Breakaway

The last two days in the mountains have left everybody tired. So it was an ideal stage for a breakaway today. And that is exactly what we got. 17 riders broke clear of the peloton and amassed an 18 minute lead. The breakaway group exploded on the last climb, about 15 km from the finish. It was uncategorized, but it sure looked nasty, as riders were popping left and right. David Garcia Depana, of the small Spanish outfit Xacobeo Galicia, won the stage. So he manages to get the win for the wild card invite that his teammate Ezequiel Mosquera could not pull off yesterday. He was followed over the line by Nick Nuyens and Juan Manuel Garate. Astana led home the peloton over 14 minutes later. No big changes in the GC, except that a few of the breakaway riders managed to slot themselves into the top 20. CN and Pez have the full story.

Over in the FGBC Pool, Vic has responded to yesterday's loss of the race lead with the show of pride we've come to expect from him. He wins the stage with 155 points, followed by David (125) and Brad (105). He claws back some ground and now sits just over 100 points out of the overall lead. This is shaping up to be one of the more hotly contested FGBC Pools. The last week in a grand tour is always unpredictable, so anything can happen. The way it's going right now, it will almost certainly come down to the points awarded for the final GC placings. To get those, you need your guys to finish, unlike my man J.J. Haedo who quit the race today.

Stage 15:

Vic 155
David 125
Brad 105
Chris 100
Dallas 85
Arlene 80
Ian 80
Jonny B 40
Matt 30
Hal 10
Paddy 10


Overall Standings:

Chris 2031
Arlene 1950
Vic 1921
Brad 1538
Paddy 1503
Jonny B 1446
Matt 1444
David 1242
Hal 1089
Ian 1029
Dallas 857