Liege-Bastogne-Liege: El Imbatido

Alejandro Valverde lived up to his nickname today: El Imbatido = The Unbeatable. He found himself in the winning move, with Rebellin and the Schleck brothers. Andy eventually dropped of the pace, and neither of the other two were able to counter Valverde's sprint at the line. Rebellin took 2nd while Frank Scheck finished 3rd. Full reports, results, and photos at CN, VN, and Pez.

Over in the FGBC Pool, Team Uli Kunkel powered by Karl Hungus caps a succesful 2nd half by taking the last race of the season with 510 points. Shut the F*ck Up, Jonny B finished 2nd, with a solid 450 points, and manages to avoid last place overall. That honour goes to Rachel's Good Sasparilla. Team New Shit won the sprint for third place, with 310 points.

Andy's Vee Vant Ze Money had another solid day to secure yet another overall title. He finishes with 6175 points overall, 600 more than Team Creedence Tapes. Congratulations Andy! We will celebrate tomorrow night. Arlene's Team, Is This Your Homework, Larry? rounds out the podium with 4435 points. An impressive showing, especially considering their big hope and highest priced rider, Marcus Burghardt, didn't race at all this season due to a lingering knee injury.

Video: the final km

For a full breakdown of all the races, teams, and riders go here. Be sure to take a look at the second column from the left. That's where you can find the season total for your riders. By far the biggest bang for the buck was Fabian Cancellara: $3 and over 1200 points. And there were many disappointments. Probably the biggest is Di Luca: 13 bucks for 5 points. But there are too many to list, really. Go have a look for yourself.

Thanks to everyone for participating. Good times. Take a few days to recover, but not too long. The 2008 FGBC Giro Pool is less than 2 weeks away. It's probably the most exciting and unpredictable of the three Grand Tours. More info coming soon.

The Top 30:

1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne - 6.44.04 (38.756 km/h)
2 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner - s.t.
3 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - s.t.
4 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - 0.30
5 Christian Pfannberger (Aut) Barloworld - 0.40
6 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank - s.t.
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto - s.t.
8 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne - 0.48
9 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step - 1.03
10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas - s.t.
11 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank - s.t.
12 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team High Road - s.t.
13 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank - s.t.
14 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux - s.t.
15 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott - s.t.
16 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Silence - Lotto - s.t.
17 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC - s.t.
18 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale - s.t.
19 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner - s.t.
20 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott - s.t.
21 Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez (Col) Barloworld - s.t.
22 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner - s.t.
23 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems - 1.13
24 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - 1.29
25 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC - 1.32
26 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Gerolsteiner - s.t.
27 Alberto Fernandez De La Puebla Ramos (Spa) Saunier Duval - Scott - s.t.
28 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems - s.t.
29 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas - s.t.
30 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - 1.39


Today's Results:

Uli Kunkel powered by Karl Hungus (Adam) - 510
Shut the F*ck Up Jonny (Jonny B) - 450
New Shit (Matt) - 310
F*ck Sympathy (David S) - 305
Vee Vant Ze Money (Andy) - 305
That Rug Really Tied the Room Together (Tomek) - 250
You're Out of Your Element, Jonny (Jonny G) - 245
Bunny Lebowski's Toe (Dallas) - 180
Shomer F*cking Shabbas (Donna) - 130
A Roadie for Metallica (Bill) - 130
That Good Sasparilla (Rachel) - 95
Is This Your Homework, Larry? (Arlene) - 75
Nice Marmot (Hal) - 60
These Men Are Cowards (Paddy) - 55
Little Lebowski Urban Achievers (Ian) - 50
Creedence Tapes (Chris) - 50
White Russians (Victor) - 5
Obviously You're Not a Golfer (Charlene) - 0


Overall Standings:

Vee Vant Ze Money (Andy) - 6175
Creedence Tapes (Chris) - 5575
Is This Your Homework, Larry? (Arlene) - 4435
New Shit (Matt) - 3975
Little Lebowski Urban Achievers (Ian) - 3845
Uli Kunkel powered by Karl Hungus (Adam) - 3330
F*ck Sympathy (David S) - 2785
A Roadie for Metallica (Bill) - 2740
These Men Are Cowards (Paddy) - 2730
You're Out of Your Element, Jonny (Jonny G) - 2595
That Rug Really Tied the Room Together (Tomek) - 2310
Nice Marmot (Hal) - 2155
Obviously You're Not a Golfer (Charlene) - 2145
White Russians (Victor) - 2090
Bunny Lebowski's Toe (Dallas) - 1890
Shomer F*cking Shabbas (Donna) - 1835
Shut the F*ck Up Jonny (Jonny B) - 1815
That Good Sasparilla (Rachel) - 1735

OTT: Cuff the Duke, Remember the Good Times