The Combuijs Capers

[Combuijs]

In the Dauphine Liberé we took a little break, only Rafael Szepesi was optimal trained at the start:

2nd stage: 5. Rafael Szepesi, 26. Dénes Nemcsik
5th stage to Belley: 1. Rafael Szepesi, 18. Dénes Nemcsik

After this sales of Combuijs Honey Ale in Hungary went viral...



Division standings after the Dauphine Libere:

1º      Astanadena   19517   14   5   7   
2º      Zatarra   14938   15   8   6   
3º      Combuijs    11564   5   6   10   
4º      Periquitos   10490   8   8   6   
5º      Skrimshaw   10024   0   2   4   
6º      MarvelProCycling    9736   3   0   4

[WinterIsComing]

Good to see you (and Zatarra) are well on your way to first division again. Rendez-Vouz in the Tour Down Under, my friends!

[Zatarra]

Good to see you (and Zatarra) are well on your way to first division again. Rendez-Vouz in the Tour Down Under, my friends!

Definitely. I think it's very clear in 2d. Astanadena is lonesome at the top and I don't think the current top3 will change. We'll what's needed to both have a good training in 1a as well as trying not to relegate once again next season.

[Combuijs]

Tour of Switzerland:
2nd stage: 11. Tristan Prins, 18. Will Miller
3rd stage: 11. Tristan Prins
4th stage: 7. Tristan Prins, 10. Will Miller
5th stage: 1. Tristan Prins

In the GC Tristan Prins was 6th and Will Miller as a helper 20th.

Tour de France:
1st stage: 22. Will Miller
2nd stage: 2. Will Miller, 11. Oliver King
3rd stage: 1. Will Miller, 10. Oliver King
5th stage to Loudenvielle: 7. Will Miller, 18. Oliver King



In the GC we are doing a Sky/Ineos-trick: we are number 1 and 2:

1    Will Miller   26   Combuijs    0: 00"   0   0
2    Oliver King   26   Combuijs    2: 00"   0   0
3    Jason Coburn   26   Xegalaki_Pro   2: 03"   0   0
4    Graham Long   26   Astanadena   2: 59"   0   0
5    Tim Bell   24   Astanadena   3: 04"   0   0

Very likely Will Miller will stay there, but Oliver King is doing domestic tasks, so he probably will loose some places.

Division standings halfway the Tour de France:

1º      Astanadena   21500   14   6   7   
2º      Zatarra   17983   20   9   6   
3º      Combuijs    13019   7   7   10   
4º      Periquitos   12232   8   8   9   
5º      MarvelProCycling    12115   3   3   6
6º      Skrimshaw   11164   0   2   6   

Yes, we are on our way to the World Tour again, but it will very likely only be for one season. There and back again...

[Vos]

In the GC we are doing a Sky/Ineos-trick: we are number 1 and 2:

1    Will Miller   26   Combuijs    0: 00"   0   0
2    Oliver King   26   Combuijs    2: 00"   0   0
3    Jason Coburn   26   Xegalaki_Pro   2: 03"   0   0
4    Graham Long   26   Astanadena   2: 59"   0   0
5    Tim Bell   24   Astanadena   3: 04"   0   0

Very likely Will Miller will stay there, but Oliver King is doing domestic tasks, so he probably will loose some places.

Halfway the Tour de France the GC looks amazing for your team ! 
Good luck in the 5 remaining stages, Combuijs.

[Combuijs]

Tour de France:
6th stage: 15. Oliver King, 28. Will Miller
7th stage to Albertville: 12. Will Miller, 17. Oliver King



In the GC Will Miller is still wearing the yellow jersey:

1    Will Miller   26   Combuijs    0: 00"   0   0
2    Jason Coburn   26   Xegalaki_Pro   1: 03"   0   0
3    Oliver De Schrijver   26   MarvelProCycling    2: 45"   0   0
4    Oliver King   26   Combuijs    3: 35"   0   0
5    Tjeerd Jonk   26   Dutch_Lions   3: 35"   0   0
6    Cristian Speciale   26   Zatarra   4: 19"   0   0

Still, I think in the last time trial it will be a close call, Jason Coburn is the better time trialist. Some nailbiting to do tonight...

News from the youth academy front: we have one hugely talented boy (Yvo van Straalen), two very talented twins (Friso and Jeroen Vonk), four low talented, two very low talented and one untalented youth. As Yvo is already our best tour rider we will focus on training him. Funny that all three top talents were drawn from our own youth pool.

[Vos]

Great Tour de France victory, congratulations ! 
1    Will Miller   26   Combuijs   0: 00"   

[Combuijs]

Tour de France:
10th stage: 22. Oliver King

In the GC Will Miller could keep his lead, so after the Giro we now also have won the Tour. Let's see what we can do in the Vuelta...

1    Will Miller   26   Combuijs    0: 00"   1000   250000
2    Jason Coburn   26   Xegalaki_Pro   0: 30"   800   225000
3    Oliver De Schrijver   26   MarvelProCycling    1: 50"   650   200000
4    Oliver King   26   Combuijs    2: 45"   550   175000
5    Tjeerd Jonk   26   Dutch_Lions   3: 16"   500   150000
6    Cristian Speciale   26   Zatarra   3: 28"   450   125000
7    Gijs Terpstra   25   Zatarra   5: 07"   400   100000

Oliver King was 4th in the GC as a domestique...

Clasica San Sebastian: 4. Oliver King

Combuijs Honey Ale Tour:
1st stage: 4. Adam Neeskens
2nd stage: 4. Adam Neeskens
3rd stage to Sittard-Geleen: 3. Adam Neeskens, 14. Garret Rose

The fourth place in stage 1 brought us post from Post Danmark with a nice little checque...




The last stage was won by Zatarra's Bart Jackson, who is also in the lead in the GC. Adam Neeskens is second and if he stays there we have a happy sponsor.

Division standings after the third stage in the Combuijs Honey Ale Tour:

1º      Astanadena   22954   15   6   8   
2º      Zatarra   21071   24   11   7   
3º      Combuijs    15415   7   7   11   
4º      MarvelProCycling    14529   4   5   6
5º      Periquitos   13734   9   9   9   
6º      Skrimshaw   12538   0   3   7   

[Combuijs]

Combuijs Honey Ale Tour:
4th stage: 6. Adam Neeskens, 22. Garret Rose
5th stage: 11. Adam Neeskens, 18. Garret Rose

In the GC we had a glorious victory by Adam Neeskens and a 7th place for helper Garret Rose:

1    Adam Neeskens   26   Combuijs    0: 00"   500   150000
2    Bart Jackson   23   Zatarra   1: 18"   400   135000
3    Eelco VanDerLaan   25   Fountain   2: 00"   325   120000
4    Alex Byers   25   Fountain   2: 34"   275   105000
5    Ismel Kaloev   24   Luka_Warriors   2: 40"   250   90000
6    Nazaire Cassagne   26   Skrimshaw   2: 53"   225   75000
7    Garret Rose   26   Combuijs    3: 11"   200   60000

Decathlon was very happy with the GC result, so we can enjoy some fresh handlebar tape for our team...


Vuelta:
1st stage: 5. Valentin Litenko, 7. Tristan Prins
2nd stage: 2. Valentin Litenko, 24. Tristan Prins
3rd stage: 14. Valentin Litenko
4th stage: 8. Tristan Prins, 29. Valentin Litenko
5th stage to Baiona: 2. Valentin Litenko, 11. Dénes Nemcsik



In the GC we have our Valentin Litenko in the lead, Tristan Prins is 12th:

1    Valentin Litenko   26   Combuijs    0: 00"   0   0
2    Levan Tarba   26   Skrimshaw   0: 19"   0   0
3    Tjeerd Jonk   26   Dutch_Lions   0: 26"   0   0
4    Jason Coburn   26   Xegalaki_Pro   0: 40"   0   0
5    Sem Sleeman   25   Scussasebbici   0: 59"   0   0

Of course our goal is to win all three big Tours with three different riders. Just one to go...

Division standings after the fifth stage in the Vuelta:

1º      Astanadena   23725   15   6   9   
2º      Zatarra   22248   24   13   8   
3º      Combuijs 17203   7   9   11   
4º      MarvelProCycling    15803   5   5   7
5º      Periquitos   14531   10   9   9   
6º      Skrimshaw   13881   1   3   8   

[Combuijs]

Vuelta:
6th stage: 5. Dénes Nemcsik, 22. Valentin Litenko
7th stage: 4. Dénes Nemcsik, 25. Valentin Litenko
8th stage: 10. Valentin Litenko, 19. Tristan Prins
9th stage: 19. Valentin Litenko

In the GC Valentin Litenko missed out on first place with 3 seconds. And so we just missed three wins in the three Grand Tours:

1    Tjeerd Jonk   26   Dutch_Lions   0: 00"   1000   250000
2    Valentin Litenko   26   Combuijs    0: 03"   800   225000
3    Levan Tarba   26   Skrimshaw   2: 10"   650   200000
4    Sem Sleeman   25   Scussasebbici   3: 36"   550   175000
5    Jason Coburn   26   Xegalaki_Pro   4: 34"   500   150000

Still, we had a happy sponsor Volkswagen, so we have added 5 campervans to our fleet:


Giro de Lombardia: 1. Tristan Prins, 18. Oliver King

World Championship Innsbruck: 1. Tristan Prins, 15. Oliver King

So, we have a world champion in our midst...



The sales of Combuijs Honey Ale is soaring, the beer is very popular in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Hungary and the USA.


Final standings in the Pro Continental Tour season 8:

1º      Zatarra   23953   25   14   9   
2º      Astanadena   23771   15   6   9   
3º      Combuijs    20319   9   9   11   
4º      MarvelProCycling    19767   5   6   7
5º      Periquitos   18196   12   10   10   
6º      Skrimshaw   18161   1   4   9   

That was a last minute first place claim by Zatarra, congratulations with the win! Promotion was also a very close affair, in the end there was 35 points between Periquitos and Skrimshaw.

In the individual rankings we see a very familiar person at the top:

1º      Oliver King   26   5655   Combuijs    1   3   3   
2º      Dylan Crickton   26   4843   Periquitos   4   1   2   
3º      Raimond Leducq   26   4771   Astanadena   5   1   2   
4º      Alex Riis   26   4729   Astanadena   8   2   2   
5º      Cristian Speciale   26   3574   Zatarra   10   1   1   
6º      Ismel Kaloev   24   3488   Luka_Warriors   4   3   0   
7º      Adam Neeskens   26   3480   Combuijs   2   1   2   
8º      Tjeerd Jonk   26   3167   Dutch_Lions   1   0   1   
9º      Charles-Thomas Jameson   26   3075   MarvelProCycling    2   0   0   
10º      Tristan Prins   26   3063   Combuijs   4   0   2
19º      Will Miller   26   2484   Combuijs    1   1   1      
34º      Valentin Litenko   26   1784   Combuijs    0   2   0   

Three riders in the top 10 and the best rider of the pack, that's completely new for us. The other five riders scoring points:

Garret Rose   26   1113         002
Arjen Rutte   26   853         664
Julius Maalderink   26   710         673
Dénes Nemcsik   26   641         001
Rafael Szepesi   26   428         982

Back to the World Tour again!

[Combuijs]

So, the season will finally start for us too, after the Tour Down Under. Hopefully we can score some points tonight.

We have secured the services of Sander Peebo as a director, who is expected to improve the results in the Tours. Unfortunately he is known to pick up quarrels with everyone who does not agree with him. He is also known for his stream of Tweets. And yes, he has got blonde hair too...

We are already out of the cup after again being drawn against Euska Piero in a hill sprint race. Dénes Nemcsik did what he could but he could not beat Victor Veenstra.

Division standings after the Tour Down Under:

1º      °Peachy°Melocotons   1041   2   0   0   
2º      TeamRHB   767   1   1   0   
3º      Astanadena   608   0   0   0   

10º      Caracoles   336   0   2   0   
11º      WinterIsComing   328   0   0   0   
12º      galegospolabici   325   0   0   0   

14º      Cabrasverdes   290   0   0   0   
15º      SPORTLIFE   262   0   0   1   
16º      Psychoedge   250   0   1   0   

18º      Wiggo_pupils   212   0   0   0   
19º      Zatarra   211   0   0   0   
20º      SentinelChickens   209   0   0   1   

48º      EuskaPiero   0   0   0   0   
49º      Combuijs    0   0   0   0   
50º      cave   0   0   0   0   

For the time being we have accumulated the number of points a goalkeeper would be proud of...

[Combuijs]

We are off the mark!:

Omloop het Nieuwsblad: 26. Adam Neeskens
Strade Bianchi: 6. Arjen Rutte, 22. Julius Maalderink



Meanwhile we have started in Paris-Nice with no ambitions apart from the last stage.

Division standings:

1º      °Peachy°Melocotons   1939   3   0   1   
2º      Cabrasverdes   1568   2   0   1   
3º      CobbleCrushers   1295   0   1   1   

7º      Astanadena   816   0   1   0   
8º      Zatarra   801   0   0   0   
9º      Atlantico   800   0   0   0   

13º      Wiggo_pupils   727   0   0   0   
14º      WinterIsComing   686   0   0   0   
15º      Yvo_Meppelink_ProCycling   593   2   0   0   

23º      Catalonia_Team   352   0   0   0   
24º      Combuijs    335   0   0   0   
25º      EuskaPiero   310   0   0   0   
26º      SPORTLIFE   302   0   0   1   
27º      Valderend   273   0   0   0   

Let's just pretend these are the final standings of the season...

[Vos]

Let's just pretend these are the final standings of the season...

Noooo ! 
2 places below Combuijs. Let's pretend it when my team is ranked higher as yours and still both above the relegation zone. 

[Combuijs]

Paris-Nice
5th stage: 7. Arjen Rutte

Tirreno Adriatico:
1st stage to Sestola: 13. Oliver King



Oliver King is 20th in the GC and he will have difficulties to stay in the top 20 in the last stage.

Division standings after the 4th stage of the Tirreno:

1º      °Peachy°Melocotons   2805   5   0   1   
2º      Cabrasverdes   2016   2   0   1   
3º      Astanadena   1586   0   2   0   

12º      ProdopingPong   999   0   0   1   
13º      WinterIsComing   987   0   1   1   
14º      FaltososDeChigre   977   1   0   0   

16º      Wiggo_pupils   968   0   0   0   
17º      Zatarra   843   0   0   0   
18º      SPORTLIFE   817   0   1   2   
19º      Caracoles   755   0   2   1   

31º      Catalonia_Team   461   0   0   0   
32º      Combuijs    449   0   0   0   
33º      Wizards   416   0   1   0   

We are now just on the wrong side of the table, no doubt due to lack of success.

News from the youth front: Yvo van Straalen his receive a nice small statue in bronze:

[Combuijs]

E3 Harelbeke: 16. Garret Rose



At the moment Valentin Litenko is cycling in Catalunya and we hope to score some points today and in the GC. That is necessary because:

Division standings after the 2nd stage of the Volta

1º      °Peachy°Melocotons   4154   6   0   1   
2º      Cabrasverdes   3251   4   0   1   
3º      Atlantico   2378   0   0   0   

10º      ProdopingPong   1649   0   0   1   
11º      WinterIsComing   1627   0   1   1   
12º      Wiggo_pupils   1603   0   0   0   
13º      Zatarra   1562   0   0   1   
14º      FlyEaglesFly   1463   1   2   0   

20º      Psychoedge   1187   0   2   0   
21º      SPORTLIFE   1152   0   1   3   
22º      $Tourmalet   992   1   0   0   

31º      ChronoTony   611   0   0   0   
32º      Combuijs    559   0   0   0   
33º      Catalonia_Team   549   0   0   0