April is turning out to be a great month for pro cyclists from the Pacific Northwest.
Tyler Farrar of Wenatchee, Washington, won the Grote Scheldeprijs in Belgium last Wednesday, and Chris Horner of Bend, Oregon, earned a hard-fought championship at the six-day Tour of the Basque Country in Spain on Saturday.
A reader informed me that they aren't the only cyclists scoring championships this spring, however. Bainbridge Island native Kiel Reijnen, left, of the Jelly Belly-Kenda cycling team won the six-stage Tour of Thailand last week.
Reijnen, 23, has been a member of the team with the happiest name in cycling for about 3 years. He emerged as the Tour leader in the second stage as one of his teammates suffered mechanical problems and dropped back. In Stage 1, Jelly Belly had swept the podium in the individual time trial.
Reijnen and the team protected the yellow jersey for the next two stages, and he even tacked on some more time in the 4th stage by taking a second place finish, reported the Jelly Belly blog.
But the team had to work hard to chase down a break in the 5th stage, and Reijnen dropped out of the lead by about 16 seconds. In a way that was a blessing, because another team had to defend the jersey and Jelly Belly was able to launch attacks throughout the final stage.
In one of those attacks, Reijnen put enough distance on his rival to win the championship.
Reijnen told the Bainbridge Islander:
“My feelings were mostly of relief for being able to pay back my teammates for all the work they’ve been able to do for me and all the little things finally added up and came together.”
The Islander story and the Jelly Belly blog mentioned the extremely hot (100 degrees) and windy conditions during much of the race. If Reijnen cut his teeth on Bainbridge Island's Chilly Hilly bike ride, then this was a major climate change.
Next up for Jelly Belly cycling team is the Tour of Korea, which starts April 22.
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