Welcome Back Mike

Everyone's attention may be focused squarely on the Honorary Captain right now. But there is a thrilling little bike race that is also taking place at the moment. We call it the FGBC Giro d'Italia Pool. And there's not a bad race going on in Italy too. Theoretically, they are linked. But the latter is merely a vehicle for the former, which we know to be far more exciting.

Today it was Mike's turn to play the resurrection card. Remember when he was able to say he hadn't ever lost a vicarious race? That feels like a long time ago by now. And so far his vicarious Giro was shaping up to be just another one of his unremarkable performances. But today he managed to give us all a glimpse of his former dominant self. It's not like he's made his way back to the top or anything. He's still mired in 16th place, below even the lowly duo of Chris's D & H. But he did pull off a stage win today, just barely pipping Olli at the line. It was 305 to 300 for Mike. Matt finished third, with 285 points. In case you haven't noticed, Mike is the twelfth different winner in the twelve stages we've had so far. How we like it when that happens. The FGBC is into spreading around the joy. As long as we get to take home the final prize.

In the overall race, Jonah's run in the pink jersey has come to an end. It was Dallas who finally managed to pin him down and rip it off his shoulders. Maybe Dallas would like to come over and explain this development to Jonah. There may well be tears when he finds out about this. But he's a tough little kid and will no doubt bounce back. Besides, it is all still very close. Dallas is just 29 points ahead of Queen Val. And Val is only 5 points ahead of Jonah. As if that wasn't good enough, Olli is only another 5 points back of Jonah. Which means the top four are separated by just 39 points. Woo-hoo!

Full results and standings here.