Bella, Donna

On a stage filled with crashes and further abandonments, it is only fitting that Project Mayhem is the day's big winner in the FGBC Giro Pool. Alessandro Bertolini emerges a somewhat fortunate victor from an original breakaway group of five that had become three by the end. Fortunato Baliani got taken down by some cobbles within the final km and Pablo Lastras was held up just enough by it that Bertolini took an easy win. Lots of crashes involving Leipheimer, Piepoli, Sella, not to mention Visconti in the pink jersey (see photo). Despite early reports that he might not be able to continue, it sounds like he's going to soldier on. Soler and Verbrugge won't be continuing either. Both abandoned the race on the first climb of the day. The next two days tilt back in favour of the sprinters. And then it's two big days in the high mountains. More from CN, VN, and Pez.

With Bertolini and Lastras on her team, Donna's Project Mayhem scores a decisive victory with 275 points. They surpass four other teams while vaulting out of last place in the pool. That dubious honour is now held by Darryl's team, A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing. Grande Latte Enema and Stomach Full of Xanax are tied for a distant second place with 155 points each. Listen Up Maggots is still cruising along with a big lead despite receiving only 5 points on the day. But notice how close it is in the battle for the second podium step: four teams within 50points of each other, with the standings changing every day.

Top 20:

1 BERTOLINI Alessandro ITA SDA 5:44:22 0:00 20"
2 LASTRAS GARCIA Pablo ESP GCE 5:44:27 0:05 12"
3 BALIANI Fortunato ITA CSF 5:44:27 0:05 12"
4 DALL'ANTONIA Tiziano ITA CSF 5:45:03 0:41
5 MANGEL Laurent FRA ALM 5:45:55 1:33 2"
6 VEIKKANEN Jussi FIN FDJ 5:45:55 1:33 6"
7 BENNATI Daniele ITA LIQ 5:48:15 3:53
8 ZABEL Erik GER MRM 5:48:15 3:53
9 LORENZETTO Mirco ITA LAM 5:48:15 3:53
10 REBELLIN Davide ITA GST 5:48:15 3:53
11 DE GROOT Bram NED RAB 5:48:15 3:53
12 BLAUDZUN Michael DEN CSC 5:48:15 3:53
13 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 5:48:15 3:53
14 VAN HUFFEL Wim BEL SIL 5:48:15 3:53
15 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 5:48:15 3:53
16 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 5:48:15 3:53
17 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 5:48:15 3:53
18 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 5:48:15 3:53
19 CHEREL Mikael FRA FDJ 5:48:15 3:53
20 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 5:48:15 3:53


GC after stage 11:

1 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 49:00:17 0:00
2 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 49:06:07 5:50
3 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 49:07:16 6:59
4 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 49:08:09 7:52
5 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 49:08:11 7:54
6 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 49:08:21 8:04
7 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 49:08:26 8:09
8 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 49:08:49 8:32
9 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 49:08:50 8:33
10 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 49:08:50 8:33
11 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 49:09:14 8:57
12 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 49:09:27 9:10
13 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 49:09:27 9:10
14 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 49:09:32 9:15
15 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 49:10:00 9:43
16 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 49:10:03 9:46
17 PETROV Evgeni RUS TCS 49:10:05 9:48
18 PINOTTI Marco ITA THR 49:10:13 9:56
19 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 49:10:31 10:14
20 PIEPOLI Leonardo ITA SDV 49:10:33 10:16


Todays Results:

Project Mayhem (Donna) 275
Grande Latte Enema (James) 155
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 155
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 110
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 105
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 100
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 90
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 85
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 80
Remaining Men Together (David S) 45
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 40
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 40
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 35
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 25
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 25
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 20
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 5
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 5
Chemical Burn (Cam) 5
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 5
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 0
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 0
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 0
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 0
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 0
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 1724
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1282
Grande Latte Enema (James) 1266
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 1233
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 1232
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 1198
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 1156
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1100
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1089
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 1064
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 980
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 969
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 929
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 921
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 918
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 880
Remaining Men Together (David S) 857
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 795
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 776
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 754
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 596
Project Mayhem (Donna) 584
Chemical Burn (Cam) 513
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 505
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 460
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 412

OTT: The Old 97's, The Fool