Jelly Belly-Kenda takes over in Thailand

Posted on 01. Apr, 2010 by lyne in race

Kiel Reijnen (Jelly Belly-Kenda) finished 3rd at Redlands prologue last week

Jelly Belly Cycling Team p/b Kenda not only swept the podium but took the top 5 spots in stage 1 of the UCI 2.2 Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn ’s Cup Tour of Thailand 2010 today. Kiel Reijen sets the fastest time of 6:42.32 on the 5.6 km time trial, with an average speed of 52.34 km/h. He was followed by Mike Friedman at 1 second, Will Routley at 7 seconds, Will Dickeson at 9 seconds and Jonathan Chodroff at 12 seconds.

Each rider did two laps around the flat 2.8 km course in Tung Sri Muang park with 8 turns per lap.

“With five stages to go it will be very hard to hold on to the yellow jersey,” Jelly Belly-Kenda DS Danny Van Haute said on the team website. “But the riders are ready to race hard and come home with the yellow jersey from the Tour of Thailand.”

The Jelly Belly Candy Company has a factory and office in Thailand. “We wanted to ride well here at this tour,” Van Haute said, “and so far it’s gotten off to a great start.”

Last year, Andy Bajadali of the Kelly Benefit Strategies team won the overall after taking over the lead in stage 4, and the team is back to defend.

Both Jelly Belly and Kelly Benefit Strategies riders hopped on a plane right after the Redlands Bicycle Classic for a long, long trip over. (Long enough for KBS to create this video)

“We entered the race as the defending champions and probably the favorites. However, today Jelly Belly proved they are the team to beat, taking first through fifth and totally obliterating the competition. It was an impressive performance and I cannot remember ever seeing a team go 1st through 5th at any UCI event.” wrote KBS DS Jonas Carney on the team website. “We did not expect to win the prologue as all of our time trial guys are racing in the Vuelta Ciclista del Uruguay or track worlds right now.”

Highest-placed KBS rider was Neil Shirley in 10th spot at 21 seconds down with Alex Candelario at 22 seconds, Dan Bowman at 34 seconds and Cheyne Hoag at 35 seconds down.

Stage 2 profile - c Tour of Thailand

The stage race continues with five long road races. Going into stage 2, Reijnen holds the lead in GC and points classification.

“Tomorrow is a 177.5km point to point road race from Ubon Ratchathani to Makdahan. The course will be rolling, but it will be a long race and, as usual, the temperatures will be in the high 90s with 90% humidity. We’ll see what happens.” wrote Carney.

Saturday is the 171.1 km stage 3, from Mugdaharn to Nakhonphanom another point to point course with a 100meter KOM 60 kilometers into the stage followed by rolling to flat terrain to the finish line.	Stage 3 Profile - c Tour of Thailand
Stage 4 on Sunday April 4, is the longest stage of the race, the 207.3 km from Nakhonphanom to Mugdaharn with again a 200 meter climb halfway through the stage.	Stage 4 Profile - c Tour of Thailand
Stage 5, is rolling 190.3km stage from Mugdaharn to UbonRatchthani.	Stage 5 Profile - c Tour of Thailand
The race concludes with the 186.3 km circuit UbonRatchthani-KhongJiam-UbonRatchthani on Tuesday April 6.	Stage 6 Profile - c Tour of Thailand

Top 10 Stage 1 Results (See complete stage 1 results)
1. Kiel Reijnen (JBC) 06:42.32
2. Michael Friedman (JBC) 06:43.84
3. Will Routley (JBC) 06:49.47
4. William Dickerson (JBC) 06:53.87
5. Jonathan Chodroff (JBC) 06:54.60
6. White Nicholas (MCT) 06:55.95
7. Deon Locke (CKT) 07:00.16
8. Rabie Johann (MCT) 07:01.45
9. Rodgers Lee (FUJ) 07:01.66
10. Neil Shirley (KBS) 07:03.97

Tags: jelly belly-kenda, kelly benefit strategies, tour of thailand