Brad Huff won the Third Stage of the Tour of Hainan, and it was one of best days of the year for the team. Talk about a breakneck speed, the Third Stage of the Tour of Hainan proved to be one of the fastest stages Jelly Belly has completed all season. It began in Wenchang and traveled 148km over flat roads to Hainan’s capital city of Haikou.
Even though the day was filled with cross-winds, the majority of the winds came from behind. It was these tailwinds that helped push the peloton to an average of 30mph for the first hour of the day.
A five man break, which included JB rider Nick Riestad, quickly gained a 30sec lead over the pack, but they were caught after only about 10km. Coming into Haikou, the Team got out front to protect Brad Huff with 5km to go. At 2km, Riestad and Matty Rice were done leading out, so Bernard Van Ulden took over and dropped Huff off with about 600m to the line. A few riders from other teams started to pass by Huff, so he took advantage of their power and got onto their wheels. At 250km, Huff was tired of watching from behind, so he took off and won the stage, blinding fans with his lively JB jersey as he crossed the line.
“I was very pleased with the results,” Van Haute said. “The JB guys look great. They have showed me, once again, that we can race at any level around the world.”
Molly Saunders
PR Jelly Belly Cycling Team
