Belgian returns to Croc ’n’ roll
AFTER the first two stages of the 2016 Croc Trophy, Belgian Alice Pirard should have a fair idea if she’s as fit as she thought she was on her return to the Far North.
The 28-year-old should know what to expect after she contested the gruelling race four years ago – finishing a narrow second in her first stage race – followed by her best World Cup XCO result of 2014 at Smithfield.
The Belgian national marathon champion began in perfect fashion on Saturday, winning the first stage with Australia’s road racing champion, Ruth Corset, taking second place and Annemiek van Vleuten coming in third
“It was a great day – I really love Smithfield and the bike park,” she said. “That’s why I keep coming back.
“I tried to pace myself because it’s still such a long race and actually the women’s race today was very interesting. I was only in third position after the four laps on the course. “It was captivating.” Pirard said what made things worse this time was a bitter cold snap back home in Belgium in the weeks before she arrived to the typical Cairns spring.
“We had a good, warm summer but not as hot as here of course, but the last three weeks in Belgium were really cold, so I must say the temperature difference is a bit of a shock,” she said.
“Sometimes I have a really hard time in the heat so we’ll see this year but of course you have to drink a lot of water.
“It’s such a beautiful region and I’m happy I’m here again. It’s a really unique experience to be in the Crocodile Trophy and to ride in the rainforest.
“It’s so different from the terrain in Belgium, more muddy and a bit of sand.”
Pirard said in addition to great memories of the scenic surrounds, she wanted to earn at least one souvenir to take home.
“I want to try to get one boomerang, so one stage win or more if it’s possible. Maybe one of the more technical stages,” she said.
“I don’t know for the overall. I really don’t know much about the contenders and it’s not a big field but I think it’s really strong so we’ll see after a few days how it goes.”
Atherton will be the epicentre for the Croc Trophy for the early part of the week before the event moves towards Mareeba on Wednesday.