Canadian is already plotting his return for 2014.

Wallace struggled in the first few days of the race, having just finished competing at the 24 hour Solo World Championships a week prior. The Kona-MBC rider acknowledged the impact the 24 hour race had on his strength coming into Crocodile Trophy.

“The first two days I came in flat, there was no punch in the legs,” said Wallace, in an interview with SBS Cycling Central. “The first two days I was tired but then by day three the other guys were coming down to my level. Then days three, four, five and six I had good legs and felt I was stronger than Mark (Frendo) but then I tired out again because I was attacking a lot.”

Frendo finished the race in just under 31 hours of riding, spread out over nine stages. Czech rider Jiri Krivanek finished third overall, nearly 51 minutes back from the leader.

Wallace is excited to race the 2014 edition of the Crocodile Trophy, and hopes to be able to come into the event more rested.

“I’ll be back for sure,” Wallace promised. “This race is just too much fun, next year I’ll bring more Canadians – they will love this versatile race track!”

Wallace is the reigning Canadian Marathon MTB champion, and recently won the Mongolia Challenge. He was the lone Canadian to take on the event in 2014.

In the women’s division, Belgian Liesbeth Hessens crushed the competition, winning by a margin of more than 45 minutes over second place Maria Cristina Prati of Italy. Giordana Sordi rounded out the podium to make it an Italian 2-3.