The Combuijs Capers

[Combuijs]

Today the Combuijs Honey Ale team have gained their first victory! In a convincing style without any helpers Carlo Bemelmans took stage 3 of the Tour Down Under. He was 13 seconds in front of a group of 5, among them his great rival for the general classification Patrick Vermeltfoort.

After the race Carlo of course took a Magnum bottle of champa... eh ... Combuijs Honey Ale, but refused to spray this costly liquid into the crowd.
The offer for a luxurious stay in Paracombe was not refused however.



With this victory he takes over the lead in the Tour Down Under, for which he is awarded a very appropriate jersey for a Dutchman:



There is of course much speculation about the reasons for the successes of the Combuijs team. The Adelaide Now thinks it is because of their good resistance against the rain, The Courier had the same argument but thought is was due to their sun protection system and The Advertiser even went as far to claim their insensitivity to cold was the key to their success. The Southern Times Messenger blatantly stated that their support of the UCI is the reason.



According to the Eastern Courier Messenger in this afternoon's race from McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill, Carlo Bemelmans is the man to beat, but Patrick Vermeltfoort is a man to watch out for, as his teamleader is very cunning. What trick will he play?

In a final note Gerard Brown seems to have contacts with Haribo, but their offer for the Dauphine Libere has been declined. Imagine you get a ton of Haribo sweets if you win the last stage. Undescribable...

[Combuijs]

Does Carlo Bemelmans know that those Magnum bottles of Combuijs Honey Ale are a limited edition? He finishes first again, this time on Willunga Hill.



He wins 6 seconds on runner up Patrick Vermeltfoort, so in the mini stage tomorrow in Adelaide he will have a margin of 19 seconds. Will that be enough?

Helper Julius Maalderink takes 19th place.

The Combuijs Honey Ales selection for Omloop het Nieuwsblad will be:

1 Julius Maalderink
2 Carlo Bemelmans
3 Thomas van Fessem
4 Koen Helder
5 Rikkert Vandenbeginne

We are of course very proud of wearing the number 1 jersey!

[Combuijs]

51 flat kilometers in Adelaide, what possibly could happen with 19 seconds in the lead?


Not a lot in first 40, but in the last 11 hell broke loose and Carlo Bemelmans lost contact with helper Harrie van der Haar and saw rival Pieter Vermeltfoort riding away with the leaders. Fortunately a lot of riders tried to get back to the lead and Carlo lost in the end only 16 seconds, which was a narrow escape:

7. Eduard Brouwers
8. Julius Maalderink
9. Julius van Zandbeek
13. Harrie van der Haar
21. Carlo Bemelmans

So, Combuijs Honey Ales has just won its first tour and well, 1 out of 1 is not a bad average, isn't it?

1    Carlo Bemelmans   19   Combuijs   0: 00"   500   100000
2    Pieter Vermeltfoort   19   WinterIsComing   0: 03"   400   90000
3    Johan Dockx   19   Plopsala   0: 30"   325   80000
6    Julius Maalderink   19   Combuijs   1: 42"   225   50000
20    Julius VanZandbeek   19   Combuijs   4: 07"   10   1000

Division standings:

1º      Combuijs   1870   2   0   0   
2º      Plopsala   1266   2   1   1   
3º      WinterIsComing   1202   0   1   3   
4º      $Tourmalet   915   0   2   0   
5º      CojoNudos   828   1   0   0   

An interesting article in the Adelaide Advertiser stated that Carlo Bemelmans was the fastest ever in yesterday's race to Willunga Hill.
.

However, there were also some accusations that the Honey Ale and the raceshirts are too expensive for the die-hard fans.


We have given Gerard Brown some weeks off after he had secured a deal with Lacoste for the Tour of Catalunya. According to him 7th place in the general classification should not be a problem at all.


Well, back in the airplane to Europe, where we will stay for the rest of the season!

[WinterIsComing]

Nice victory Combuijs. I came close, but it just wasn't enough. 

You seem to have a pretty lucky hand this far with your cyclists, having the best hiller (Bemelmans), climber (de Cleer) and the 4th best cobb-hiller (Maalderink) in the division so far. Nice assets for a head start in the new game. Keep up the good work and even better posts 

[Combuijs]

Some people ask how we scout these incredible youth riders. Of course there can only be one answer: The irresistable Combuijs Honey Ale attracts lots of good riders, all keen to get their hands on a Magnum bottle. In Ninove Jules Maalderink just missed out on such a bottle in the Omloop het Nieuwsblad as he was 3 seconds short of winner Kirk Trump from $Tourmalet. Helper Koen Helder finished 29th, so he is off the mark too.




In Italy these riders are selected for the Strade Bianchi:

1 Julius Maalderink
2 Harold Helder
3 Koen Helder
4 Norman Schuh
5 Rikkert Vandenbeginne

In France the Combuijs Honey Ales start in Paris - Nice with:

1 Julius Maalderink
2 Carlo Bemelmans
3 Harold Helder
4 Vincent van Vleuten
5 Julius van Zandbeek

[Combuijs]

Already on the first white road stroke in the beautiful Strade Bianchi race a definite split was made between the have-a-chance and the won't-have-a-chance. In the end only three riders arrived in the lead in the stunning town of Siena and trust WinterIsComing to have his tactics in order: Robin Crone wins the final sprint before Kirk Trump ($Tourmalet) and our Julius Maalderink. The helper brothers Helder finished 24th (Harold) and 29th (Koen).



Anyway, another podium place for our team. Division standings after the first classical races:

1º      Combuijs   2710   2   1   1   
2º      $Tourmalet   2225   1   3   0   
3º      WinterIsComing   2187   1   1   3   
4º      Plopsala   1671   2   1   1   
5º      Kalarratas   1473   0   1   0   

Finally, not to make WinterIsComing jealous, but experts have seen a new star in the Combuijs Honey Ales formation: Tristan Prins. The beer did its work again...

[Combuijs]

In the first stage of Paris-Nice to Amilly Julius Maalderink finished in the leading group on place 6, so for the moment he is still in contention for the general classification. Helper Julius van Zandbeek finished in the third group on place 24.

[Combuijs]

In this morning's stage from Contres to Commentry the Combuijs Honey Ale team helper Carlo Bemelmans launched Julius Maalderink on the only hill with devastating effects. Only two other riders could follow but in the end gnome Johan Dockx of the Plopsala team proved the stronger sprinter. So again a second place for Julius Maalderink. Honourable mentions for Carlo Bemelmans (10th) and Julius van Zandbeek (20th).



In the general classification Julius Maalderink is now the new leader, although fellow Dutchman Piet Huybrechts is second in the same time. Yellow has always been my favourite colour.



In L'Équipe there was an article which featured the Combuijs Honey Ale Cycling Team. Especially their tactics during windy and stormy stages were mentioned. There was also probably a comment on the youthfulness of the team but the French became quite ineligable there. Aren't all cycling teams youthful these days?



Some experts have stated that Carlo Bemelmans is not the super talent he seemed to be.

O, and by the way, they think Maalderink is favourite in the next stage. Now, that is what I call a quality paper!

[Combuijs]

In Vierzon we again lost a Magnum bottle of Combuijs Honey Ale, this time to Julius Maalderink who in a sprint à deux managed to beat Ricardo Rogge (eaglesOFcarthage). He even managed to get 10 seconds in front of Kirk Trump. Helper Harold Helder was marvellous, he finished 6th.



In the general classification Julius has a lead of almost a minute. He will need that because tomorrow waits the infamous Croix de Chaubouret. Frankly, we don't think that will be enough to win Paris-Nice as Valentijn Teffer (WinterIsComing) is looking very good and only 2 minutes behind.

In other news, thanks to the Combuijs Honey Ale we have the best shop of all teams at the moment!

[Combuijs]

No surprises on the Croix de Chaubouret, Julius Maalderink could absolutely not follow the climbers there. In the end he finished almost 4 minutes after the predicted winner Valentijn Teffer. Trust WinterIsComing to win a race where his 5th favourite! The best Combuijs rider was Vincent van Vleuten with a 14th place.



In the general classification Valentijn is the glorious leader and 3rd place Julius Maalderink won't threaten him with 2 minutes behind.

For the last race to Vendome Carlo Bemelmans is favourite but he will to have help Julius to second place in the GC.

In other news a Cycling International expert declared that Yvo de Cleer is not really a top talent.

[Combuijs]

In Vendome Carlo Bemelmans rode to help Julius Maalderink and so he finished on 3rd place after Stig Dreyer of Bolaverde. Julius Maalderink took 19th place on 15 seconds and instead of challenging second place he disappointingly lost his third place.



Glorious winner of Paris-Nice was Valentijn Teffer of WinterIsComing. Carlo Bemelmans just finished 20th.

Division standings after Paris - Nice:

1º      WinterIsComing   3780   2   1   3   
2º      Combuijs   3736   3   2   2   
3º      $Tourmalet   3736   1   3   2   
4º      Plopsala   2349   4   1   1   
5º      Kalarratas   2251   0   3   0   

So the first three are very close, the gap to number four though is considerable.

Tomorrow the Combuijs Honey Ales start in Tirreno Adriatico with:

11 Tristan Prins
12 Carlo Bemelmans
13 Yvo de Cleer
14 Enifanio Merchan
15 Sebastiaan Vermaelen

Goals are the first stage and of course the general classification!

[Combuijs]

In the hills around Offida Tristan Prins and Carlo Bemelmans rode an almost perfect first stage and finished 3rd and 6th. $Tourmalet proved to be the better team getting first second place with Stu Beal and Patrick Fredickson.



Yvo de Cleer showed his unability in hilly country, he lost almost 4 minutes and from now on he will have to assist Tristan in winning the Tirreno.


But we have our first happy sponsor (apart from Combuijs Honey Ales of course). Blanch House have announced they have every trust in the Combuijs Cycling Team after a place within the first four in the first stage of the Tirreno Adriatico.

[Combuijs]

Salsomaggiore Terme will never be our favourite destination, but we still got some points:

14. Yvo de Cleer
16. Sebastiaan Vermaelen
21. Carlo Bemelmans

Winner was Plopsala's Johan Dockx, not for the first time.

To be honest, the after-race-party was better:



Tristan Prins loses more than three minutes, so in the GC Carlo Bemelmans is our best men. He will continue to be there after the next stage, but our hopes have been set on Prince Tristan.

[Combuijs]

This morning Cascinia was in a festive mood when the third stage of the Tirreno Adriatico arrived there.
 


We though we not in a festive mood, given these results:

19 Carlo Bemelmans
22 Yvo de Cleer
27 Sebastiaan Vermeulen

Tristan Prins lost 2 minutes, which tempted La Gazzetta dello Sport to comment that he really is not as talented as previously thought. Gnome Johan Dockx (Plopsala) won the sprint, business as usual for him, and Valentijn Teffer (WinterIsComing) got 3rd place. First in the GC is Paul Portero of CojoNudos (which seems to mean cripple buttons?).

Rai Uno stated that the mountain time trial will be to fought out between Plopsala and our team, so there is hope for points yet.

De Telegraaf seems to have woken up to our cycling team as it featured an article about our youth cyclists and our terrific socuting team. They also belately mentioned our new sponsor...



And last but not lease Gerard Brown has woken from hibernation and got in a sponsor deal from France Telecom. Second place in the Tour of Switzerland would sway them to sponsor us. If only they would give the cyclists to reach that goal...

[Combuijs]

While it rained in Terminillo we had a very shining afternoon in the mountain time trial. Epifanio Merchan finished 2nd, Yvo de Cleer 3rd and Tristan Prins 12th. But Sammuel Alexandre (Plopsala) unfortunately proved to be the fastest climber. In the GC Carlo Bemelmans is still our best rider on place 14, but we have higher hopes for Yvo dfe Cleer in 21st position.




Tomorrow the Combuijs Honey Ales start in Milano - San Remo with:

21 Julius Maalderink
22 Carlo Bemelmans
23 Mads Ibsen
24 Norman Schuh
25 Sebastiaan Vermaelen