Stage 3

Here is how Jonah picks his teams. I read through the list and he invariably zeroes in on one name and shouts it out. Sometimes with an explanation, sometimes not. This time, he seemed pretty certain about Evans. He hadn't recalled having him before, so figured he should give him a chance. Especially since his favourite rider, Boonen, is not available. He picks Boonen every time, in part because it reminds him of a good weekend he once had in Boone, NC in the fall of 2008--hiking, spelunking, and watching me race cyclocross. He is also partial to riders whose names remind him of explosive devices. Or guns. For example, Bonnet was chosen because he "sounds like bomb." Rohregger somehow reminded him of a gun, though I can't remember why. Nor can I remember why he picked Weylandt. My guess is that he was somehow intrigued by the difficulty I had in pronouncing Wouter. But whatever the reason, it proved to be a good choice. It got him 150 points today. And with Gerdemann and Rohregger chipping in another 130 between them, he ended with 280 points on the day. Good enough to win the stage and take over the overall lead. Jonah is six years old. Cousin Adam was just 5 points back. Second on the day and second overall now too. Queen Val demonstrated that the King and the Prince of vicarious racing aren't the only talented ones in the family. She finished in third place today and moved into the top 10 overall, just ahead of King Andy. Olli sits in third overall.

That was a crazy stage. The GC contenders are all over the place. Looks good for Vino and Nibali so far. Not so good for just about everybody else.

Full results and standings here.