Team Redlands Professional Cycling

Jelly Belly Candy Company has renewed its commitment to its pro-cycling team through 2015, securing its legacy as the current longest-running title sponsorship in professional cycling in the world. As Jelly Belly Cycling Team gears up for season fifteen, it welcomes new presenting sponsor Maxxis, along with its two returning national champions, and several new sponsors and riders.

The team is also pleased to welcome new clothing sponsor Fast Freddie Apparel who will also be named as licensee for Jelly Belly branded cycling apparel. New equipment sponsors include Bicycle sponsor Argon 18, saddle sponsor ISM, crank sponsor Rotor, and TRP brakes. WD-40 Bike will provide Bike lubes, cleaners, and protectants. Chamois Butt’r returns with chamois creams, embrocations, and skin cleaners. Returning long-time sponsors include Rudy Project helmets and eyewear, Inno Advanced Car Racks, CatEye bicycle electronics, 3T wheel stems, Speedplay pedals, Arundel water bottle cages, Gatorade, Ironclad gloves and Kurt Kinetic trainers.

Key riders set to return from the winning 2013 squad include Fred Rodriguez, the reigning four-time U.S. National Road Cycling Champion who has signed a two year contract, and two-time Mexican National Champion Luis Lemus. Joining them will be Serghei Tvetcov, whose breakout 2013 season included multiple podium appearances at Cascade, Nature Valley, and Tour of Alberta. Nature Valley stage winner Sean Mazich, Nic Hamilton (of the Canadian National Team) and time-trial specialist Ian Burnett return as well.

Team director Danny Van Haute has brought on some new, young talent to support his veterans and round out the squad: former U23 National Road Race Champion Kirk Carlsen signs on after last year’s overall win at the Sea Otter Classic. Jacob Rathe, all-around talent who rode for Jelly Belly as a neo-pro in 2010, returns after three years riding as a domestique for Garmin. Neo pros include time trial specialist Devon Dunn, climber Johnathan Freter, and sprinter Steve Fisher who won the 2013 Tour de Delta.

The ambitious 2014 race program will include numerous NRC events in addition to races in Asia. The team hopes to draw invitations from the major North American races, including the Amgen Tour of California, the U.S. Pro Cycling Challenge and the Tour of Alberta.

“For 2014, Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis presents the complete package. We have a tremendous lineup of riders who are eager to excel as a team and get results, and we are welcoming aboard new sponsors who want to align themselves with a program that will deliver results on and off the bike,” said Van Haute.

Fans of the team lined the course at the Japan Cup.

The Jelly Belly p/b Kenda cycling team traveled to Japan for its final race of the season, the UCI-sanctioned Japan Cup on Oct. 19-20.

The first day, Jelly Belly p/b Kenda riders joined some of the best professionals in Japan for a one-hour criterium.  The plan was to sit in the field and watch the race unfold. Banking on a field sprint, the team led out Brad Huff, who raced to a fourth-place finish.

On Day 2, the riders set out for a 150-k road race in the rain. They aimed to put either Luis Lemus or Sean Mazich in the breakaway, while the rest of the squad waited until the final 3-k hill to the finish. Lemus, who did make the break, emerged from the stage with the KOM jersey, and Serghei Tvetcov placed 16th.

This is the bumper of the team car. A few things got lost in translation.

With 100,000 Japan fans watching the race, which was broadcast live, the Jelly Belly p/b Kenda team put on a great show. Special thanks go out to Jelly Belly Japan, Cateye and Inno Racks, who came out to the race to support the team.
“This was a great end to a solid season for Jelly Belly p/b Kenda. I’m proud of our riders and sponsors who made the years a success,” said team director Danny Van Haute.

These fans even knew Danny’s nickname!

Worlds, that’s what it is all about. It’s the very best from all over the world getting together to do what we love most — ride our bikes.

This year’s race was in the Italian region of Tuscany. This was my first time at the road championships, and I couldn’t think of a better place for the experience. As a city, Florence, is simply gorgeous!  And food? Well, for a pizza lover and cappuccino drinker, Italy is just paradise. The ‘tifosis’ — fans in Italian — are so into the sport and also very friendly.

Representing your country is another special feature of the world championships. It’s an honor to stand at the start line knowing that a whole nation is cheering for you, and because of that it’s also a big responsibility.

I flew into Florence 10 days before the race, plenty of time to get used to the time zone, check out the course and get ready for the big day. I needed to do some training before the race, and that meant discovering some amazing places. There was not a single day I didn’t get lost when riding either on country roads or in town, but I like to think of it as a way to get to know a place better. I also came to know the people better, asking for directions so often. Luckily for me, Spanish and Italian are not so different. Italians were always very kind and helpful. They were excited about the race and often asked for my name and even a picture.

As for the race, the moment I crossed the finish line after more than four hours of racing, I had a huge smile on my face. I was exhausted, but I knew I had done my best. It was a great learning experience, and I can’t wait to put that knowledge together and come back next year.

Thank you all,

— Luis Lemus

This was the biggest race I have done. In the weeks leading into the race, all I was thinking about was training and being ready for racing 900km in 6 days. Then they announced that the likes of Cadel Evans, Peter Sagan, Ryder, etc were all going to be there. I started getting pretty nervous but I had done everything that I could do to get ready.

The team arrived the Friday before the start of the race, we were all happy to see each other and catch up. On Sunday we got shown around Edmonton by the local club, stopped for some coffee, and went and rode the prologue course. It was nice to ride with the guys, get the inside scoop on the area and the best coffee shops.

Monday was the busiest day of the trip so far. We rode the prologue course one last time, got in some opening efforts and prepared our bikes. That evening we headed to the Team Presentation where over 300 people were enjoying a nice dinner. When Jelly Belly was announced the cheers were great. Then Brad Huff, part sprinter and part cheer squad, got the crowd ignited when he told them that we all had Jelly Belly Beans to hand out, but only the loudest area of the room was going to get them. When we walked out of the room after handing out the beans, we knew the other teams were jealous of the welcome we’d received.

Nic Hamilton poses with a fan.

Tuesday, Sept. 3rd was the start of the Inaugural Tour of Alberta. A screaming fast 7.4km course in downtown Edmonton. The streets were packed with fans, yelling for their favorite riders. Our team had a rider start every 15-20 min. I gave it my all and finished 39th on the day. Brad Huff used his old man expertise to finish 22nd on the stage, only 30 seconds off the winner. We had set the bar for the week to come.

Stage 1 was a 98 mile jaunt from Strathcona County to Camrose. Our plan was to get a rider in the break, and then set up the stage for Freddie and Brad. The attacks went from mile 0 and didn’t stop until almost an hour into the race when Jeremy Powers got up the road with 3 other riders. Then Cannondale rode the front and kept the gap around 2 minutes for the rest of the day. With about 20 miles to go, Freddie crashed pretty hard on a corner and had to get a new bike. Emerson and I waited in the cars for Freddie and then we paced him back to the group. In the closing circuits, Jeremy and crew had a little under a minute gap and the pace was picking up fast. Jeremy got caught with under 2 miles to go and Sean took a massive pull to get Freddie into position. In the end Freddie got boxed in and finished 20th. However Jeremy took the most aggressive rider jersey on the day!

Stage 2 was the longest stage of the Tour at 109 miles from Devon to Red Deer. The stage started off very fast with many attacks from everyone and all the Jelly Belly Boys. Nothing was sticking and the race covered the first 64 miles in 2 hours. Nearly right at the 2 hour mark, Serghei Tvetcov and a rider from BMC rode away from the field and the gap immediately grew to over 5 minutes. When we hit the finishing circuits, Serghei and his breakaway companion had a 1:20 gap. The pace in the field picked up, but no luck. Serghei took a very close 2nd place and also took home the Most Aggressive Rider jersey for the Bean team second day in a row!

Serghei Tvetcov is awarded the Most Aggressive Rider jersey after Stage Two.

When we woke up for the 105 mile stage 3 from Strathmore to Drumheller, it was raining and windy. Luckily it was a 2 hour drive to the race and by the time we got there the sun was out but the winds were howling. We all knew it was going to be a very decisive day and that positioning was going to be key. Not more than 10 miles into the race, we took a right hand turn and the crosswinds started. The race become shattered into 3 groups of riders, with Brad, and Freddie making the front group. After another 20 or so mile, the groups all started to come back together and a hard attack from some Pro-Tour teams came and started the winning move. With about 60 miles to go, the peloton was back together and the breakaway of 17 riders were gone. The field was content with letting them go and we all rolled in safe and sound. A very different ending to a chaotic start.

Stage 4 was the 105 mile Black Diamond Loop and on paper it was the hardest day of racing with the most climbing of the tour. It was also very chilly and raining, this made for a epic day of racing. The stage started very fast and the breakaway selection was made very soon. Nic Hamiliton ( my roommate for the week) made the break and that was the last we saw of him. He ended the stage finishing 7th place on the day. The rest of the team rolled in with the field after staying as warm and as safe as we could.

Freddie Rodriguez does an interview.

The last and final day was the shortest at just 80 miles, but with a very technical finish the Calgary (Fun fact: Nic’s hometown!) we knew it was not going to be an easy day. The breakaway took about an hour to go, but once it went Nic Hamiliton had made the selection. With the break never gaining more than 1:30, we all knew it was going to come to a field sprint. Going into the last 10 miles we made sure the team was together and ready to keep Freddie and Brad safe for the sprint. I got shuffled into the back of the field once things started to get very chaotic, but Brad and Freddie stayed up in the mix. Brad finished 6th on the stage.

With that the week was done. I learned a lot, and we had a very successful tour with one podium finish, three top 10’s and two days in the most aggressive rider jersey.

— Ben

The Jelly Belly cycling team presented by Kenda recently completed the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado, coming away with strong results at one of the best races in the world.

Jelly Belly p/b Cycling fans greeted the riders coming off the team bus.

In the first four days of the seven-day race, Jelly Belly p/b Kenda had a rider in the breakaway — Ian Burnett, followed by Luis Lemus and then two breaks with Serghei Tvetcov.

Freddie Rodriquez broke the top 11 twice in the race seen by an audience of 1.5 million fans.

“I’m very happy with our results. The riders stood on their heads for the results we had,” said team director Danny Van Haute. “We will come back with a strong team in 2014.”

Mr. Jelly Belly made an appearance!

Ben Wolfe sent this report after the Tour of Elk Grove:

Stage 1: Stage One of the Tour of Elk Grove was a 7.2k prologue in the shape of a T. It had three U-turns on the course which meant that if you didn’t corner properly you could lose some very valuable time. Being a prologue on such a short course, riders were sent off in 1:30 gaps, so the Bean Team’s early riders went off at 6 p.m. and the last riders didn’t go off until nearly 7:30 p.m. We all put in good times landing four out of six riders in the top-30 and the Canadian speedster Nic Hamilton finished 5th and B-Rad Huff used his track pursuit expertise to finish 10th.  Sean Mazich was aiming for a great time until a spectator walked onto the course right in front of him as he was barreling down at 30+ mph. Luckily Sean played football in his youth…(We’ll leave it at that).

Stage 2: Stage Two felt as crazy as it looked on paper. The 25 turns per lap, 10 laps and almost 100 miles meant positioning and corning were going to be key. Our team plan was to cover moves and then get Brad and Nic to the last kilometer and then let them “grip it and rip it,” as Nic would say. The race was pretty consistently “on” and attacks were going fast.  However, there were several teams riding for a sprint finish so every move would eventually be brought back. In the last 8km, Sean and I rolled with a group of about 10 riders that had a 15-second gap. A few guys were really driving it to try to make it to the finish while the rest were sitting on hoping to get caught. With about 6k to go, Nic followed a few riders across the gap to make the group 15 riders strong. With three out of six Bean Team riders in the move if it were to stick we had the numbers to finish it off, and if it got caught we were ready to line it up for Brad. At 4k to go the move got caught and it started to get crazy. Everybody was trying to get to the front, every team was battling. I got pushed out and never saw the front again while Brad, Jeremy, Sean, Christiaan and Nic were holding their own. Going into the last kilometer Brad was in the mix and finished 9th on the day! A great effort from the team, but we knew we had to work on some things for the final stage.

Stage3: Stage Three was shorter and had a few less turns in it. We had refined our plan from the previous day and knew exactly what we had to do to get Brad to the line. After a few early moves, Jeremy rolled with a group of about 10 riders that the rest of the field was happy with and the gap quickly grew to 2+ minutes. With about 60km to go, the heavy-hitting teams started chasing to bring it back for a sprint finish. We happily sat there and saved as much energy for the final lap to get Brad into position to do what he does best. With two laps to go the bulk of the break was back in the field with two riders still 30 seconds up the road. We got together and started talking about how we were going to execute our plan based on how everybody was feeling. We knew we had to be the second team going into 5km to go. My job was to do the first big pull to bring the team, and then Jeremy would take over. I fought hard and with 4k to go the team was together and we were moving up. This being my first big-league race, I was nervous and did not like how dicey it gets with all the mayhem of teams trying to be up at the front. Luckily, I had Jeremy behind me telling me exactly what to do and reminding me to take deep breaths (Thanks again, Jeremy!). I brought the team through the first of the final three turns level with the UHC team at the front and then I was cooked. I pulled off and Jeremy took over, then Nic, Sean, Chris and Brad. I could see the last kilometer from where I was riding and Brad was in awesome position, the team had really worked together and done our job. Brad finished it off, taking third place in a very close sprint!

I couldn’t be happier with the way we all came together as a team on the last day to pull off the result. Good luck to all the Bean Team riders shredding their way through Utah this week!

Until next time,

Ben

This past weekend, most of the American contingent on the Bean Team made our way to High Point, NC, for the USPRO Crit Nationals. We had me, Brad Huff, Jeremy “J-Pow” Powers, Fast Freddie, Sean Mazich, Shaggy (Alex) Hagman and Emerson Oronte.

Ben Wolfe (USA)

The plan leading into the race was to bring Brad, Freddie and Sean to the closing laps as fresh as possible. Alex, Emerson, Jeremy and I were riding to represent in the moves and keep it together so the A-sprint team could do what they do best.

The race started with attacks from the other teams as we covered and made sure we rolled with everything. About seven laps in, a fairly large group of six guys rolled during a lull in the race and Sean was on point and able to get in the move. The rest of the field, including us, seemed content to let that work. Within two laps the gap was up to 30 seconds. Attacks from the now non-content field started coming in fast and often. The rest of the Bean Team was there to cover everything and within five laps the main of the breakaway group was back with one rider staying off the front.

With over an hour of racing left, we were confident that a single rider could not hold off the entire field of top American racers. During the next 30 minutes of racing, the gap grew to one minute and the field had some attacks, but nothing big.

Then with 12 laps of racing to go, the teams started to line up to bring back the solo rider and set up their sprint aces. We lined up second behind the United HealthCare team. This is always the part of the races that get crazy, hectic, fast and every other adjective between. Our plan was to come over the top of the field with five laps to go and be able to set up our sprinters. When the time arrived, Jeremy, Alex and I led the charge to come around the UHC team and take over the front. We picked the backside of the course on the little rise to lay down the power and take over. Success!

We got over the top and only momentarily paused for the rest of the guys to get up to us and then we started laying down the horsepower. We held control until three laps to go when heading into the first corner on the course, UHC came underneath me and I got pushed wide and had to hit my brakes so that I wouldn’t go into the barriers. We had lost our spot on the front but that was okay as long as we kept Freddie, Huff and Sean close to the front so that they could surf the other trains to stay in position.

With two laps to go, I pulled off to watch the finish as my job was done. Going in to the last lap Brad was perfectly positioned, but around the last two corners the (eventual winners) Optum-KBS shot the fast line on the corner and got the gap. Brad used his experience and sprint skill to get back up and put out a great sprint to finish, just off the podium in fifth place. We rode as a team and I enjoyed every second of this race.

Next up is the Tour of Elk Grove in Illinois!

– Ben Wolfe