The Combuijs Capers

[Combuijs]

Clasica San Sebastian: 19. Tristan Prins

Granddad Tristan Prins still manages a fine result in San Sebastian...

Combuijs Honey Ale Tour:
4th stage: 24. Adam Neeskens
5th stage to St. Pieters Leeuw: 14. Adam Neeskens



In the GC granddad Adam Neeskens got 10th place, probably one of his best Combuijs Honey Ale Tours. The fact that there was no time trial helped him enormously...

Division standings after the Combuijs Honey Ale Tour:

1º      IKIBASQUE   11128   3   0   1   
2º      JGMTeam   9659   3   5   5   
3º      FaltososDeChigre   8731   3   1   0   
4º      BlackHole   8372   2   7   5   
5º      Quickstepbronx   8291   16   5   7
6º      Valderend   7945   2   2   11   
7º      Rekutxuteam   7810   8   6   4   
8º      Inglourious_Bastards   7283   0   1   1   
9º      SPORTLIFE   7101   4   5   1   
10º      LOSRAYOSDELARRY   6824   0   0   0   

19º      ZG   4465   1   0   2   
20º      Combuijs   4185   0   1   0   
21º      $Tourmalet   4138   2   3   2   

Ikibasque looks set for the win, we hope for a place in the top 20.

[Combuijs]

Vuelta:
1st stage: 29. Mondesir Zutter
4th stage: 3. Mondesir Zutter
5th stage: 5. Brooklyn Marbley
6th stage to Estoril: 15. Toivo Sulg

Nice stage result from Mondesir Zutter!



In the GC Brooklyn Marbley finished 9th, good enough for a serious amount of points, not good enough for a sponsor deal.

Division standings after the Vuelta:

1º      IKIBASQUE   12500   4   2   1   
2º      JGMTeam   10832   4   6   5   
3º      FaltososDeChigre   9993   3   1   0   
4º      Rekutxuteam   9099   11   7   4   
5º      BlackHole   9052   3   7   5   
6º      Valderend   8893   2   2   11   
7º      Inglourious_Bastards   8768   0   1   1   
8º      Quickstepbronx   8707   16   6   7
9º      SPORTLIFE   7985   4   6   1   
10º      LOSRAYOSDELARRY   7493   0   0   0   

20º      FrançaiseDesJeux   5007   0   1   2   
21º      Combuijs   4913   0   1   1   
22º      $Tourmalet   4621   2   3   2   

Top 20 might be difficult now, but relegation will be avoided.

We have picked up Eulogio Trillo as our new cobble hill specialist from Real Murcia Cycling.

[Combuijs]

Road World Championship in Lisboa: 15. Toivo Sulg

Our first WC points in the road race!



Which leads to these final standings:

1º      IKIBASQUE   13635   4   2   2   
2º      JGMTeam   11672   4   6   5   
3º      Inglourious_Bastards   10778   1   1   1   
4º      FaltososDeChigre   10663   3   1   0   
5º      Quickstepbronx   10532   17   6   9
6º      BlackHole   10472   3   9   5   
7º      Rekutxuteam   9874   11   7   4   
8º      Valderend   8893   2   2   11   
9º      SPORTLIFE   8670   4   6   1   
10º      LOSRAYOSDELARRY   7863   0   0   0   
11º      Mlb   6899   2   2   7   
12º      galegospolabici   6552   1   4   1   
13º      CC_Porco_Jones   6393   1   2   3   
14º      Aspigarri   6220   3   2   1   
15º      Luka_Warriors   6120   3   2   6   
16º      Spitz   6070   0   2   1   
17º      Zatarra   5574   1   5   2   
18º      Fiestina   5560   3   0   2   
19º      RemcoEvenpoelckx   5550   4   2   2   
20º      ZG   5283   2   0   2   
21º      Aurora_Australis   5211   3   3   3   
22º      FrançaiseDesJeux   5187   0   1   2   
23º      MarquinaTeam   5158   0   1   1   
24º      Combuijs   5153   0   1   1   
25º      ProCyclingTeam10   5075   0   2   0   
26º      Innioraths   4980   0   2   1   
27º      $Tourmalet   4731   2   3   2   
28º      KunTeam   4199   1   1   2
29º      CobbleCrushers   4046   2   4   1   
30º      azerite   3891   0   0   1   
31º      Thorboassonarvesen   3860   3   3   3   
32º      SentinelChickens   3844   0   1   1   
33º      TeamRHB   3801   3   2   1   
34º      WaterBoys   3696   0   0   0   
35º      Manicomicos_Cycling_Team   3530   4   0   1   
36º      ZBT   3420   0   0   0   
37º      Telleriarte   3360   1   0   1   
38º      Catalonia_Team   3258   0   0   0   
39º      Orange   3171   1   1   2   
40º      ValeronIdolo   3131   2   2   0   
41º      RealMurciaCycling   2822   0   2   2   
42º      RajenKujen   2419   0   0   1   
43º      ICSluj   2174   0   0   0   
44º      BetisCFF   1686   0   0   0   
45º      Cabrasverdes   985   0   1   0   
46º      Ares   135   0   0   0   
47º      Ciclastur   109   0   0   0   
48º      QuintoYtapa   0   0   0   0   
49º      CaptainOrange   0   0   0   0   
50º      Antequera   0   0   0   0   

A bit disappointed with a 24th place, but the calendar was not exactly in our favour. The gap to the relegation places was huge. Congratulations to Ikibasque who took the lead early and never gave it away from there.

In the individual rankings we had Yvo van Straalen on place 11, which was not bad at all.

1º      Abilio Andujar   31   4154   JGMTeam   2   3   2   
2º      Arno Verbeek   32   3390   TeamRHB   3   2   1   
3º      Lazare Pires   28   2964   FrançaiseDesJeux   0   0   1   
4º      Leonid Leonov    32   2721   CobbleCrushers   2   3   0   
5º      Alessandro Figueras   32   2497   RemcoEvenpoelckx   0   0   0   
6º      August Thoelen   27   2293   Inglourious_Bastards   0   0   0   
7º      András Valter   26   2289   Quickstepbronx   4   2   1   
8º      Oscar Marcos   29   2232   IKIBASQUE   0   0   0   
9º      Bart Jackson   30   2194   Zatarra   1   4   1   
10º      Ismel Kaloev   31   2191   Luka_Warriors   2   0   2   
11º      Yvo VanStraalen   26   2089   Combuijs   0   0   0   
12º      Rene Vrijmoed   27   2056   Inglourious_Bastards   0   0   0   

Other points scored by our team:

Adam Neeskens   33   749         1066
Brooklyn Marbley   31   605         058
Toivo Sulg   25   403         301
Amable Puerto   27   347         162
Hallvard Thorkildsen   25   288         023
Garret Rose   33   190         204
Mondesir Zutter   31   178         243
Gary Fredickson   26   82         011
Tristan Prins   33   80         1259
Friso Vonk   26   77         000
Danny Power    32   65         033

A bit worrying that the number 1 of this list is close to retirement...

Anyway, let season 16 begin!!!

[Combuijs]

Season 16 started with the cup where we eliminated Team Elrosportu because they did not show up. The next round against Lanihull Cycling will be far more difficult.

Tour Down Under:
1st stage: 30. Amable Puerto
3rd stage: 18. Amable Puerto

In the GC Amable finished 19th for some bonus points

Omloop het Nieuwsblad: 27. Garret Rose

That might have been more if he had not started in a free role...

Strade Bianchi: 13. Arjen Rutte

This could have been Arjen's last favourite race, nice to see him still score points.

Paris-Nice:
1st stage: 25. Danny Power
3rd stage: 16. Mondesir Zutter
4th stage to Rasteau: 25. Yvo van Straalen



In the GC we had Yvo van Straalen on 7th place, a nice start of his season

First week standings:

1º      JGMTeam   1969   1   3   3   
2º      Mlb   1399   1   0   1   
3º      BlackHole   1333   2   0   0   
4º      FaltososDeChigre   1332   0   0   0   
5º      Aspigarri   1295   0   0   0   

12º      TeamEuroscalt   908   0   2   0
13º      SPORTLIFE   795   0   0   0   
14º      Quickstepbronx   768   3   0   0

26º      IKIBASQUE   513   0   0   0   
27º      Combuijs   509   0   0   0   
28º      CC_Porco_Jones   481   1   0   0   

At the moment we are the best Dutch team, or better, the least worse team.

And we have been awarded a nice medal for being 10 seasons on the World Tour:

May there be a lot more to follow!

We have sold Danny Power to Team Ciclotirogia on the Continental Tour level. He will score many points there. We have replaced him with Diederik de Maar from Nibbixwoud.

And we have switched to downhill training to ease the legs...

[Kekipi]

Season 16 started with the cup where we eliminated Team Elrosportu because they did not show up. The next round against Lanihull Cycling will be far more difficult.

I had my captain attack in S4, hoping he'd have a big enough gap to hold off your guy in S5, but he just wasn't strong enough.

A good victory for Sulg.  Congrats!

[Combuijs]

In the cup Toivo Sulg could parry all attacks from Lanihuli Cycling, so we are through to round 3 where a climbing time trial is waiting for us against CC Porco Jones. It seems they have a specialist for that in Wouter Valenko, so this will be difficult for Yvo van Straalen.

Tirreno Adriatico:
4th stage: 27. Amable Puerto

Not too many points in the Tirreno then...

E3 Harelbeke: 11. Eulogio Trillo

Eulogio's first points on the scoreboard...

Volta Catalunya:
1st stage: 10. Amable Puerto
3rd stage: 22. Brooklyn Marbley
4th stage: 22. Diederik de Maar

Diederik's first points for us, but no really good results, especially not in the GC.

Gent-Wevelgem: 15. Julius Maalderink
Good old Jules is still worth some points...



Second week standings:

1º      FaltososDeChigre   3217   1   0   1   
2º      JGMTeam   3130   1   3   3   
3º      BlackHole   2962   3   2   0   
4º      Mlb   2950   2   1   2   
5º      LOSRAYOSDELARRY   2777   0   1   0   
6º      Rekutxuteam   2619   3   2   3   
7º      Innioraths   2306   0   0   1   
8º      HTCHungria   2273   1   2   2   
9º      Zatarra   2108   2   1   0   
10º      Aspigarri   2034   0   0   0   

26º      MarvelProCycling    1058   0   0   0
27º      LanihuliCycling   1040   0   0   0   
28º      ProCyclingTeam10   1017   0   0   1   

30º      Lemarche   1000   0   0   0   
31º      FrançaiseDesJeux   946   0   0   1   
32º      Combuijs   903   0   0   0   
33º      FlyEaglesFly   879   0   0   1   

We are still the best Dutch team, or better, the least worse team.

We have sold youngster Joost Bosboom to Pro Continental Tour team Lollo DSQ.

[Combuijs]

We are out of the cup at the hands of CC Porco Jones whose Wouter Valenko proved too tough for Yvo van Straalen in a mountain time trial.

Dwars door Vlaanderen: 25. Eulogio Trillo
De ronde van Vlaanderen: 21. Eulogio Trillo

Some points in Flanders...

Itzulia:
1st stage: 22. Diederik de Maar
3rd stage: 17. Eulogio Trillo

We had Hidde on place 14 in the GC, which may be his first top 20.

Paris - Roubaix: 16. Hallvard Thorkildsen

Combuijs Honey Ale Race: 30. Amable Puerto

An ok cobble classic, but the hill classics were disappointing...

Tour de Romandie:
1st stage: 18. Yvo van Straalen

In the GC Yvo finished 12th, more than 3 minutes behind Samuele di Luca from Marquina Team.

Eschborn-Frankfurt: 22. Friso Vonk



Third week standings:

1º      Mlb   6440   5   1   4   
2º      JGMTeam   6058   1   4   6   
3º      Rekutxuteam   5988   4   4   4   
4º      BlackHole   5742   6   5   1   
5º      FaltososDeChigre   5507   1   1   1   
6º      Quickstepbronx   5271   11   1   1
7º      SPORTLIFE   4098   0   2   3   
8º      LOSRAYOSDELARRY   4012   0   1   2   
9º      Innioraths   3873   0   1   2   
10º      HTCHungria   3642   2   3   2   

30º      LanihuliCycling   1600   0   0   0   
31º      Combuijs   1468   0   0   0   
32º      RemcoEvenpoelckx   1392   1   0   1   

Wrong side of the relegation line again and the distance to Lanihuli Cycling is not getting any better. But we are still the best Dutch team, or better, the least worse team.

We have switched to Technique training now and we welcome Andrus Iljin as director in our team.

[kirin]

After the not too bad, but not too good Gent-Wevelgem, with Mazzarelli archieving a 7th place, but a massive failure on Paris-Roubaix, with Pandolfi only archieving a 13th place, it was time for Eschborn Frankfurt, the last shot of the classics aiming for the win. And finally happened

Fulgencio Calderon   33   azerite   0: 00"    500   300000

We get a win on a 1 day race, with training staff, and getting a bunch of points that will help us on the objective of remaining on 1st div.
Now, for the upcoming races, we will play our cards on the mountain sprints, and chill out a bit.
GL to those competing.

[Combuijs]

Giro:
1st stage: 20. Brooklyn Marbley
2nd stage: 10. Brooklyn Marbley
3rd stage: 29. Brooklyn Marbley
6th stage: 4. Brooklyn Marbley
9th stage: 16. Diederik de Maar
10th stage: 25. Toivo Sulg

In the GC Brooklyn finished disappointingly 24th.

Dauphiné Liberé:
1st stage: 16. Brooklyn Marbley
2nd stage: 11. Brooklyn Marbley
3rd stage: 13. Brooklyn Marbley
4th stage to Bourg-en-Bresse: 21. Diederik de Maar

In the GC Brooklyn finished 17th.



Fourth week standings:

1º      FaltososDeChigre   8186   2   3   1   
2º      JGMTeam   8040   1   7   9   
3º      Mlb   7524   5   2   5   
4º      Rekutxuteam   7487   5   8   5   
5º      BlackHole   7181   7   7   1   
6º      Quickstepbronx   6796   16   1   1
7º      LOSRAYOSDELARRY   5661   0   1   2   
8º      SPORTLIFE   5552   0   2   3   
9º      Aspigarri   4871   0   0   2   
10º      Innioraths   4798   0   1   2   
11º      Zatarra   4740   3   1   1   

29º      Inglourious_Bastards   2253   0   0   0   
30º      PDM_cycling_team   2131   0   2   1   
31º      Combuijs   2024   0   0   0   
32º      team_piroshki   1975   0   0   0   

Still on the wrong side of the relegation line and worse, we are not the best Dutch team anymore. We need Yvo van Straalen to come to our rescue...

[Vos]

Congratulations to Combuijs with the amazing Tour de France victory ! 


Yvo VanStraalen ( 27, Combuijs ) wins the Tour de France of season 16.

Excellent Combuijs, because it seems this causes ; no relegation worries + Dutch champion + Dutch individual champion !

[Aurora Australis]

Yep, no wasting it around the red zone for the rest of this season.

[B.E-L]

Great result with Yvo 

[Combuijs]

Tour de Suisse:
1st stage: 20. Giorgi Jabbarov
2nd stage: 9. Yvo van Straalen
5th stage: 7. Yvo van Straalen

Tour de France:
1st stage: 15. Mondesir Zutter
2nd stage: 15. Yvo van Straalen
3rd stage: 13. Mondesir Zutter
4th stage: 10. Yvo van Straalen
5th stage: 18. Yvo van Straalen
6th stage: 30. Yvo van Straalen
7th stage: 5. Yvo van Straalen
8th stage: 19. Yvo van Straalen
9th stage: 7. Amable Puerto
10th stage: 14. Amable Puerto

We scored points in every stage of the Tour, which is certainly a milestone for us. It still could have been better though as we forgot to confirm the booking of Mondesir Zutter's training camp...

But as you might have noticed in the previous posts, in the GC we had our first ever win in a grand tour:

1    Yvo VanStraalen   27   Combuijs   0: 00"   1000   500000
2    Oscar Marcos   30   IKIBASQUE   0: 38"   800   450000
3    Alexey Ryazanov   27   Spitz   2: 01"   650   400000
4    Amadeu Salvado   28   FaltososDeChigre   3: 03"   550   350000
5    Arnfinn Mikalsen   26   TeamEuroscalt   3: 29"   500   300000

Yvo is a fully home grown rider, so I am really proud of this result. And it did not go unnoticed in the international press:


Nor did it go unnoticed in the sponsor world: Endesa have decided to sponsor us the rest of the season, so we can now have our bikes electrified, which should bring us even greater success...


Clasica San Sebastian: 20. Tristan Prins

Must have been the wheelchair version of the Clasica, but still a nice result from Tristan.



Fifth week standings:

1º      FaltososDeChigre   10065   2   3   1   
2º      JGMTeam   9556   1   10   9   
3º      Rekutxuteam   9219   6   9   6   
4º      Mlb   9193   8   3   7   
5º      Quickstepbronx   9003   19   3   2
6º      BlackHole   8713   8   10   1   
7º      LOSRAYOSDELARRY   8042   1   1   2   
8º      TeamEuroscalt   7805   6   4   2
9º      SPORTLIFE   6853   0   2   3   
10º      Innioraths   6647   1   2   5   

20º      FrançaiseDesJeux   4552   3   0   3   
21º      Combuijs   4249   0   0   0   
22º      $Tourmalet   4204   5   1   1   

25º      KunTeam   3730   0   1   2
26º      PDM_cycling_team   3055   0   2   1   
27º      Lemarche   2962   0   1   1   

31º      azerite   2805   1   2   2   
32º      Aurora_Australis   2637   0   4   1   
33º      team_piroshki   2603   0   0   0   

Yvo van Straalen really came to our rescue and as a result life is looking much better now, 9 places in front of the relegation line. He is the best Dutch rider and we are the best Dutch team at the moment, but let us not get over excited yet...

[WinterIsComing]

Great job winning the Tour de France with Yvo, Combuijs!! Impressive win!

[Combuijs]

Combuijs Honey Ale Tour:
2nd stage: 24. Amable Puerto
3rd stage: 15. Adam Neeskens
4th stage: 20. Adam Neeskens

In the GC Adam Neeskens finished 18th, an unexpected good result given his age of 34.

Vuelta:
1st stage: 9. Yvo van Straalen
3rd stage: 7. Diederik de Maar, 30. Yvo van Straalen
4th stage: 6. Yvo van Straalen
6th stage: 19. Yvo van Straalen
7th stage: 14. Yvo van Straalen
10th stage: 16. Adam Neeskens

In the GC Yvo finished 6th, a very good result considering he had no special preparation for the Vuelta.

WC time trial in Lisbon: 29. Diederik de Maar



Final standings:

1º      FaltososDeChigre   13879   3   3   3   
2º      Mlb   12786   12   5   7   
3º      BlackHole   12241   11   11   2   
4º      Rekutxuteam   12090   7   12   8   
5º      JGMTeam   11727   2   10   10   
6º      Quickstepbronx   9770   20   4   3
7º      LOSRAYOSDELARRY   9745   1   1   2   
8º      SPORTLIFE   9238   1   3   3   
9º      Innioraths   8878   1   2   6   
10º      TeamEuroscalt   8536   7   4   2
11º      CC_Porco_Jones   7600   2   1   4   
12º      Luka_Warriors   7340   0   5   4   
13º      MarquinaTeam   7207   0   2   2   
14º      FrançaiseDesJeux   6778   4   1   3   
15º      Spitz   6411   0   2   0   
16º      ChampsElysees   6285   1   1   7   
17º      $Tourmalet   5898   6   2   4   
18º      Zatarra   5850   3   4   1   
19º      IKIBASQUE   5830   3   0   1   
20º      Aspigarri   5667   0   0   2   
21º      FlyEaglesFly   5652   1   1   2   
22º      Combuijs   5376   0   0   0   
23º      galegospolabici   5244   0   1   0   
24º      HTCHungria   4911   2   3   2   
25º      Lemarche   4755   0   1   1   
26º      KunTeam   4639   0   1   2
27º      PDM_cycling_team   4408   0   2   1   
28º      Aurora_Australis   4310   0   4   2   
29º      MarvelProCycling    4212   0   0   2
30º      azerite   3726   1   2   2   
31º      LanihuliCycling   3541   0   0   0   
32º      Kelme4ever   3502   0   0   0   
33º      CuencaTeam   3479   0   0   0   
34º      team_piroshki   3340   0   0   0   
35º      ProCyclingTeam10   2981   0   0   1   
36º      Facha_Bartolo   2581   1   1   0   
37º      Inglourious_Bastards   2253   0   0   0   
38º      TeamSerfin   2080   0   0   1   
39º      Vitimper   1791   0   0   0   
40º      Bergtoppers   1787   0   0   0   
41º      Fiestina   1541   1   2   0   
42º      PIPIGU   1505   0   0   0   
43º      Denver   1408   0   0   0   
44º      RemcoEvenpoelckx   1392   1   0   1   
45º      IntellinetCyclingFF   1048   0   0   0   
46º      catapunchimpon   493   0   0   0   
47º      BorinotTeam   414   0   0   0   
48º      CobbleCrushers   180   0   0   0   
49º      Valderend   0   0   0   0   
50º      ZG   0   0   0   0   

Congratulations to FaltososDeChigre with their win, they really did not lack points. Congratualations to ourselves to stay on the World Tour and for being the best Dutch team this season. I don't think that title came ever with so few points...

Individual rankings:

1º      Lazare Pires   29   4753   FrançaiseDesJeux   4   1   3   
2º      Oscar Marcos   30   3742   IKIBASQUE   1   0   0   
3º      Abilio Andujar   32   3491   JGMTeam   1   4   5   
4º      András Valter   27   3488   Quickstepbronx   10   1   1   
5º      Yvo VanStraalen   27   2878   Combuijs   0   0   0   
6º      Henriks Valdmanis   26   2703   KunTeam   0   0   2   
7º      Spodris Martisons   26   2548   Mlb   4   0   1   
8º      Bart Jackson   31   2529   Zatarra   2   4   0   
9º      Aleksandr Menke   29   2472   FaltososDeChigre   0   2   0   
10º      Bendegúz Csécs   27   2078   Spitz   0   1   0   

Yvo van Straalen finished 5th in the individual rankings, far from the unreachable Lazare Pires, but good for a Dutch championship shirt, the first for our team ever.

We are really a one man team now:

Yvo VanStraalen   27   2878         214
Brooklyn Marbley   32   475         058
Amable Puerto   28   336         162
Eulogio Trillo   26   333         001
Diederik De Maar   26   282         212
Mondesir Zutter   32   167         243
Adam Neeskens   34   158         1066
Arjen Rutte   34   140         778
Julius Maalderink   34   120         785
Hallvard Thorkildsen   26   110         023
Tristan Prins   34   75         1259
Hidde Daelman   27   70         000
Friso Vonk   27   65         000
Gary Fredickson   27   60         011
Garret Rose   34   40         204
Giorgi Jabbarov   26   25         247
Toivo Sulg   26   25         301

Well, this was probably the last season with the riders that build up the team from the start. It will be time to say farewell to them, but that is very hard...