Vuelta Wrap-Up

The largely formal final stage is done. And yet it was very nearly not a formality, at least for J.J. Rodriguez. He got tangled up in a big pileup on the run-in to the finish and ended up with a broken clavicle. He managed to pick himself up and drag his banged up body over the line. Had it occured any earlier, he'd have lost his sixth place standing in the overall race. But he was within the final 2 km when he went down, so he was granted the same time as the winner and holds on to a nice finish. Matti Breschel won the stage, followed by Alexandre Usov and Davide Vigano. And Contador wins the Vuelta just a few months after winning the Giro, and a little over a year after winning the Tour de France. It seems he's pretty good. Levi Leipheimer's good too, but not good enough. He finishes second. Carlos Sastre follows up his victory at the Tour with a third place finish at the Vuelta. Not a bad season for him. See CN and Pez for more.

Over in the FGBC Pool, it turned out to be a rather exciting finish. Arlene won the final stage. She gets what turned out to be a rather significant 100 points. Jonny B was second with 80 points, while Ian and Paddy tied for third with 65 points apiece. Once again, the podium spots remained as they had been for the last little while. But that was about to change.

Stage 21 Results:

Arlene 100
Jonny B 80
Ian 65
Paddy 65
Chris 50
David 35
Hal 30
Brad 25
Matt 25
Vic 0
Dallas 0


Overall Standings after Stage 21:

Chris 3021
Vic 2436
Arlene 2375
Brad 2163
Paddy 2128
Matt 1924
Jonny B 1896
David 1527
Dallas 1497
Ian 1354
Hal 1239


With the racing done, it was time to dole out the bonus points. Big ones for the GC, and some minor points for the points and climbers jerseys (no young rider competition in the Vuelta, apparently). This is where things got kind of interesting. With four riders in the top 20 (Mosquera, Gesink, Zaugg, and Arroyo), I took home 810 points to finish ahead of Matt by slim margin. He had Contador and Martinez, who netted him 800 points. Brad also had Contador and Arroyo for 660 points.

Final GC Bonus Points:

Chris 810
Matt 800
Brad 660
Arlene 550
Paddy 515
Vic 375
Dallas 325
Jonny B 270
Ian 30
Hal 15
David 0

After those were added, there was a significant shakeup in the GC, with Vic being the big loser. Having led the race for a good portion of the time and never been lower than third, Brad knocked him off the podium to take over the third step., while Arlen moved into second place. Too bad Boonen didn't stick around for the final day's sprint or that Valverde had that crappy day. The full standings were as follows.

Chris 3831
Arlene 2925
Brad 2823
Vic 2811
Matt 2724
Paddy 2643
Jonny B 2166
Dallas 1822
David 1527
Ian 1384
Hal 1254


Vic was just 12 points off the podium, but there were still the points and climbers competitions to factor in. Could he make it back? Unfortunately not. Boonen quit the race and decided not to contest the sprinter's jersey, so no points there. Valverde picked up a few. But Contador picked up points in both the climbing and points competitions. So Brad gained more. Almost enough, in fact, to move past Arlene into second. But not quite. In the end, he finished 22 points out of second place. Nice try, though.

Points Jersey Bonus Points:

Brad 90
Matt 90
Vic 60
Paddy 40
Arlene 20
David 0
Dallas 0
Ian 0
Hal 0
Chris 0
Jonny B 0


Climber's Jersey Points:

Jonny B 60
Brad 20
Matt 20
Arlene 0
David 0
Vic 0
Dallas 0
Ian 0
Hal 0
Chris 0
Paddy 0


So the final overall standings are as follows:

Chris 3831
Arlene 2945
Brad 2933
Vic 2871
Matt 2834
Paddy 2683
Jonny B 2226
Dallas 1822
David 1527
Ian 1384
Hal 1254

Thanks for playing. And look forward to the 2008-09 FGBC Cyclocross pool, coming soon.