The Island of Hainan showed the Jelly Belly Team today how vicious its winds can be, especially when they aren’t helping from behind. Yesterday concluded the fourth stage of the Tour of Hainan. It was 162km which began where the riders left off Friday, in the capital city of Haikou, and traveled to Chengmai.
The crosswinds, said Team Director Danny Van Haute, were really nasty all day. And why are they bad for the riders? Because they force the field to split, and often into more than one large group, or break. It only took about 20km for the first group to break off, which had about 25 riders in it, including three Jelly Belly riders: Kiel Reijnen, Bernard Van Ulden and Stage Three winner Brad Huff. After that, Matty Rice and Nick Reistad joined the second group that broke away from the main peloton.
At the end, the first group gained a 2.30min lead, and the newest team member, Kiel Reijnen, gained some serious time by placing 5th at the end of the day.
“When the race ended there were four groups on the road,” Van Haute said, which just goes to prove the cross-winds theory. Three JB rider were in the first group, one (Reistad) was in the second, and Rice held on in the third.
“I was proud though,” Van Haute added. “It was a good day for the young Jelly Belly rider.”
Molly Saunders
PR Jelly Belly Cycling Team
Thanks for the report Molly! I thought Jelly Belly was through racing for 2008, until I realized they were over in China giving it their best. Team is in 4th place overall, due to the hard work of all the riders. Congrats to Brad for his stage three win and to Matty Rice for bringing Brad home in today’s stage (17 November). I’d hope to see the team next April at Georgia, but that dream is over (no TDG for 2009). Take Care!
John Renz
Crown Point, Indiana (Matty’s Friend & Jelly Belly Fan)