The Combuijs Capers

[Zatarra]

Good luck, Combuijs! Hopefully you can score enough points to stay at world tour level, but it will be very hard. We have had 3 of the 6 races you should excel at (having some cobble hill riders), and you 'only' scored 500 points thusfar. It's gonna be a tough season.

I've instructed my riders to at least not be the ones that put yours in in trouble. Could you save up a bottle of nice honey ale for me?

[WinterIsComing]

Would be great to see you survive in 1a, but I know first hand it's tough to stay on top when training a bunch of youngsters. Good luck!

[Combuijs]

Volta Catalunya:
Stage 3: 26. Valentin Litenko

In the GC Valentin Litenko finished 21st, not what you want in the battle against relegation...

Gent-Wevelgem: 10. Julius Maalderink



Zatarra, you can find a magnum bottle of our Combuijs Honey Ale in our shop. At the moment sales are not going well, so we have plenty of stock... 

[Combuijs]

Dwars door Vlaanderen:
28. Garret Rose

It was won by Zatarra's Bart Jackson.

Ronde van Vlaanderen:
4. Garret Rose, 20. Julius Maalderink



We usually are not on top in de Ronde and better in Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen, but this season it is the other way round.

Division standings after de Ronde:

1º      °Peachy°Melocotons   5618   8   0   1   
2º      Cabrasverdes   4469   4   1   1   
3º      Atlantico   3943   0   0   1   
4º      CobbleCrushers   3763   2   3   2   
5º      Zatarra   2998   1   1   1   
6º      galegospolabici   2912   0   3   1   
7º      CaptainOrange   2897   0   0   1   
8º      FaltososDeChigre   2755   1   1   1   
9º      WinterIsComing   2369   1   1   1   
10º      Wiggo_pupils   2339   0   0   0   

17º      Yvo_Meppelink_ProCycling   1556   4   0   0   
18º      SPORTLIFE   1540   0   3   3   
19º      Caracoles   1459   1   3   1   

23º      Vitimper   1267   0   0   1   
24º      Combuijs    1129   0   0   0   
25º      $Tourmalet   1108   1   0   0   

We are on a safe place, so we are looking for a computer virus to stop the season. Even Sportlife can't complain now as they are above us. But if the season continues there is no way that Zatarra will relegate now!

[Combuijs]

Itzulia:
3rd stage: 14. Garret Rose

Paris-Roubaix: 6. Julius Maalderink

Tour de Romandie:
1st stage: 14. Dénes Nemcsik
3rd stage to Leukerbad: 29. Will Miller



Will is now 15th in the GC and we have hopes for a top 20 place.

Division standings after the third stage of the Tour de Romandie

1º      °Peachy°Melocotons   8154   10   2   3   
2º      Cabrasverdes   5654   5   1   1   
3º      CobbleCrushers   5384   2   6   3   
4º      Atlantico   5028   0   1   1   
5º      CaptainOrange   4091   0   0   5   
6º      Zatarra   4087   3   1   1   
7º      TeamRHB   4075   2   3   2   

13º      ProdopingPong   3328   0   1   1   
14º      WinterIsComing   3238   1   1   1   
15º      SentinelChickens   2763   0   0   4   
16º      Caracoles   2710   2   3   1   
17º      SPORTLIFE   2631   2   3   3   
18º      Yvo_Meppelink_ProCycling   2295   5   0   0   

28º      ChronoTony   1495   0   1   1   
29º      Combuijs    1450   0   0   0   
30º      Marcatone_Due   1325   0   0   1   


So, at the moment we are hanging on, just. We feel like a mountain climber on a rope with too much wax on his hands.

Meanwhile we have switched to stamina training. Not every youth tour rider is on 90 climbing but our main talent Yvo van Straalen is at 93 and we can't postpone the switch anymore. Homegrown Guido Keizer has now also a bronze statue.

[Combuijs]

Tour de Romandie:

5th stage around Sion: 27. Will Miller



Will finished 11th in the GC and while this is out of the top 10 we are happy with that. He was 3 minutes behind surprising winner Nicola Miorlin (Sportlife).

[WinterIsComing]

Will finished 11th in the GC and while this is out of the top 10 we are happy with that. He was 3 minutes behind surprising winner Nicola Miorlin (Sportlife).

Well, not sure if we can speak of a surprising winner anymore. According to me, Miorlin (Sportlife) is a prime candidate in almost every mountain stage he is at the start. Vos is doing a great job in the mountain stages almost every single time. Impressive stuff.

[Combuijs]

Giro:

2nd stage: 26. Oliver King
4th stage: 23. Oliver King
8th stage: 20. Oliver King
10th stage: 16. Oliver King

In the GC Oliver King finished 13th.

Dauphiné Liberé:

1st stage around Grenoble: 15. Julius Maalderink



Division standings:

1º      °Peachy°Melocotons   11059   14   6   3   
2º      Atlantico   7501   0   2   2   
3º      Cabrasverdes   7493   5   1   1   

9º      Flyvende_hjul   4557   0   1   1   
10º      Zatarra   4433   3   1   1   
11º      SPORTLIFE   4420   3   4   4   
12º      FaltososDeChigre   4375   2   1   1   
13º      ProdopingPong   4343   0   1   1   
14º      Wiggo_pupils   4333   0   1   0   
15º      WinterIsComing   3956   1   1   1   
16º      Marcatone_Due   3756   0   0   2   

30º      Psychoedge   1931   0   2   0   
31º      Combuijs   1909   0   0   0   
32º      Aurora_Australis   1782   2   2   2   

We are just on the wrong side of the relegation line, but I doubt we will get on the right side.

In other news, we have now a bronze statue of Gary Fredickson:

[Combuijs]

Dauphiné Liberé:

2nd stage:
5th stage to Belley: 6. Rafael Szepesi, 14. Dénes Nemcsik



Division standings after the Dauphiné:

1º      °Peachy°Melocotons   11428   14   7   3   
2º      Atlantico   7986   0   2   2   
3º      Cabrasverdes   7738   5   1   1   

10º      ProdopingPong   4712   0   1   1   
11º      SPORTLIFE   4585   3   4   4   
12º      Wiggo_pupils   4558   0   1   0   
13º      Zatarra   4510   3   1   1   
14º      FaltososDeChigre   4508   2   1   1   
15º      WinterIsComing   4163   1   1   1   
16º      Marcatone_Due   3831   0   0   2   

30º      EuskaPiero   2034   0   0   1   
31º      Combuijs   2027   0   0   0   
32º      Codex   1944   0   1   1   

We are still on the wrong side of the relegation line, but we are getting some points in now.

Yvo van Straalen is coming along nicely, so we will switch to flat training.

[Combuijs]

Tour of Switzerland:
3rd stage: 4. Julius Maalderink, 21. Arjen Rutte

In the GC Will Miller finished 14th.

Tour de France:
1st stage to La Pierre Saint Martin: 27. Will Miller



Will Miller is now 10th in the GC, so let's hope he will stay there.

Division standings after the 5th stage of the Tour de France:

1º      °Peachy°Melocotons   12287   15   7   3   
2º      Atlantico   8774   0   2   2   
3º      Cabrasverdes   7942   5   1   1   

10º      ProdopingPong   5295   0   1   2   
11º      SPORTLIFE   5158   4   5   4   
12º      FaltososDeChigre   5042   2   1   1   
13º      Wiggo_pupils   5036   0   1   0   
14º      Marcatone_Due   4815   0   0   2   
15º      Zatarra   4573   3   1   1   
16º      SentinelChickens   4506   0   3   5   
17º      WinterIsComing   4433   2   1   1   
18º      Yvo_Meppelink_ProCycling   4230   8   0   3   

31º      Psychoedge   2277   0   2   0   
32º      Combuijs   2232   0   0   0   
33º      BLOEMENAANDEMITTE   2102   0   0   0   

We have crossed the relegation line now several times in both directions...

We now also have a bronze statue for Bert Kerkhof.

[Combuijs]

Tour de France:
8th stage: 29. Tristan Prins
9th stage: 23. Will Miller

Will Miller did not manage to get in the top 20. He finished 25th.

GP San Sebastian:
22. Tristan Prins

Combuijs Honey Ale Tour:
2nd stage: 23. Adam Neeskens
3rd stage: 6. Adam Neeskens

In the GC Adam Neeskens finished 17th. A bit disappointing as he had a very good preparation for it, good helpers and stages that fitted him.

Vuelta:
3rd stage: 15. Oliver King
5th stage to Cariñena: 22. Garret Rose



Division standings after the 5th stage in the Vuelta:

1º      °Peachy°Melocotons   14740   17   10   3   
2º      Atlantico   10800   0   2   4   
3º      CobbleCrushers   8955   4   8   7   
4º      Cabrasverdes   8918   5   2   1   
5º      CaptainOrange   7629   0   0   5   
6º      SPORTLIFE   7243   8   5   5   
7º      ProdopingPong   7084   0   2   3   

13º      Marcatone_Due   6147   0   0   2   
14º      Zatarra   5963   4   2   3   
15º      Wiggo_pupils   5843   0   1   1   
16º      Caracoles   5519   6   4   2   
17º      WinterIsComing   5359   2   1   1   
18º      Yvo_Meppelink_ProCycling   5253   9   0   3   

35º      BLOEMENAANDEMITTE   2592   0   1   0   
36º      Combuijs    2570   0   0   0   
37º      cave   2535   0   0   0   

Oh, the shame! Not to be relegating but to be behind Bloemen aan de Mitte...

We now also have a bronze statue for Jeroen Vonk.


There was also praise (but no bronze statue) for our mechanic Tigran Filin:


So it's not the bikes that will be relegating but the riders themselves...

[Mitte]

Oh, the shame! Not to be relegating but to be behind Bloemen aan de Mitte...

Get used to it Combuijs

[Combuijs]

First of all I have to revert the last result in the last post. Garret's Rose 22nd place in the 5th stage in the Vuelta was cancelled because there was a serious error in the roadbook and apparently more than half of the peloton got lost. The UCI decided to reride the race with unfortunately a less good result of Garret who was no doubt tired of his first effort.

Vuelta:
6th stage: 20. Adam Neeskens
7th stage: 23. Oliver King
9th stage: 11. Adam Neeskens, 17. Garret Rose
10th stage to Vallada: 20. Oliver King



Final division standings:

1º      °Peachy°Melocotons   16667   18   10   5   
2º      Atlantico   11493   0   2   4   
3º      CobbleCrushers   9798   4   9   7   
4º      SPORTLIFE   9706   10   5   6   
5º      Cabrasverdes   9363   5   2   1   
6º      Flyvende_hjul   8988   0   3   1   
7º      CaptainOrange   8792   0   0   5   
8º      FaltososDeChigre   8091   2   1   2   
9º      galegospolabici   7698   0   3   5   
10º      Astanadena   7679   3   3   3   
11º      ProdopingPong   7534   0   2   3   
12º      Marcatone_Due   7338   1   0   2   
13º      ChronoTony   7309   2   3   9   
14º      Zatarra   7294   5   2   3   
15º      TeamRHB   7287   5   4   3   
16º      Wiggo_pupils   6617   0   1   1   
17º      Aurora_Australis   6589   4   4   3   
18º      Caracoles   6437   6   5   2   
19º      WinterIsComing   6217   2   1   1   
20º      Yvo_Meppelink_ProCycling   6196   9   2   3   
21º      FlyEaglesFly   6022   1   3   1   
22º      SentinelChickens   6010   0   3   5   
23º      MortoviaCycling   5247   0   1   0   
24º      Codex   5192   2   2   1   
25º      ValeronIdolo   4939   2   2   1   
26º      Denver   4897   3   4   3   
27º      Wizards   4620   0   1   0   
28º      Thorboassonarvesen   4433   5   0   3   
29º      Vitimper   4125   0   3   2   
30º      Oska   3875   0   0   0   
31º      $Tourmalet   3852   1   0   0   
32º      skunk   3516   0   1   0   
33º      Valderend   3305   1   3   2   
34º      Psychoedge   3007   0   3   0   
35º      BLOEMENAANDEMITTE   2930   0   1   0   
36º      cave   2843   0   0   0   
37º      Combuijs    2773   0   0   0   
38º      EuskaPiero   2623   0   0   1   
39º      Catalonia_Team   2585   0   0   0   
40º      Rekutxuteam   2581   0   2   3   
41º      ProCyclingTeam10   2366   0   0   0   
42º      Periquitos   2036   0   0   0
43º      MarvelProCycling    1462   0   0   0
44º      Senglarsdeflandes   1238   0   0   0   
45º      Manicomicos_Cycling_Team   1160   0   0   0   
46º      HTCHungria   782   0   0   0   
47º      BOS   496   0   0   0   
48º      Paquetazos   223   0   0   0   
49º      Ares   74   0   0   0   
50º      TeamEuroscalt   0   0   0   0

Congratulations to the Melocotons for their win, congratulations to Sportlife for their tremendous 4th place, congratulations to Zatarra and Winter is Coming for staying in the first division and congratulations to Bloemen aan de Mitte for finishing above us.

Individual standings:

1º      Antonello Lorenzetto   27   4012   Marcatone_Due   1   0   2   
2º      Alex Riis    27   4006   Astanadena   1   3   2   
3º      Arno Verbeek   26   3945   TeamRHB   5   3   1   
4º      Anthony Hilton   27   3293   CaptainOrange   0   0   0   
5º      Vladimirs Kreilis   27   2960   Atlantico   0   0   1   
6º      Dimi VanKerckhove   26   2711   °Peachy°Melocotons   2   2   0   
7º      Yannick Pierre   27   2689   CobbleCrushers   1   3   3   
8º      Artis Laksa   27   2614   °Peachy°Melocotons   5   0   1   
9º      Adam Roethlisberger   27   2481   Atlantico   0   0   1   
10º      Hugo Skogstad    27   2449   ValeronIdolo   2   2   1   

All team points:

Julius Maalderink   27   667         673
Garret Rose   27   513         002
Oliver King   27   481         374
Arjen Rutte   27   315         664
Adam Neeskens   27   298         322
Will Miller   27   243         111
Dénes Nemcsik   27   86         001
Tristan Prins   27   80         655
Rafael Szepesi   27   75         982
Valentin Litenko   27   15         020

We have now switched to technique training. Our new Pro Continental Tour level division does not have too many well known names, so we will see if we can build up some new rivalries.

[Vos]

Thanks Combuijs.
Good luck with your team in division 2C, and of course also good luck with training your 10x 21yo's.

[Combuijs]

And we are off in a new season. Easier level, so everything to go for. But not for the cup anymore because we did not show up. Apologies to Flandria who had an easy win. To be fair, I don't know if Oliver King could have beaten Louis Philippe Mottet.

A good start in Australia though:

1st stage in Adelaide: 4. Rafael Szepesi, 30. Dénes Nemcsik



We are on the level where helpers socre points too :-)