Now that Brad Huff stole his second Tour of Hainan stage win today, Jelly Belly can claim more stage wins and more fans. Huff has now claimed two stage wins at this tour alone, stages three and five.
Stage five will be the second longest stage once the Tour is concluded on Thursday. Beginning in Chengmai, cyclists rode more than 170km to the northwestern city of Danzhou. After Stage Four’s violent crosswinds, which added overall time to most of the Jelly Belly team, Stage Five offered twice as many incentives for riders to make up those crucial seconds.
Stage Five had three sprint lines and one category 3 King of the Mountain (KOM) climb, which Team Director Danny Van Haute said was the big problem for the guys during that stage.
“Our mechanic, Niel Lacey, was busy today with two flats – Kiel Reijnen and Matty Rice,” Van Haute said. “Both riders rode very hard to join the field after their wheels were changed. They wanted to be up there to help the others lead out for Brad. And, once again, the JB boys went to the front with 3km to go and led Brad out for the win.”
Overall, the team, its sponsors and, especially, its fans should be proud of the performance thus far at the 2008 Tour of Hainan. Not only has the team proven it’s here to stay, it has shown the cycling world it is a force to be reckoned with.
Stage Six looks to shake things up a bit with 135km of mountainous terrain. It will offer cyclists three KOM opportunities, as well as two sprint lines.
Molly Saunders
PR Jelly Belly Cycling Team
