Danny,

It was another good season working with Team Jelly Belly. You put together a solid group of athletes with good character. The team may not have scored a lot of wins at the races, but I have to say they are the BEST team out there for the sponsors. I watch these guys sign tons of autographs, pose for pictures and generally talk with the fans who come out before and after races. Not once have I heard them complain about it. In Missouri, when the groups of kids came out, they were ready to jump in the middle and interact with all the kids. I hope the sponsors know how great they are.

Thank you for inviting me to be a part of the team this year. Good luck in your next two races. I hope the team brings home some wins.

Barry

The Tour of Missouri ended Sunday in St. Louis. While the Jelly Belly team can’t claim a stage win, they can claim many successful days in the saddle in other ways.

Missouri-native Brad Huff showed up in full force this week after crashing in the last 100 meters of the first stage which finished in Kansas City. Except for a bit of road rash he remained unscathed and ready to conquer Stage Two, which ended in his hometown of Springfield, Mo. There, he came away with a sixth place finish among hundreds of Jelly Belly and Brad Huff fans.
“Huff is really one of the best sprinter’s out there, we just have to protect him so he has room to do what he needs to do,” said Jelly Belly rider Matty Rice.
Huff finally gained a podium finish on Stage Six of the Tour, finishing in third place in St. Charles, Mo. In the final stage in St. Louis Sunday, he added a fifth place finish to his list.
Jelly Belly riders are fortunate enough to have bicycle manufacturer GT on their team, which not only dresses up their bikes with special Jelly Belly beans on the top tube and the seat stays, they even personalize them with each riders’ name decaled on the top tube.
On his own GT bike, Bernard Van Ulden finished just three minutes behind race leader Christian Vande Velde of Garmin-Chipotle in the time trial.
Racers realized Missouri has many hills, and tough ones at that, in Branson’s 17 mile individual time trial Wednesday. Not only did Van Ulden beat his 2007 time by two places, he conquered what many riders deem the “most difficult time trial” they’ve ever raced.

It was on this stage that the Jelly Belly fans came out in full force. As Team Director Danny Van Haute threw out Jelly Belly samples from the team’s official Lexus vehicles, which were decked out in true Jelly Belly fashion, gave fans something to smile at as they cheered on their favorite team at each stage. And because of the great Sport Beans samples and friendly atmosphere surrounding the team cars at the beginning of every stage, Jelly Belly was arguably the most popular team at the Tour.
Aussie Nic Sanderson came away with an eleventh place finish in Stage Five, which ended in Missouri’s capitol Jefferson City. Knowing Sanderson is a good uphill sprinter was what motivated the team to protect him until the end.

In the last stage of the Tour, Jeremy Powers used his cyclocross skills by powering through the rain and wind in St. Louis. Because part of the course was flooded overnight due to remnants of Hurricane Ike, race organizers shortened the 13 mile circuit to 10.5 miles the morning of the race. Although the rain ceased a couple of hours before the start, it began again as the riders took off. The wind also kicked up, blowing in all directions, with gusts up to 30 miles per hour.
“I found a good spot and broke off by myself for a while,” Powers said, explaining his two-man break in the first loop of the stage. “After Kirk O’Bee joined me from Healthnet, we created a significant gap and just took off.”
That significant gap lasted until the final meters of the stage, after they were overtaken by the pack. Powers was still a winner though, as he powered through two of the three Sprint lines in Stage Seven.
At the end of the day, all the riders on the team agreed Missouri held the toughest time trial they had ever completed. But they also said it was one of the most fun races they’ve ever competed in.
“It’s the end of the season, and the weather isn’t always great, but the courses are awesome here,” Van Ulden said. “And it didn’t really matter what the weather was, the fans were always there, and we really appreciate that.

“The fans really make you dig deeper sometimes, and they really make you feel better and forget about the pain for a little bit.”
“I like this race,” said rider Nick Reistad. “It’s got great courses and great fans. I’ll definitely be back next year.”

By:Molly Saunders

Photos: Gary Achterberg

Torrential downpours in St. Louis caused race organizers to shorten Stage Seven Sunday, trimming the previous 70 mile circuit down to 50 miles. But the weather changed just as the race began, and it wasn’t the only thing that turned out to be beautiful.
By the end of the first 10 mile loop, Jelly Belly rider Jeremy Powers found himself in a two-man breakaway, and he wasn’t looking back.
“There was one part of the course that was really narrow, so it pulled everyone back, and as soon as it opened up again, I moved up and really pumped it as hard as I could,” Powers said. “I was up there by myself for a little bit, and then I was joined by Kirk Obee from Healthnet.”
A few riders tried to join the men in the front, but their power proved too much.
“When Kirk joined me we really pushed hard and created a significant gap,” he said. “For the first four laps there wasn’t anyone who could catch us.”
Powers stood up to his name for the last stage of the Tour of Missouri, pulling more than three minutes ahead of the pack for four out of five laps in St. Louis. He won the Sprint line as well, earning the team some extra time in the spotlight and in the eyes of their fans.
At the end of the day, all the riders on the team agreed Missouri was one of the most fun races they’ve ever competed in.
“It’s the end of the season, and the weather isn’t always great, but the courses are awesome,” said Team member Bernard Van Ulden. “And it didn’t really matter what the weather was, the fans were always there, and we really appreciate that.”

Power leads in stage 7

Originally uploaded by jellybellycycling

Powers is in a break with Kirk Obee 1:45. The time is coming down

Curtis Zimmerman
www.missingsaddle.com
Curtisz@missingsaddle.com

The Jelly Belly Team was finally rewarded with a podium finish on Stage Six of the Tour of Missouri, when Missouri-native Brad Huff received third place as he sprinted into St. Charles Saturday afternoon.
Among his fellow winners were Ivan Dominquez (Toyota-United) in second and Mark Cavendish (Columbia) in first.
“There was an early break that Brad was in,” said Kiel Reijnen of Jelly Belly. “He wasn’t able to hang on, though, and for a while he fell back and rode with the pack.”
But there was more than one break, which meant more than one chance to put Jelly Belly riders in the front.
“Another break happened when Columbia started to pull forward and crank it closer to the end,” Reijnen said. “We tried to put Brad back in it and it worked because he placed well in the final sprint.”
The course for Stage Six began in Hermann, Mo., and the mix of winding roads and hilly terrain proved more challenging than previously thought. There were more riders that crashed or dropped out of this race than in any other stage of the Tour so far.
“There were a couple of bad crashes and I got a broken wheel with about 20 kilometers to go,” Reijnen said. “So that put me back a bit, to say the least.”
Tomorrow’s Stage Seven will be 70 miles through a circuit course in St. Louis. Because it will be the flattest stage of all, the team will want to watch the front.
“I know there will be break after break tomorrow,” Reijnen said. “And it’s going to be strung out the whole time, so we will just have to pay attention to the fast teams – Garmin-Chipotle and Columbia – because they’ll want to shake up the pack a little bit.”

By Molly Saunders