2006 Vrienden van het Platteland season

The 2006 women's road cycling season was the seventh season for the Vrienden van het Platteland (UCI code: VVP) cycling team, which began as Ondernemers van Nature in 2000.

2006 Vrienden van het Platteland
UCI Team ranking	12th
Manager	Jan van Dam
Season victories
One-day races	3
Stage race overall	0
Stage race stages	1
Best ranked rider	Chantal Beltman (30th)

One of the main new recruits for the team was former junior rider Ellen van Dijk.[1] In March Ellen van Dijk became University World Champion at the 2006 World University Cycling Championship in the women's road race.[2] and finished second in the women's time trial.[3] The other main victories for the team were Flèche Hesbignonne by Chantal Beltman and stage 2 of the Tour Féminin en Limousin by Ellen van Dijk. At the national championships Sharon van Essen finished second in the road race and Iris Slappendel won the bronze medal in the women's time trial. At the end of the year the team ended 12th in the UCI Team's Ranking with Chantal Beltman as the best individual at the 30th place in the UCI Individual Women's Road Ranking.[4] Van Dijk was also active on the track and won the bronze medal at the 2006 Dutch National Track Championships in the women's individual pursuit.

Roster

Ages as of 1 January 2006.

Rider Date of birth  Chantal Beltman (NED) August 25, 1976 (aged 29)  Janne Brok (NED) June 7, 1987 (aged 18)  Ellen van Dijk (NED) February 11, 1987 (aged 18)  Sharon van Essen (NED) March 3, 1981 (aged 24)  Corrien van Haastert (NED) February 11, 1982 (aged 23)  Esther van der Helm (NED) September 5, 1981 (aged 24)

Rider Date of birth  Yvonne Leezer (NED) February 9, 1987 (aged 18)  Moniek Rotmensen (NED) April 25, 1986 (aged 19)  Iris Slappendel (NED) February 18, 1985 (aged 20)  Monique Verstraten (NED) April 24, 1983 (aged 22)  Heidi de Voogd (NED) January 9, 1980 (aged 25)

Sources[5][6]

Riders who joined the team for the 2006 season Rider 2005 team  Janne Brok (NED)  Ellen van Dijk (NED) Junior rider[1]  Yvonne Leezer (NED) Junior rider[1]  Moniek Rotmensen (NED)  Monique Verstraten (NED)  Heidi de Voogd (NED)

Riders who left the team during or after the 2005 season Rider 2006 team  Andrea Bosman (NED)  Minke van Dongen (NED)  Loes Gunnewijk (NED)  Aukje de Koning (NED)  Kristy Miggels (NED)

Results

Season victories

Single day and stage races 2006[7]

Date	Nation	Race	Cat.	Winner
11 June	France	Flèche Hesbignonne	1.2	Chantal Beltman
22 July	France	Stage 2 Tour Féminin en Limousin	2.2	Ellen van Dijk

National, Continental and World champions 2006[7]

Date	Discipline	Jersey	Winner
25 March	World University Champion – Road race		Ellen van Dijk

Results in major races

Results at the 2006 UCI Women's Road World Cup races

#	Date	Race	Country	Best rider	Place
#1	26 February	Geelong World Cup	Australia	-	-
#2	5 March	New Zealand World Cup	New Zealand	-	-
#3	2 April	Tour of Flanders for Women	Belgium	Chantal Beltman	27th
#4	19 April	La Flèche Wallonne Féminine	Belgium	-	-
#5	23 April	Tour de Berne	Switzerland	-	-
#6	7 May	GP Castilla y Leon	Spain	-	-
#7	27 May	Coupe du Monde Cycliste Féminine de Montréal	Canada	-	-
#8	28 July	Open de Suède Vårgårda	Sweden	-	-
#9	30 July	Ladies Golden Hour	Denmark	-	-
#10	26 August	GP de Plouay	France	-	-
#11	3 September	Lowland International Rotterdam Tour	Netherlands	Ellen van Dijk	6th
#12	10 September	Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt	Germany	-	-

Results in other major single day races

Date	Race[M 1]	Rider	Place
23 March	World University Championships – Women's time trial	Ellen van Dijk
25 March	World University Championships – Women's road race	Ellen van Dijk
15 July	European Road Championships – Women's under-23 road race	Ellen van Dijk	10th

1. Riders are in these championships part of the national team

UCI World Ranking

The team finished 12th in the UCI ranking for teams.[4]

Individual UCI World Ranking[4]

Rank	Rider	Points
30	Chantal Beltman	223
74	Ellen van Dijk	58
86	Iris Slappendel	47
123	Sharon van Essen	30
376	Moniek Rotmensen	2

References

1. "Van Dijk en Leezer naar Vrienden-ploeg" (in Dutch). wielerrevue.nl. 26 September 2005. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
2. "Opnieuw twee studentenwereldtitels Nederland" (in Dutch). wielerrevue.nl. 25 March 2006. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
3. "Gunnewijk en Van Ruitenbeek wereldkampioen studenten" (in Dutch). wielerrevue.nl. 23 March 2006. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
4. "Ranking - Cycling - Road 2006 Women Elite UCI Ranking Individual Final result". UCI. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
5. "2006 Roster". cyclingarchives.com. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
6. "2006 Roster". cqranking.com. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
7. "2006 Vrienden van het platteland". procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 1 March 2014.