The Combuijs Capers

[Combuijs]

The last stage in the Dauphine to Belley was again succesfull as Dénes Nemcsik got himself 20th place in a free role and Yvo de Cleer sprinted to place 12 in the GC. Atlantico's Siegmund Paulsen managed to keep the yellow jersey.



Certainly a moral boost, but just for the points, not the passing of Nicola Miorlin...

Division standings after the Dauphine:

1º      Cabrasverdes   9070   6   3   4   
2º      CobbleCrushers   6252   2   4   7   
3º      Rekutxuteam   5991   2   0   1   

14º      FlyEaglesFly   4146   2   4   4   
15º      SPORTLIFE   3586   3   3   2   
16º      HTCHungria   3561   1   0   1   

23º      Ares   3180   2   3   4   
24º      Aurora_Australis   3069   4   4   3   
25º      MortoviaCycling   3044   0   0   0   

29º      azerite   2386   0   0   1   
30º      Combuijs   2356   0   0   1   
31º      WinterIsComing   2324   0   1   0   
32º      skunk   2213   0   0   0   
33º      EuskaPiero   2111   0   0   0   
34º      Zatarra   2099   1   0   0   
35º      TeamTimidus   1999   0   1   3   

The green goats are glorious in the lead and the fight for the last safe spot is going between Winter Is Coming and us, which does not give too much confidence for our chances. Let's hope we both can get past azerite or another willing victim...

We are already preparing for the Tour de France:

291 Oliver King
292 Carlo Bemelmans
293 Yvo de Cleer
294 Adam Neeskens
295 Julius Wiegel

Oliver is there for the GC, assisted by Yvo and Carlo. Adam might go for desperately needed points in individual stages, while Julius will be doing the press conferences.

[WinterIsComing]

Happy I almost closed the gap towards the safe spots. Let's try and get to the safe zone both as soon as possible now, Combuijs.  It won't be easy but I'm still confident about our chances. Let's go! 

[Combuijs]

Sorry, had not much time to update the Capers, but in the end we did not manage to stay on the World Tour:

1º      Cabrasverdes   12506   7   4   4   
2º      Rekutxuteam   9553   2   0   3   
3º      Aurora_Australis   8965   7   9   6   
4º      SPORTLIFE   8513   7   4   4   
5º      Atlantico   8212   1   3   1   
6º      HTCHungria   8154   3   2   2   
7º      ProdopingPong   8026   4   1   2   
8º      LOSRAYOSDELARRY   8012   1   2   4   
9º      °Peachy°Melocotons   7743   11   4   2   
10º      CobbleCrushers   7672   4   4   7   
11º      Caracoles   7564   6   6   4   
12º      Marcatone_Due   7385   0   2   2   
13º      Wiggo_pupils   7086   3   1   5   
14º      FlyEaglesFly   6658   2   5   5   
15º      CyKings   6359   0   4   3   
16º      Flyvende_hjul   6093   0   0   1   
17º      Yvo_Meppelink_ProCycling   6039   8   4   2   
18º      ChessPower   6019   1   2   2
19º      CaptainOrange   5898   0   3   0   
20º      FaltososDeChigre   5789   1   0   1   
21º      Codex   5618   4   3   3   
22º      KunTeam   5533   6   1   3
23º      MortoviaCycling   5338   0   0   1   
24º      galegospolabici   5320   0   0   2   
25º      Ares   5127   4   3   4   
26º      BetisCFF   5063   1   4   1   
27º      SentinelChickens   4933   1   2   1   
28º      Thorboassonarvesen   4721   5   6   1   
29º      skunk   4694   0   0   0   
30º      ValeronIdolo   4490   0   0   0   
31º      WinterIsComing   4296   0   1   0   
32º      azerite   4238   0   1   2   
33º      Combuijs   3953   0   0   2   
34º      Oska   3937   0   2   2   
35º      Psychoedge   3732   0   0   1   
36º      Periquitos   3564   0   4   1   
37º      BLOEMENAANDEMITTE   3277   0   1   0   
38º      Wizards   3258   0   0   0   
39º      Antequera   2802   0   0   1   
40º      Zatarra   2735   1   0   0   
41º      Shiro_Lions   2589   1   1   1   
42º      EuskaPiero   2556   0   0   0   
43º      PDM_cycling_team   2540   0   0   0
44º      Ciclokillers   2475   0   0   0   
45º      BOS   2362   0   1   1   
46º      TeamTimidus   2177   0   1   3   
47º      lasposturas   1445   0   0   1   
48º      Catalonia_Team   1259   0   0   0   
49º      CrossAndGo    27   0   0   0   
50º      IntellinetCyclingFF   0   0   0   0   

I don't think not missing the Giro would have made a difference, we simply scored too little points in the cobble hill classics. Too bad Winter Is Coming just relegated too.

No Combuijs Honey Ale riders in the top 50 also:

1º      Allan Palmer   24   4536   HTCHungria   3   2   2   
2º      Antonello Lorenzetto   25   3868   Marcatone_Due   0   1   1   
3º      Yannick Pierre   25   2630   CobbleCrushers   2   3   2   
4º      Mike Bauer   25   2382   CyKings   0   1   1   
5º      Adam Roethlisberger   25   2369   Rekutxuteam   1   0   0   
6º      Leonid Leonov   24   2230   BetisCFF   1   3   1   
7º      Daniele Kolb   25   2197   Codex   2   2   1   
8º      Richard Levin   25   2188   Aurora_Australis   4   2   2   
9º      Marzio Pantani   25   2063   Wiggo_pupils   2   1   1   
10º      Miksa Pelle   25   2057   °Peachy°Melocotons   5   2   1   

A new best rider in front, Allan Palmer of HTCHungria, another tour rider alas.

Our personal point distribution:

Adam Neeskens   25   608         110
Oliver King   25   587         241
Robert Brubaker    25   430         012
Will Miller   25   389         000
Julius Maalderink   25   378         672
Garret Rose   25   325         002
Chester Laybutt    25   298         024
Rafael Szepesi   25   242         882
Carlo Bemelmans    25   140         322
Tristan Prins   25   125         253
Yvo De Cleer    25   113         731
Julius Wiegel    25   110         000
Arjen Rutte   25   100         644
Dénes Nemcsik   25   58         000
Eelco VanDerLaan    24   50         000

A third place for time trialist Robert Brubaker really tells the story of the season: too many time trials...

[Combuijs]

In season 8 we will compete on the Pro Continental Tour level.

We have put up nine riders for sale:

Damien Lambert
Eelco van der Laan
Carlo Bemelmans
Chester Laybutt
Julius Wiegel
Robert Brubaker
Thomas Freitag
Yvo de Cleer
Ørjan Henningsen

In season 8 we will start with about 10 new riders, preferably tour riders, but we will see what comes up in practice.

We will be operating in division 2d, amongst others with Zatarra, PDM Cycling Team, 101 Cycling and Dutch Lions. No idea what to expect, first goal is the new young riders, second goal is promotion.

But first the flat cobble hill race in the cup against Pro Continental Tour team Psychoedge.

[Combuijs]

In the first cup round our Adam Neeskens beated Psychoedge's Filips Piksons in the final meters, so we are through to the second round. There we will face Pro Continental Tour Team Lugnanese in a Spanish flat sprint race. Barring unexpected purchases we should easily get through to the third round.

We have managed to sell 6 riders. Chester Laybutt went to Rekutxuteam for 24,1 million, our best sale ever. It probably lead to:
Expert in revaluating his riders (Chester was bought a lifetime ago for 1M, all the money available to us at that moment)
Total sells level 2
Rockefeller trophy (for having more than 40 million cash, I guess)

Our worst sale ever was Carlo Bemelmans who was transfered for a whopping 18 to OphiukoCT... Julius Wiegel went for 5557 to Sportlife, and you can see Vos is really a master in getting good riders cheap. Third best sale ever was rather suprisingly Damien Lambert who went for 5M to the Peachy Melocotons. Too bad for Damien to be dressed as fruit now, but I guess the money will compensate for that. Eelco van der Laan went for a meagre 350K to Fountain.

We have put Yvo de Cleer, Thomas Freitag and Robert Brubaker on the transfer market again. Robert no doubt will first score some points in tomorrow's time trial...

We are not used to scoring points in the Tour Down Under, but on the Pro Continental Tour it is just that little easier:
1st stage: 23. Tristan Prins
2nd stage: 12. Adam Neeskens
3rd stage: 22. Dénes Nemcsik
4th stage: 3. Dénes Nemcsik, 19. Rafael Szepesi

So a first podium place in Campbell Town. Adam Neeskens is now 14th in the GC, but he is not blessed with a good time trial...



We are now exactly 100 points behind Zatarra, so we should easily gain some positions from here...

[Combuijs]

Big dealings on the transfer market these days and we have broken several records. The first was the lowest transfer for our team, we have sold Yvo de Cleer for 2 to Compos, which is 9 times less than our previous record of four days ago. Of course it could have been much worse if we had gotten twice as less... Robert Brubaker went for 10K to Lanihull Cycling, Thomas Freitag for 1 less to Team Piroshki. The really good news is we landed our biggest fish ever in Hidde Daelman from Winter Is Coming for a new high record of 18,4M and a bit. We missed out on several others, but we are very happy with Hidde.

We have now a new shopping car for our daily purchases:

We are also happy with the results coming in, we are not troubled by corona-viruses:

Tour Down Under:
5th stage: 3. Robert Brubaker

Adam Neeskens fell to place 25 in the time trial.

Omloop het Nieuwsblad: 3. Adam Neeskens, 26. Arjen Rutte
Strade Bianchi: 2. Arjen Rutte, 15. Adam Neeskens

Paris - Nice:
2st stage: 13. Tristan Prins, 30. Oliver King
2nd stage to Orléans: 9. Dénes Nemcsik

Oliver King is now 25th in the GC and should be on a higher place this evening (and at the end of the tour...). If he even starts scoring points in hill races, we are really looking good.



League standings after the second stage in Paris-Nice:

1º      Zatarra   2764   2   1   0   
2º      Skrimshaw   1714   0   0   0   
3º      Periquitos   1640   1   2   1   

6º      TeamSolex   1383   2   1   2   
7º      Combuijs   1340   0   1   3   
8º      Fountain   1306   0   0   0   

12º      Gloucester   785   0   0   1   
13º      Dutch_Lions   490   0   0   0   
14º      Speedbird   481   0   1   0   

21º      Arabateam   265   0   0   0   
22º      Cycling101   265   0   0   0   
23º      frikisdemoda   228   0   0   1   

27º      Sabmazz   167   0   0   0   
28º      PDM_cycling_team   158   0   0   0
29º      Tubulares   127   0   0   0   

Can somebody wake up Cycling 101 and PDM Cycling Team? The season has started. And while you are at it, can somebody calm down Zatarra, this is a bit ridiculous...

[B.E-L]

I'm awake but i have got only 2 riders that can score points in the second Division and i was planning to sell those 2   😉

[WinterIsComing]

Good luck with Hidde Daelman, Combuijs!

[Zatarra]

Rolv Sele was very pleased to compete with Arjen Rutte in the steeds of Siena again. It reminded him of the good old days of the first season in 1a together.

Come on, Combuijs, you're getting behind... And then 3 other of 'our' classics yet have too come. .

We're having a good start at last.

[Combuijs]

Paris-Nice:
3rd stage: 4. Oliver King, 18. Tristan Prins
4th stage to Col d'Eze: 6. Oliver King



In the GC Oliver King is now 1st in the GC with a one minute lead on Periquitos' German Martinez. I don't know if Oliver can stay there, but it would be a very nice start of the season for him if he does.

Anyway, you know you are in heaven when your GC rider scores serious points in stages and when your domestique is 4th in the GC...

In the meantime we have gathered 5 more or less trainable Tour riders, so we are halfway our target. Competition is fierce for 19 year old Tour riders and our resources are limited, so we have to see how things develop.

[Zatarra]

Congratulations on you P-N victory with King! Well done! Now the gap between us is only 1100 points.

Pity Ferreiro couldn't finish the sprint stage properly. In his career he still has not won ANY race. It's starting to get ridiculous... He didn't have the proper help this time, since hillsprinter Isupov had to do it, but still... Anyway, three stage wins for us in P-N and a 3rd and 6th place in the others. We are happy with that.

Next stop is the Tirreno. Mitt will try and stay close to King in the GC, but his lack of sprinting en pure climbing capabilities will probably 'kill' him. Anyway, we aim to have three stage wins again; stages 2, 3 and 5, hopefully, of which the latter is the hardest. We'll see.

[Combuijs]

We now have landed three big transfers, though none as big as Hidde Daelman. We have now Colin Cann from Manicomos Cycling Team (6M), John Paxson from Sentinel Chickens (4M) and Leroy van den Borre from RemcoEvenpoelckx (2M). The treasury is now almost depleted, we have to see if we can do one main transfer. Anyway, we have 10 more or less trainable riders now, but we could always improve of course...

Paris-Nice:
5th stage: 8. Dénes Nemscik, 30. Arjen Rutte

Oliver King wins the GC with a minute in front of the rest. That's a very good start indeed!

Tirreno-Adriatico:
1st stage: 2. Oliver King
2nd stage: 22. Will Miller, 24. Oliver King
3rd stage to Terminillo: 8. Oliver King

Winner in the mountain time trial was a very special rider of Zatarra...



Oliver King is, how dull, 1st again in the GC, but he is only four seconds before Periquitos German Martinez.

Division standings after the 3rd stage in the Tirreno-Adriatico:

1º      Zatarra   3705   5   1   1   
2º      Periquitos   3163   2   3   2   
3º      Astanadena   2874   3   0   0   
4º      Combuijs   2374   0   2   3   
5º      Skrimshaw   2363   0   0   1   
6º      TeamSolex   2184   3   1   2   

We are on a promotion place now, and way behind Zatarra, who is doing great.

[Zatarra]

Wow, King definitely is a great tour rider for you this season, Combuijs. He will have a good shot at the GC of T-A as well. An interesting double that has never occured in real life! How special that is!

Mitt will try and reach top5, with some special help, but the pure climbing will not suit him very well.

At least the season starts great for the both of us .

[Combuijs]

Forgot to mention the cup race. We had a relatively easy race against Lugnanese, so we are through to round 3. We will ride a cobble race against Pro Continental Tour team EuskaPiero. They have a specialist for that, Lodolini, so we are up for a tough challenge.

Tirreno-Adriatico:
4th stage: 2. Oliver King
5th stage to Monte San Vicino: 4. Oliver King



When you are top in the GC and finish 4th in the last stage you expect to win the GC, but Astadena's Raimond Leducq proved the opposite. Oliver King finishes 2nd on 13 seconds, Will Miller 8th. So no unusual double for King, but still, not unhappy about things.

Division standings after the Tirreno-Adriatico:

1º      Astanadena   4482   4   0   1   
2º      Zatarra   4268   5   1   1   
3º      Periquitos   3736   2   3   2   
4º      Combuijs   3211   0   3   3   
5º      TeamSolex   2856   4   2   2   
6º      Skrimshaw   2543   0   0   1   

Astadena takes the lead, which is a pity. Of course we hope that Zatarra finishes behind us, but if he won't he should win the division...

[Combuijs]

A few days ago we had our first non-Tour win as Adam Neeskens won the E3 Harelbeke. No real surprise there as he has won the World Tour edition in the past. Helper Garret Rose was 14th.

Volta de Catalunya:
2nd stage: 3. Will Miller
4th stage to Vallter 2000: 8. Will Miller



In the GC Will is now 15th, but maybe he can rise a bit in the last stage. We have a shared leadership here now between Raimond Leducq (Astanadena) and Honoré Bontecou (Team Solex).

According to the UCI newspaper we now have an exceptional youth team. I don't know why we got that now, but yes, we have assembled 10 young riders who might grow into Tour riders.

Their talent is still quite a guess, but we have not found any huge talent yet. Hidde Daelman has mediocre talent, which is not what we hoped for, but it could have been worse...

We have opened up shops in Hungary and the USA. In the latter our special edition Combuijs Honey-I-shrunk-the president Ale is somehow very popular...