Ricco Wins, Pellizotti in Pink, DZ Out

If this were the Tour de France, today's stage would have been 220 km of pancake flat geography and sunflowers, concluding with a massive bunch sprint. Maybe a big crash to keep the American fans excited. But today's stage had a finish that was more like late-spring classics known as the Ardennes. And what a finish it was. Like Slipstream yesterday, Ricardo Ricco made it clear that he was aiming to win this stage today. And like Slipstream yesterday, he did. Juaquin Rodriguez, the Spanish National Champion, was the first to attack and almost looked like he'd stay away. But then Ricco, Di Luca, Rebellin and Co. came storming by. Pellizotti finished fourth, with the same time, and takes the maglia rosa with a mere 1 second lead over Vandevelde. Who says they're planning to win tomorrow? Full results, report and photos at CN, VN, and Pez.

Perhaps the biggest happening of the day, at least as far as the FGBC Giro Pool goes, was Dave Z crashing out and abandoning the race by way of the ambulance. It looked pretty bad for a while, but it sounds like he'll be okay. This affects no less than nime teams: Matt, LeAnn, Dallas, Tomek, Johnny M, Jonny B, Adam, Craig, and Paddy. Astarloa is out too. He didn't start today. That's bad news for Cam and especially Jonny B, who is now down to just 7 riders after losing both DZ and Astarloa today. Bummer.

Top 20:

1 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott - 5.48.35 (35.629 km/h)
2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - s.t.
3 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner - s.t.
4 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas - s.t.
5 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) LPR Brakes - s.t.
6 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne - s.t.
7 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française des Jeux - 0.04
8 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas - 0.08
9 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott - s.t.
10 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana - s.t.
11 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quick Step - 0.10
12 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team CSC - s.t.
13 Morris Possoni (Ita) Team High Road - s.t.
14 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre - s.t.
15 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Silence - Lotto - s.t.
16 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Silence - Lotto - s.t.
17 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank - d.t.
18 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
19 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30 - s.t.
20 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems - 0.20

Overall GC:

1 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas - 6.15.16
2 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented By H30 - 0.01
3 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team CSC - 0.07
4 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) LPR Brakes - s.t.
5 Morris Possoni (Ita) Team High Road - 0.08
6 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas - s.t.
7 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC - 0.17
8 Bradley McGee (Aus) Team CSC - s.t.
9 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team High Road - 0.18
10 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) LPR Brakes - 0.19
11 Andrea Noè (Ita) Liquigas - 0.22
12 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Barloworld - 0.25
13 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Barloworld - s.t.
14 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC - 0.28
15 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Team CSC - s.t.
16 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana - s.t.
17 Christian Pfannberger (Aut) Barloworld - s.t.
18 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team High Road - 0.29
19 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana - 0.30
20 Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott - 0.33

Over in the FGBC Giro Pool, Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) is the big winner on the day. Grande Latte Enema (James) and Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) round out the podium, with 240 and 205 points respectively. Listen Up Maggots also leads the overall GC, follows by You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) and Tonight We Make Soap.

Today's Results:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) - 265
Grande Latte Enema (James) - 240
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) - 205
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) - 195
B Times C Equals X (Hal) - 180
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) - 175
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) - 140
Chemical Burn (Cam) - 130
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) - 125
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) - 125
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) - 125
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) - 95
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) - 90
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) - 90
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) - 80
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) - 80
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) - 80
Remaining Men Together (David S) - 65
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) - 65
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) - 65
Controlled Destruction (Ian) - 45
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) - 35
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) - 30
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) - 10
Project Mayhem (Donna) - 10
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) - 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) - 404
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) - 367
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) - 364
Grande Latte Enema (James) - 346
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) - 313
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) - 309
Chemical Burn (Cam) - 308
B Times C Equals X (Hal) - 301
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) - 294
Remaining Men Together (David S) - 287
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) - 286
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) - 270
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) - 268
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) - 263
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) - 259
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) - 251
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) - 225
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) - 225
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) - 217
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) - 205
Controlled Destruction (Ian) - 200
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) - 200
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) - 167
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) - 164
Project Mayhem (Donna) - 154
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) - 86

OTT: The Bloodsugars, Cinderella