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Dear Readers,
I received many emails from people who missed out on a newsletter.
If you didn't get the previous tour report (Purwokerto to Madiun),
click here:
http://www.bartele.com/newsletters/Aug30nl2006.htm
From left to right: Jacob Nielsen, Dean Iversen, Uwe Hardter,
Max Nielsen
STAGE 5 (From SOLO to MADIUN)
 Now the anger was complete. Just minutes for the
start of the short 5th stage to Madiun, the committee ripped the
green jersey off from our sprinter Andre. He was disqualified because he had a 'DNF'
(Did Not Finish) the day before. But the Chief
commissioner had given us the assurance a day earlier
that all DNF's of that day would not be punished and that they
could continue to ride for the competition. However, just before the start they had
changed the rules - again.
Andre Schultze, winner of the criterium,
now angrily taking off his green jersey, after unfair treatment by
the Chief commissioner of Tour d'Indonesia
Max, who still couldn't get a ticket back to Denmark, was furious
and had to be calmed down. Matthijs tried what he could, but
discussion was impossible. We were absolute sure some of the
committee members were against us, but we couldn't figure out why.
Jacob, the bold professional, did not say a word but his face was
all anger.
The race to Madiun let us trough the heart of Java,
where many old Dutch houses still could be found. But the riders
did not have time for sightseeing. They were here for the money,
for the kick or for that little bit of hope to be 'discovered' and
to ride in the Tour de France one day.
Jacob Nielsen escaped with two other riders of the
Giant team. For the last 40 kilometers they were 2 minutes ahead
of the peloton. Normally he would not have a change as the other
two were from one team and therefore they had more possibilities
to play a number of tactics. But fortunately for the BuGils Team,
one of the Giants riders got a puncture, just 5 kilometers before
the finish. It was now between Jacob and one Giant rider. 'RED
BULL! GiEB ME ONE MORE RED BULL!', he shouted. He was angry.
He already had a bit of revenge by winning the two inter sprints,
to the embarrassment of the organization. And, to make the sweet
revenge complete, he won the Solo - Madiun stage as well in a
final sprint! Jacob was now one point behind in the sprinters
classification. Uwe (and the other BuGils Team riders) finished
well, and became 5th in the general classification. The BuGils
Team was now 4th in the Team classification. It all looked good
again.
 The press conference was chaos. The chief commissioner at first
did not want to appear but there were just too many questions. Why
was BuGils stripped of the green jersey? Why did the rules change
all the time? And Jacob had only one thing to say in front of the
camera: 'I won the race because I was mad. And if you make me mad
again, I will win the next stage as well!'
The guys from the press
asked me some questions. 'It seems that the
chief commissioner has been against us from the moment he did not
allow the name 'BuGils' for our team in the press announcements.'
Four or five guys made notes. I continued: ''If you can put a
picture of Jacob Nielsen in the Jakarta Post tomorrow with the
name 'BuGils Team' clearly visible, I'll buy all of you beers back
in Jakarta."
Before I tell you about the many things that happened before the
start of the next race from Madiun to Malang, I
can happily tell you that Jacob was full on the picture in the
Jakarta Post the following day.
Bartele
The Criterium:
http://www.bartele.com/newsletters/Aug27nl2006.htm
Bandung-Cirebon:
http://www.bartele.com/newsletters/Aug28nl2006.htm
Cirebon-Purwokerto:
http://www.bartele.com/newsletters/Aug29nl2006.htm
Purwokerto-Solo:
http://www.bartele.com/newsletters/Aug30nl2006.htm
More technical info about the tour at:
http://www.lagasport.com/
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