The Combuijs Capers

[Combuijs]

Eschborn-Frankfurt: 12. Friso Vonk

Giro:
1st stage: 1. Adam Neeskens, 4. Arjen Rutte, 29. Oliver King
2nd stage: 12. Arjen Rutte, 26. Oliver King
3rd stage: 19. Arjen Rutte, 22. Adam Neeskens
4th stage: 7. Oliver King, 29. Bert Kerkhof
5th stage: 8. Oliver King, 13. Tristan Prins, 15. Adam Neeskens
6th stage: 27. Arjen Rutte, 28. Adam Neeskens
8th stage: 2. Oliver King, 29. Tristan Prins
9th stage: 19. Adam Neeskens, 21. Tristan Prins
10th stage to Zoldo Alto: 1. Oliver King



Our main goal was stages, so happy with two wins and a podium place. On the Continental Pro Tour you can also have the GC as a secondary goal. Oliver finished 4th, 11 seconds off the podium and more than 2 minutes behind glorious winner Alvaro Vaca (Kelme 4 ever).

So a good Giro, which leads to:

1º      Kelme4ever   14310   9   11   7   
2º      Periquitos   11213   8   3   7
3º      Combuijs   10151   5   4   8   
4º      GMV_Cycling   9962   4   5   6   
5º      ZG   8923   5   4   1   
6º      Barrioska   8072   0   0   2   

We have been continuously swapping places with GMV Cycling, so I hope that is over now. The good news is Rajen Kujen did not well in the Giro, so we are more than 2000 points in front of place 6. World Tour, here we come...

[Combuijs]

Dauphine Liberé:
1st stage: 16. Tristan Prins, 27. Oliver King
2nd stage: 6. Julius Maalderink, 15. Arjen Rutte
3rd stage: 19. Oliver King, 22. Tristan Prins
4th stage: 1. Oliver King, 22. Tristan Prins
5th stage to Valmorel: 1. Oliver King, 21. Tristan Prins



Our main goal was the GC, and we had Oliver King as a winner, Tristan Prins on place 10 and even Hidde Daelman on place 15. On the Continental Pro Tour you can also have stages as a secondary goal, but the two stage wins really came as a surprise.

Division standings after the Dauphine:

1º      Kelme4ever   14987   9   11   8   
2º      Periquitos   12082   8   3   8
3º      Combuijs   11429   7   4   8   
4º      GMV_Cycling   10474   6   5   6   
5º      ZG   9786   5   7   1   
6º      Barrioska   8702   0   0   2   

We have opened up a gap between us and GMV Cycling, which allows us to look above for second place.

In the meantime we have contracted Mondesir Zutter from Quick Step Bronx to help keeping us on the World Tour next season...

[Combuijs]

Tour de Suisse:
2nd stage: 1. Adam Neeskens, 6. Garret Rose, 29. Gary Fredickson
3rd stage: 1. Yvo van Straalen, 25. Gary Fredickson
4th stage: 10. Adam Neeskens, 19. Yvo van Straalen, 20. Garret Rose
5th stage to Grimselpass: 2. Yvo van Straalen, 27. Gary Fredickson



There were three main goals, always a danger as you can get none of them. But everything turned out very well, Adam and Yvo getting sponsor deals in stage 2 and 3 and Yvo winning the GC as well, with a 1:39 lead on Periquitos German Martinez. Gary finished 13th in the GC. Sponsors Renault and Agura happy, Yvo happy and we happy...


Division standings after Switzerland:

1º      Kelme4ever   15980   10   11   9   
2º      Periquitos   12916   9   3   8
3º      Combuijs   12710   9   5   8   
4º      GMV_Cycling   10793   6   6   6   
5º      ZG   10424   5   8   1   
6º      Barrioska   9491   0   0   2   

We are closing in on Periquitos, let's see if we can get second place.

[Combuijs]

Tour de France:
1st stage: 5. Yvo van Straalen
2nd stage: 1. Garret Rose, 11. Yvo van Straalen, 14. Gary Fredickson, 29. Oliver King
3rd stage: 3. Yvo van Straalen, 29. Oliver King
4th stage: 4. Yvo van Straalen
5th stage: 3. Yvo van Straalen, 11. Garret Rose, 22. Gary Fredickson, 30. Guido Keizer, 31. Oliver King
7th stage: 3. Yvo van Straalen, 12. Oliver King
9th stage: 5. Yvo van Straalen, 24. Oliver King
10th stage to Soulan (Pla-d'Adet): 5. Yvo van Straalen

Strange 5th stage, the hill sprint to Rodez. We have a non-hill sprint team and we have 5 riders within the first 31. Huge differences as well with a slight wind. What was going on here?



In the GC we had Yvo van Straalen in yellow after two stages and he could add 8 other yellow jerseys after that. Yvo's first win in a grand Tour! Oliver King finished on 15th place. With the result in stages we had a terrific Tour which is reflected in the

Division standings:

1º      Kelme4ever   18031   10   14   9   
2º      Combuijs   15413   10   5   10   
3º      Periquitos   14369   9   3   8
4º      ZG   12866   9   9   1   
5º      RajenKujen   11537   6   6   5   
6º      GMV_Cycling   11463   6   6   6   

Kelme4ever is far away, but second place should be possible. GMV Cycling has lost a promotion place, so this will get very close for them.

[Combuijs]

Combuijs Honey Ale Tour:
1st stage: 5. Mondesir Zutter, 8. Julius Maalderink, 15. Garret Rose, 16. Arjen Rutte, 30. Adam Neeskens
2nd stage: 3. Julius Maalderink, 14. Arjen Rutte, 15. Adam Neeskens
3rd stage: 3. Julius Maalderink, 16. Mondesir Zutter, 24. Arjen Rutte, 29. Garret Rose
5th stage to Sittard-Geleen: 6. Julius Maalderink, 12. Adam Neeskens, 20. Garret Rose, 22. Arjen Rutte



In the GC Julius Maalderink finished 2nd 1 second after Ahti Kirsipuu (Kelme4ever). If only we had filled in roles in the first stage... Arjen Rutte 7th, Garret Rose 10th, Adam Neeskens 15th, so Mondesir Zutter had to pay for the drinking party after the last race...

Division standings after the Combuijs Honey Ale Tour:

1º      Kelme4ever   20305   12   16   9   
2º      Combuijs   17565   11   5   12   
3º      Periquitos   15176   9   3   8
4º      ZG   13935   9   10   1   
5º      RajenKujen   12045   6   6   5   
6º      GMV_Cycling   11996   6   8   6   

The battle for podium places is far less interesting than the battle for the last promotion place...

Meanwhile we have switched our training to stamina, to the disappointment of the fitness haters...

[Combuijs]

Vuelta:
1st stage: 8. Julius Maalderink, 26. Yvo van Straalen
2nd stage: 1. Mondesir Zutter, 7. Julius Maalderink, 27. Friso Vonk
3rd stage: 2. Julius Maalderink, 20. Friso Vonk, 29. Yvo van Straalen
4th stage: 4. Yvo van Straalen, 27. Friso Vonk, 29. Jeroen Vonk
5th stage: 5. Yvo van Straalen, 16. Friso Vonk
6th stage: 8. Yvo van Straalen
7th stage: 1. Yvo van Straalen, 25. Friso Vonk
8th stage: 8. Yvo van Straalen
9th stage: 5. Julius Maalderink, 23. Yvo van Straalen, 28. Friso Vonk
10th stage to Monte Aloia: 11. Julius Maalderink, 22. Jeroen Vonk



In the GC Yvo finishes 3rd on 2 minutes from winner Domingo Soto (Barrioska). A bit disappointing, but then he had no training camp. Friso Vonk finished 14th. In the individual rankings of the season Yvo is now first and I don't think he will be passed in the last races.

Division standings after the Vuelta:

1º      Kelme4ever   22197   12   16   10   
2º      Combuijs   20215   13   6   12   
3º      Periquitos   16486   10   4   8
4º      ZG   16374   10   10   1   
5º      Barrioska   14219   1   2   4   
6º      GMV_Cycling   13840   7   9   6   

Second place is unavoidable...

For next season we have secured the services of young talent Hallvard Thorkildsen who together with Mondesir Zutter should be able to gain some much needed points next season. Some pundits thought the price for him was too high:


Meanwhile we have sold Colin Cann to Pro Continental Tour Team Sea. I hope he can swim... We are still looking for a challenging place for Leroy van der Borre (https://www.cyclingforfun.org/cff/vision.php?ciclistaid=68373) next season...

[Combuijs]

Giro di Lombardia: 3. Tristan Prins, 26. Oliver King

World Championships Road Race in Lisbon: 16. Tristan Prins



Final division standings:

1º      Kelme4ever   23477   12   16   10   
2º      Combuijs   20805   13   6   13   
3º      ZG   17729   10   10   2   
4º      Periquitos   17571   10   4   8
5º      GMV_Cycling   16900   8   10   7   
6º      Barrioska   16149   2   2   4   
7º      RajenKujen   14913   8   7   7   
8º      Moteam   13592   2   2   4   
9º      TeamSerfin   11779   1   5   3   
10º      Van_pintxaos   10513   3   4   4   
11º      TeaMetal   9341   4   5   5   
12º      Fliegende_Flyers   8505   3   2   5   
13º      beerkes   7496   1   4   2   
14º      BetisCFF   7043   0   3   4   
15º      Lugnanese   6181   1   1   2   
16º      catapunchimpon   5337   0   1   1   
17º      skippy   5209   1   0   2   
18º      ChessPower   4958   4   5   3
19º      Estoparia   4663   0   0   0
20º      ICSluj   3595   0   0   2
21º      VILLESVENSKAS   3580   0   0   0
22º      Animatoca   3486   0   0   0   
23º      MarquinaTeam   3465   0   0   1   
24º      Gernika    2519   2   0   1
25º      TarracoCycling   2281   0   1   0   
26º      Frenkie   2095   0   1   0   
27º      LanihuliCycling   2032   0   0   0   
28º      Galletto   2018   0   1   0   
29º      PucelaBike   1973   0   0   0   
30º      Paquetazos   1566   1   0   0   
31º      Shiro_Lions   1205   1   1   0   
32º      Agua_Verde   838   0   0   0   
33º      cicciano   825   0   0   0   
34º      ItaliaCycling   816   4   0   0   
35º      Barakaldo   445   0   0   0   
36º      Que_Maz_da   279   0   0   0   
37º      gandarias   268   0   0   0   
38º      Alla01   251   0   0   1   
39º      FaustoScoppi   196   0   0   0   
40º      TeamEuroscalt   148   0   0   0
41º      Trivilla   145   0   0   0   
42º      Teamsomio   60   0   0   0   
43º      Gonorreas   35   0   0   0   
44º      MaxPappis   23   0   0   0   
45º      Espérance   0   0   0   0   
46º      Porteños   0   0   0   0   
47º      La_Vie_Claire   0   0   0   0
48º      SedaÉvoraClub    0   0   0   0   
49º      SAGASAI   0   0   0   0   
50º      Sidarbotti   0   0   0   0   

Happy with second place and good to see GMV Cycling made promotion with some very good last races.

The individual rankings:

1º      Yvo VanStraalen   24   5396   Combuijs   2   1   4   
2º      Alvaro Vaca   31   5079   Kelme4ever   3   2   1   
3º      Kieran Williams   31   4349   Moteam   0   0   2   
4º      Domingo Soto   25   3470   Barrioska   2   1   2   
5º      Allan Frøyland   30   3129   Periquitos   1   0   1   
6º      Oliver Stormo   30   3117   Fliegende_Flyers   3   2   2   
7º      Adam Neeskens   31   2920   Combuijs   5   0   1   
8º      Imants Riherts   28   2859   GMV_Cycling   5   2   1   
9º      Péter Sudár   31   2850   TeamSerfin   0   1   0   
10º      Oliver King   31   2823   Combuijs   3   2   1   
16º      Julius Maalderink   31   2500   Combuijs   0   1   2   
38º      Garret Rose   31   1582   Combuijs   1   0   2   
40º      Gary Fredickson   24   1507   Combuijs   0   1   1   
41º      Tristan Prins   31   1501   Combuijs   1   0   1   

Yvo van Straalen winning the individual rankings was a side goal, but nice to have managed that. Three riders with the first 10 was unexpected.

Other Combuijs riders:

Arjen Rutte   31   1353         778
Friso Vonk   24   651         000
Mondesir Zutter   29   370         241
Jeroen Vonk   24   101         000
Hidde Daelman   24   60         000
Bert Kerkhof   24   15         000
John Paxson   24   13         000
Guido Keizer   24   13         000

We have sold Leroy van der Borre to in a short time Pro Continental Tour team Aretabeti. We hope he will get a fair chance there to show his skills.

And so we can start another season on the World Tour level. The one and only goal? Stay in!

[Combuijs]

Season 14 has started and we have managed to keep a clean sheet in the Tour Duwn Under. So the season can now really start with the E3. Let's see if our experienced riders are not too old for points!

Division standings after the Tour Down Under:

1º      CaptainOrange   635   0   0   1   
2º      SPORTLIFE   603   0   2   1   
3º      Cabrasverdes   567   0   0   0
4º      Valderend   544   1   0   0   
5º      OphiukoCT   523   0   0   0   
6º      Aurora_Australis   426   1   1   0   

49º      SentinelChickens   0   0   0   0   
50º      Combuijs   0   0   0   0   

Let's say the gap between place 49 and 50 is not too big...

We have bought time trialler Danny Power from cup-rival Moderdonia, which more or less ensures a defeat in the Cup, and hiller Amable Puerto from Liberty Sansaloni. Hopefully they will be able to score some points.


We have completely overhauled our personnel, which gave us comments about our harsh treatment of them.


The new team is dr. Hinrich Bühler (director) who still has to learn about the grand tours, Ritvars Kurpnieks (masseur) and Victors Kazaks (doctor), who at least speak the same Lettish language, Jort Dobbelman (mechanic) whose tuning will double up the points, and Carlos Javier Palomar (marketing manager) who should be able to get the stores going.

[Pabler]

We have bought time trialler Danny Power from cup-rival Moderdonia, which more or less ensures a defeat in the Cup

I don't buy another TT, so if this sold is a tactic you can buy a better TT to win CFF round without surprise me, but I think you have seen my precious race in CFF cup.
Good luck

[Combuijs]

Omloop het Nieuwsblad: 23. Garret Rose
Strade Bianchi: 7. Garret Rose, 27. Arjen Rutte, 29. Julius Maalderink

Our oldies are doing well, especially in the Strade Bianchi, which is traditionally a very good race for us.

Paris-Nice:
3rd stage: 4. Harvard Thorkildsen, 12. Mondesir Zutter
4th stage: 16. Yvo van Straalen
5th stage to Nice: 16. Yvo van Straalen

First race for our new cobble pair and they just missed out on the podium, which was again a very good result.



To top it off, in the GC Yvo did very well, he finished 3rd, albeit with a 1:34 gap to winner Marceliano Ibarrola (Sportlife). Very happy with that result though!

Division standings after Paris-Nice:

1º      CaptainOrange   1744   0   0   1   
2º      SPORTLIFE   1663   0   2   2   
3º      Zatarra   1403   1   0   1   

8º      Rekutxuteam   1182   1   2   1   
9º      Valderend   1159   1   0   1   
10º      TeamRHB   1134   0   2   0   
11º      CobbleCrushers   1115   1   1   0   

13º      Aurora_Australis   877   1   2   1   
14º      Combuijs   871   0   0   0   
15º      RemcoEvenpoelckx   868   2   1   0   

And all those inspiring results bring us to place 14, so there is a light hope we might stay on the World Tour. And Zatarra on place 3? It's a mad, mad, mad world...

[Combuijs]

Tirreno Adriatico:
1st stage: 8. Yvo van Straalen
2nd stage: 21. Yvo van Straalen
3rd stage: 7. Amable Puerto
5th stage: 17. Danny Power

In the GC we find Yvo back on place 8 on 1:30 after winner Lazare Pires (Français de Jeux).

Happy with points in the hills race and the time trial and happy with the GC.

Milan - San Remo: 21. Julius Maalderink

For the first time in ages we score points in this classic and that's a surprise as Julius never did any good in it on the World Tour level.

E3 Harelbeke: 12. Adam Neeskens



The steady flow of points helps in the division standings after the E3:

1º      CaptainOrange   2765   0   0   2   
2º      TeamRHB   2199   1   2   0   
3º      SPORTLIFE   2174   0   2   2   
4º      Zatarra   2170   2   0   1   
5º      Cabrasverdes   2120   0   2   0   
6º      Valderend   2054   3   0   1   

11º      FaltososDeChigre   1527   1   0   0   
12º      Combuijs   1452   0   0   0   
13º      Mlb   1397   0   1   0   

We are doing very fine at the moment, let's hope we can keep up in the rest of the season.

To help that we have ensured the services of Brooklyn Marbley from Continental Tour Teamsomio, who can now ride on the highest level possible. He is the ideal helper for Yvo van Straalen and he will ride the Tour de France for us. The transfer was made possible by selling talent Luuk Hoekstra to Winter is Coming.

[Zatarra]

Great to have you back at WT level, Combuijs. It seems to have motivated my riders even more as well .

What will Yvo's programme be?

[Combuijs]

Volta Catalunya:
1st stage: 3. Mondesir Zutter
3rd stage: 28. Garret Rose
5th stage: 23. Mondesir Zutter

First podium place for Mondesir which was a surprise result. In the other 4 stages we scored some points while we went for the GC of Gary Fredickson. He did what he could and finished 12th, thereby confirming his place in the team.

Gent - Wevelgem: 10. Adam Neeskens, 24. Julius Maalderink

Dwars door Vlaanderen: 12. Adam Neeskens

Good results in the first two Flemish classics, but in the major one Adam had a day off...



Division standings after the Ronde van Vlaanderen:

1º      CaptainOrange   4293   0   1   2   
2º      BlackHole   3457   0   1   4   
3º      Cabrasverdes   3071   0   2   1   
4º      SPORTLIFE   3071   1   2   2   
5º      TeamRHB   3011   1   2   0   
6º      Zatarra   2810   2   0   1   
7º      Valderend   2766   3   2   1   

14º      Luka_Warriors   2186   0   0   1   
15º      Combuijs   2100   0   0   1   
16º      RemcoEvenpoelckx   1884   3   1   1   

There is indeed a black hole after Captain Orange in the standings... Losing a little bit of terrain on the top 10, but hey, we are happy if we stay on the World Tour.

We have sold Taco van der Poel to World Tour Team Aspigarri who then fired him. Strangeways here we come...
   
At the moment the plan is for Yvo to ride the Giro, the Dauphine Libere and the Vuelta, while we leave the Tour to Brooklyn. We can't disappoint Marquina Team, the only team in the season 14 winner's guess competition who has nominated a Combuijs Honey Ale rider, can we...

[Combuijs]

Itzulia:
3rd stage: 16. Friso Vonk
4th stage: 23. Friso Vonk

Friso Vonk did not do bad at all, but 23rd in the GC is just below expectations. Next time he will have to help Yvo van Straalen again.

Parijs-Roubaix: 10. Hallvard Thorkildsen, 22. Mondesir Zutter, 27. Julius Maalderink

Combuijs Honey Ale Race: 19. Amable Puerto
Waalse Pijl: 9. Amable Puerto

We finally scored some points in the Wallonian classics, thanks to our indeed amable Puerto. He was surprised in Bastenaken though.

Tour de Romandie:
1st stage around Fribourg: 3. Hallvard Thorkildsen, 19. Mondesir Zutter

After an earlier 4th place, we find Hallvard on the podium. Not bad for a 24 year old.



Division standings after the first stage of the Tour de Romandie:

1º      CaptainOrange   5992   0   1   4   
2º      TeamRHB   5013   2   4   0   
3º      SPORTLIFE   4843   2   3   3   
4º      Valderend   4237   3   2   1   
5º      BlackHole   3888   0   1   4   

15º      Quickstepbronx   3021   3   2   2   
16º      Zatarra   3014   2   0   1   
17º      Combuijs   2827   0   0   2   
18º      Luka_Warriors   2563   0   1   1   

Losing some positions, but hey, look who's riding just before us: Zatarra! We have a goal again...

[Combuijs]

Tour de Romandie:
2nd stage: 22. Brooklyn Marbley
5th stage: 30. Brooklyn Marbley

In the GC Brooklyn finished 14th on 2:25 from winner Adam Roethlisberger (Valderend). A bit disappointing tour by Brooklyn, but tactical instruction were probably not optimal.

Eschborn - Frankfurt: 18. Friso Vonk

Not a bad result that.



Division standings after Eschborn - Frankfurt:

1º      CaptainOrange   6695   0   1   4   
2º      TeamRHB   6102   2   5   0   
3º      SPORTLIFE   5612   4   3   3   
4º      Valderend   5326   3   2   1   
5º      FaltososDeChigre   4027   3   0   1   

15º      Quickstepbronx   3074   3   2   2   
16º      Zatarra   3036   2   0   1   
17º      Combuijs 3017   0   0   2   
18º      Luka_Warriors   2944   0   2   2   

Still slowly going downwards, but we trust we will stay on the World Tour.

After some tactical disappointments we have changed tour director. We think Javier Centeno is the best person to guide Yvo van Straalen through the grand tours.