We made it!

32 Points

That's all that separates the top three contenders in the 2012 FGBC Giro d'Italia Pool. It looks like this will go right down to the wire.

Anna bagged 235 points to win today's stage. KK and Jonny B tied for second with 215 points each.

I've reclaimed the vicarious maglia rosa from King Andy, who dropped down to third place. He is 32 points off of the overall lead, but only 1 point behind Jonny B.

The bottom end of the standings is equally close. The J-Train is now just 5 point behind Lyle and 8 points behind Chris D.

Full results and overall standings here.

Please note that the results for the final three stages will be delayed until after the weekend. There is a little thing called the Spring Ride that needs our attention.

Official Spring Ride Discussion Thread

We are camping at the Falcon Lake Lakeshore Campground. I believe we are in bay 5.

Here's the plan, as far as there is one:

We'll meet at the Deacon's Corner A&W for breakfast at 9:30. From there, we'll head to Falcon Trails for a brief ride while we wait for others to show up.

The Blue Highway ride will depart from the campground at around 2:30 pm.

After that we will just kind of wing it.

Use the comments to sort out anything that still needs sorting out--rides, accommodations, food, etc. Or maybe just to share your excitement.

TNR Report

The Big Frame came through. So much so that Juan Eppstein can no longer be considered the undisputed Alpha Dog of the Dogfest. He did show up for a bit, though, and seemed to be taking notes.

Those chips were so good.

The crowd thinned significantly when it started to rain shortly after midnight. The rest of us relocated to the shed.

There was some talk about the Spring Ride too. But that deserves a post of its own.

Stages 16 & 17

Patrick won stage 16. And Jay was victorious on stage 17. King Andy has reclaimed the overall lead. With both Rodriguez and Hesjedal on his team, his chances for overall victory look pretty strong.

Full results and standings here.

TNR

It looks like the annual Spring Dogfest is off. Juan Eppstein is busy. But if anyone else feels compelled to make it happen, please drop a comment below. If there is no dogfest, we still have a meeting at the klubhaus to sort out the Spring Ride details. But we should probably do a little riding first.

9:30 pm at my place.

Hot Potato

The vicarious maglia rosa is changing hands as frequently as the real one. Except our game of hot potato with the leader's jersey now has three players, not just two like there are in the real race. I won today's stage to grab the overall that Jonny B took from King Andy yesterday. Henao, Kreuziger, Hesjedal, Cataldo, and Moreno combined to give me 255 points. Troy was second on the stage with 225 points. Andy had 210 points to reach the final step of the podium.

The King remains in second overall. He's just 27 points behind me. Jonny B is only another 39 points behind Andy. So it's all very close still. Expect more lead changes as we enter the final week.

Full results and overall standings here.

Monday early morning ride?

Anyone interested in an early ride tomorrow? I've got to be back home by 10am, so I'm thinking a 7:30/8am start or so. Maybe ride out past headingley or something. Post a comment if you want to ride.

Stages 12-14

Ryder is back in pink! How sweet is that?

Ali and Eryn shared the win on stage 12. Chris O won stage 13. And Patrick claimed the win in the first big mountain stage. He had 320 points, thanks to De Marchi, Hesjedal, Tiralongo, and Frank Schleck. Eryn finished second, in part because she's the only one to have picked today's real stage winner, Andrey Amador. He combined with Hesjedal and Schleck to give her 290 points. Jonny G rounded out the podium with 270 points.

In the overall race, King Andy snatched the lead from Jonny B on stage 12. But Jonny B snatched it back today. He now leads the overall standings with 2114 points. Andy is in second overall, just 41 points back. And I am in third place, another 18 points behind Andy.

But the biggest development in the overall standings has to do with Patrick, whose team was unjustly robbed of the points that Cavendish received for the first 10 stages. And all because of a spelling mistake on the scoresheet. Sorry about that, Patrick! It is fixed now. Retroactive points from Cavendish combined with the 320 from today's stage win vault Patrick all the way up to 4th overall. He is 87 points back of the final podium spot.

Full results and overall standings here.

Thursday Anticipation

It's just over one week away now. That is exciting. But we may have to start thinking about alternate locations. There's no trail riding in the Whiteshell right now. Thoughts?