Benna by a Hair; I'd Fight Gandhi too

The sprinters haven't really had all that many opportunities to flex their short twitch muscle fibres throughout the first nine stages of this year's Giro. But they had their day on stage 9 with a flat run in to the finish. Paolo Bettini almost stole one from the fast men, and for a while he seemed to think he'd won it. But Daniele Bennati was able to hold him off with a well-timed bike throw. He takes his second stage of the Giro in a photo-finish, winning by just a few centimetres. McEwen was there too, but so far the wins keep eluding him.

We had a photo-finish in the FGBC Pool as well. Matt's I'd Fight Gandhi wins by a mere five points over Jonny B's Skinny Guys FIght 'Til They're Burger, 230 to 225. Listen Up Maggots was right there as well, with 215 points. Arlene's team continues to pile up the points and now hold a lead of 233 points over Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice. After that, though, it's all pretty tight. The gap between first and second is about the same as that between second and eighth place.

Today is the first rest day, and tomorrow is the first of three individual time trials. Just under 40 km, and mostly uphill. There will be a shakeup in the GC, that's for sure.

Ultimo Chilometro:

Top 20:

1 BENNATI Daniele ITA LIQ 5:30:06 0:00 22"
2 BETTINI Paolo ITA QST 5:30:06 0:00 12"
3 MCEWEN Robbie AUS SIL 5:30:06 0:00 8"
4 ZABEL Erik GER MRM 5:30:06 0:00
5 FERNANDEZ Koldo ESP EUS 5:30:06 0:00
6 FORSTER Robert GER GST 5:30:06 0:00
7 CAVENDISH Mark GBR THR 5:30:06 0:00
8 DALL'ANTONIA Tiziano ITA CSF 5:30:06 0:00
9 DEAN Julian NZL TSL 5:30:06 0:00
10 USOV Alexandre BLR ALM 5:30:06 0:00
11 BAZAYEV Assan KAZ AST 5:30:06 0:00
12 JEGOU Lilian FRA FDJ 5:30:06 0:00
13 LORENZETTO Mirco ITA LAM 5:30:06 0:00
14 BROWN Graeme AUS RAB 5:30:06 0:00
15 ERMETI Giairo ITA LPR 5:30:06 0:00
16 FOTHEN Thomas GER GST 5:30:06 0:00
17 GATTO Oscar ITA GST 5:30:06 0:00
18 SUTTON Christopher AUS TSL 5:30:06 0:00
19 TRUSSOV Nikolai RUS TCS 5:30:06 0:00
20 SEROV Alexander RUS TCS 5:30:06 0:00


GC after stage 9:

1 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 42:14:16 Maglia Rosa
2 RUSS Matthias GER GST 42:14:50 0:34
3 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 42:20:09 5:53
4 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 42:21:43 7:27
5 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 42:21:48 7:32 Maglia Verde
6 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 42:21:49 7:33
7 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 42:22:02 7:46
8 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 42:22:12 7:56
9 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 42:22:27 8:11
10 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 42:22:31 8:15
11 SORENSEN Nicki DEN CSC 42:22:40 8:24
12 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 42:22:46 8:30
13 PIEPOLI Leonardo ITA SDV 42:22:54 8:38
14 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 42:22:55 8:39
15 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 42:22:55 8:39
16 REBELLIN Davide ITA GST 42:22:56 8:40
17 SORENSEN Chris DEN CSC 42:23:11 8:55
18 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin ESP GCE 42:23:12 8:56
19 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 42:23:13 8:57
20 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 42:23:29 9:13


Stage 9 Results:

I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 230
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 225
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 215
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 145
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 140
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 135
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 125
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 100
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 100
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 100
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 100
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 85
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 75
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 65
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 60
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 55
Remaining Men Together (David S) 50
Grande Latte Enema (James) 0
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 0
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 0
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 0
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 0
Chemical Burn (Cam) 0
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 0
Project Mayhem (Donna) 0
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 1374
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 1141
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 1048
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1034
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1015
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1007
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 983
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 902
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 818
Grande Latte Enema (James) 816
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 811
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 810
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 734
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 731
Remaining Men Together (David S) 662
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 649
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 629
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 625
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 574
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 565
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 426
Chemical Burn (Cam) 408
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 330
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 307
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 290
Project Mayhem (Donna) 244

OTT: The Hold Steady, Massive Nights