Thursday Anticipation

It's down to just hours now. This is going to be awesome. Bring it on.

More details below.



OTT: The Impossible Shapes, Putrefaction

We have plans

The FGBC braintrust met at the clubhouse on Tuesday to finalize plans for the Spring Ride. Things are coming together nicely. It will be grand. The roster is as follows:



It sounds like Matt will be there too. Maybe Craig, Adam, Myron, and Luke. Others?

For those leaving Friday morning, meet at my place at 9:30 am. We will leave from there and head straight to Ingolf. If you meet us there, let's say 12 noon. Looks like we'll have a nice group.

For those planning to arrive Friday evening or Saturday morning, your best bet is to head to the campground.

Take Hwy 1 past Falcon Lake to Hwy 44. From there you should be able to follow the signs to the West Hawk Lake Campground. We're in the group use area. We're back at the same site as the inaugural event six years ago. See Bergen's map. Make your way to the FGBC logo. While you're at it, take a look at that map in its original context of the secretary's old minutes. This may prove insightful for some of the newcomers. If fact, it should probably be mandatory reading. Humble beginnings indeed.



A few other items of note:

Hal has been talking big about an Ingolf night ride on Friday night. Bring lights if you got them.

The annual Spring Ride dogfest will be Saturday, as usual.

We have had a request from the F&H for a team photo. Be sure to bring the sweetest jersey in the world.

The final tally in "the book" came to $304. $50 less than last year. Maybe we'll finish this time.

The secretary has acquired a helmet cam. You have been warned.

That's all I can think of right now. But feel free to add more in the comments if I've forgotten something.

Poosher Pounces; Predator on the Prowl?

After three brutal days in the Dolomites, the sprinters finally got the reprieve they've been waiting for with a flat stage. It's just that only few of them survived those mountains. Cavendish and Bennati did, though, so one would expect another battle between the two premier sprinters at the Giro. We alomst got it, but Cavendish decided to say thanks to Andre Greipel, his main lead-out man. Making sure Bennati was behind him, he held up and let Greipel take the stage win. No change in the overall GC. More from CN. It's another classics-style stage tomorrow and then two more days in the mountains before one more ITT to end it off. Contador's looks to be in control, but it's not over yet.

Ultimo Chilometro:

Over in the FGBC Giro Pool, the Poosher's team, Ikea Nesting Instinct, takes the stage with 200 points. I'd Fight Gandhi and Tonight We Make Soap are second and third with 165 and 150 points, respectively. In the race for the overall, A Predator Posing as a House Pet picked up 30 points on Listen Up Maggots. They are now just over 300 points back. Andy and I have done some calculating and think that, with the bonuses awarded for the final standings, they might just have a chance yet. It may come down to the wire yet. We shall see. Let's hope, at least, the potty-mouthed princess of Pinedale is sweating a bit.

Top 20:

1 GREIPEL André GER THR 3:27:05 0:00 20"
2 CAVENDISH Mark GBR THR 3:27:05 0:00 12"
3 BENNATI Daniele ITA LIQ 3:27:05 0:00 8"
4 ZABEL Erik GER MRM 3:27:05 0:00
5 BAZAYEV Assan KAZ AST 3:27:05 0:00
6 USOV Alexandre BLR ALM 3:27:05 0:00
7 GASPAROTTO Enrico ITA BAR 3:27:05 0:00
8 DE GROOT Bram NED RAB 3:27:05 0:00
9 SEROV Alexander RUS TCS 3:27:05 0:00
10 TRUSSOV Nikolai RUS TCS 3:27:05 0:00
11 KRAUSS Sven GER GST 3:27:05 0:00
12 DALL'ANTONIA Tiziano ITA CSF 3:27:05 0:00
13 HONDO Danilo GER SDA 3:27:05 0:00
14 MARTIN Tony GER THR 3:27:09 0:04
15 BERTOLINI Alessandro ITA SDA 3:27:09 0:04
16 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 3:27:09 0:04
17 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 3:27:09 0:04
18 LOOSLI David SUI LAM 3:27:09 0:04
19 NOCENTINI Rinaldo ITA ALM 3:27:09 0:04
20 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 3:27:09 0:04


GC after stage 17:

1 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 72:14:40 0:00
2 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 72:15:21 0:41
3 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 72:16:01 1:21
4 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 72:16:40 2:00
5 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 72:16:45 2:05
6 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 72:16:58 2:18
7 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 72:17:27 2:47
8 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 72:19:05 4:25
9 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 72:19:06 4:26
10 POZZOVIVO Domenico ITA CSF 72:20:05 5:25
11 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 72:21:42 7:02
12 VALJAVEC Tadej SLO ALM 72:23:24 8:44
13 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 72:23:24 8:44
14 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 72:25:29 10:49
15 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 72:26:04 11:24
16 BALIANI Fortunato ITA CSF 72:26:05 11:25
17 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 72:29:08 14:28
18 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 72:29:38 14:58
19 SZMYD Sylvester POL LAM 72:29:58 15:18
20 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 72:31:21 16:41


Today's Results:

Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 200
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 165
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 150
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 150
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 150
Remaining Men Together (David S) 85
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 80
Project Mayhem (Donna) 80
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 75
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 70
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 70
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 70
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 70
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 65
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 55
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 50
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 45
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 40
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 25
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 20
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 15
Grande Latte Enema (James) 10
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 5
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 0
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 0
Chemical Burn (Cam) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 2769
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 2452
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 2161
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 2033
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 2008
Grande Latte Enema (James) 1961
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1809
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 1735
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 1549
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1477
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1430
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 1429
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 1400
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 1374
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 1338
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 1325
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 1294
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 1231
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 1191
Remaining Men Together (David S) 1102
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 896
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 832
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 805
Project Mayhem (Donna) 779
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 765
Chemical Burn (Cam) 523

OTT: Cloud Cult, The Ghost Inside Out House

Video: Stages 15 & 16

In English, no less. The queen stage of the Giro and the mountain TT that has the riders saying things like this: "It is too hard. It is not a normal day. It is impossible" (Enrico Gasparotto); "It’s a stupid race - I don’t like it! We are at a ski area! Leave it to the mountain bikers!" (Jens Voigt); "This race is just insane! Taken individually it’s a good idea, but on a total, it’s not a good thing after the two mental days we’ve just had and the two hard weeks we’ve had before that. This race is just ridiculous." (David Millar).

Enjoy.

Stage 15:

Stage 16:

Tuesday Night Ride

Last one before the Spring Ride. The details are coming together nicely, but a few questions remain. After tonight we should have it all figured out. Any questions or concerns? Be there tonight.

Meet at my place, 9:30 pm.

sign up now...or later

need something to do in August? consider 24 hours of 9 mile. you don't need lights (you can rent them), the price is right (1/2 the cost of the 24 hours of adrenalin series), the riding is fun, and it is guaranteed good times. there are about 214 different categories, so if you feel like competing against other singlespeed riders weighing more than 200 lbs, whose left nipple is pierced - there is a category for you. you can ride solo, duo, in four, and five person groups; there are 12 and 24 hours categories. if you sign up before june 1st you save $10. you too can have as much fun as these guys:

Franco Magnifico

Perhpas the biggest news is that Sella didn't win his third consecutive stage today. But he came damn close, finishing just 6 seconds back for 2nd place. It was Franco Pellizotti who tamed the mountain today. He scurried up the 12.85 km climb, which topped out at 24%, in 40.26, averaging just over 19 kmh. That's insane! It left 6 riders outside the time limit (they have to finish within 25% of the winner's time). Simoni finished third and Contador was fourth, extending his lead to 33 seconds over Ricco, who was 5th today. Of the other big contenders, Di Luca finished 9th, 1.45 back, and has probably lost all hope of defending his title. He is 2.18 behind Contador. Menchov was 10th today and is probably out of contention as well, sitting 2.47 back.

A Predator Posing as a House Pet had a third consecutive monster day. They finish with 380 points (295 yesterday and 370 the day before) and close within 347 points of Listen Up Maggots, which finished a mere 5th on the day. Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice took second with 350 points and moves into third overall. Grande Latte Enema occupies the day's final podium spot with 250 points.

Here's some video from stage 14, the first day in the mountains. I'll get the rest up when they're available.

Here is a nice stage-by-stage highlight package of the Giro so far, courtesy of Cycling Fans Anonymous:



Top 20:

1 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 40:26 0:00
2 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 40:32 0:06
3 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 40:43 0:17
4 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 40:48 0:22
5 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 40:56 0:30
6 RUJANO GUILLEN José VEN GCE 41:15 0:49
7 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 41:30 1:04
8 POZZOVIVO Domenico ITA CSF 42:09 1:43
9 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 42:11 1:45
10 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 42:15 1:49
11 VOIGT Jens GER CSC 42:21 1:55
12 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 42:24 1:58
13 PETROV Evgeni RUS TCS 42:43 2:17
14 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 42:44 2:18
15 NOE' Andrea ITA LIQ 42:44 2:18
16 SZMYD Sylvester POL LAM 43:03 2:37
17 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 43:05 2:39
18 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 43:06 2:40
19 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 43:06 2:40
20 PEREZ CUAPIO Julio Alberto MEX CSF 43:22 2:56


GC after stage 16:

1 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 68:47:31 0:00
2 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 68:48:12 0:41
3 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 68:48:52 1:21
4 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 68:49:31 2:00
5 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 68:49:36 2:05
6 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 68:49:49 2:18
7 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 68:50:18 2:47
8 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 68:51:56 4:25
9 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 68:51:57 4:26
10 POZZOVIVO Domenico ITA CSF 68:52:56 5:25
11 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 68:54:33 7:02
12 VALJAVEC Tadej SLO ALM 68:56:15 8:44
13 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 68:56:15 8:44
14 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 68:58:20 10:49
15 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 68:58:55 11:24
16 BALIANI Fortunato ITA CSF 68:58:56 11:25
17 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 69:01:59 14:28
18 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 69:02:29 14:58
19 SZMYD Sylvester POL LAM 69:02:49 15:18
20 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 69:04:12 16:41


Today's Results:

A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 380
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 350
Grande Latte Enema (James) 250
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 235
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 225
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 190
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 155
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 135
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 110
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 100
Project Mayhem (Donna) 90
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 80
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 75
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 70
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 60
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 60
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 55
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 55
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 45
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 45
Remaining Men Together (David S) 10
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 10
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 0
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 0
Chemical Burn (Cam) 0
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 2744
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 2397
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 2161
Grande Latte Enema (James) 1951
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 1843
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 1833
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 1665
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1659
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 1534
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1472
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1430
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 1379
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 1354
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 1330
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 1268
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 1255
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 1214
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 1191
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 1146
Remaining Men Together (David S) 1017
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 831
Project Mayhem (Donna) 699
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 690
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 682
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 655
Chemical Burn (Cam) 523

OTT: The Hold Steady, Party Pit

Sella Again; Contador in Pink

Emmanuele Sella isn;t going to win the Giro. But he sure has lit up the two big mountain stages. Another solo break, and another win for the little green climber. The expected domination by Astana didn't exactly materialize. Both Kloden and Leipheimer rode themselves out of the race. Contador was dropped at the end too, but only by a few seconds. So he interits the pink jeersey from Bosisio. Of the main contenders, it was Ricco who looked best today. But Di Luca came on strong at the end as well. Tomorrow's uphill TT should continue to mess with the GC. More from CN.

In the FGBC Pool, Andy's team, A Predator Posing as a House Pet, had another strong day with 295 points. But it was Ian's Controlled Destruction that picked up the stage win with 310 points. James' Grande Latte Enema rounded out the podium with 250 points. A Predator Posing as a House Pet has now moved into second overall. But the lead is still over 500 points. I'd Fight Gandhi is still in third. Not bad for a built around sprinters.

Top 20:

1 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 4:53:24 0:00 20"
2 POZZOVIVO Domenico ITA CSF 4:55:29 2:05 12"
3 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 4:55:35 2:11 8"
4 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 4:55:44 2:20
5 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 4:55:51 2:27
6 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 4:55:51 2:27
7 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 4:55:58 2:34
8 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 4:56:42 3:18
9 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 4:56:46 3:22
10 VALJAVEC Tadej SLO ALM 4:56:51 3:27
11 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 4:56:51 3:27
12 BALIANI Fortunato ITA CSF 4:57:13 3:49 4"
13 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin ESP GCE 4:58:31 5:07
14 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 4:58:34 5:10
15 IGLINSKIY Maxim KAZ AST 4:59:19 5:55
16 DE GREEF Francis BEL SIL 4:59:37 6:13
17 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 5:00:16 6:52
18 VOIGT Jens GER CSC 5:00:50 7:26
19 SZMYD Sylvester POL LAM 5:00:51 7:27
20 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 5:01:11 7:47


GC after stage 15:

1 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 68:06:43 0:00
2 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 68:07:16 0:33
3 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 68:07:38 0:55
4 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 68:08:01 1:18
5 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 68:08:03 1:20
6 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 68:08:09 1:26
7 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 68:09:10 2:27
8 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 68:09:33 2:50
9 POZZOVIVO Domenico ITA CSF 68:10:47 4:04
10 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 68:11:24 4:41
11 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 68:11:27 4:44
12 VALJAVEC Tadej SLO ALM 68:12:41 5:58
13 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 68:13:09 6:26
14 BALIANI Fortunato ITA CSF 68:15:18 8:35
15 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 68:15:36 8:53
16 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 68:15:50 9:07
17 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 68:16:00 9:17
18 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 68:18:59 12:16
19 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 68:19:08 12:25
20 SZMYD Sylvester POL LAM 68:19:46 13:03


Today's Results:

Controlled Destruction (Ian) 310
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 295
Grande Latte Enema (James) 250
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 200
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 170
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 160
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 160
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 100
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 95
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 95
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 90
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 90
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 90
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 85
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 80
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 70
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 65
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 45
Remaining Men Together (David S) 35
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 35
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 5
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 0
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 0
Project Mayhem (Donna) 0
Chemical Burn (Cam) 0
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 2519
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 2017
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 1843
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 1811
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 1733
Grande Latte Enema (James) 1701
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1579
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1462
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1430
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 1430
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 1424
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 1285
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 1224
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 1219
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 1210
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 1208
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 1131
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 1076
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 1024
Remaining Men Together (David S) 1007
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 831
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 627
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 615
Project Mayhem (Donna) 609
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 600
Chemical Burn (Cam) 523

Sella-bration Time

Holy Crap. That was awesome. And tomorrow should be just as good, if not better. Sella wins. Bosisio is has a 5 second lead on Contader for the overall. Menchov was impressive too. Andy and Paddy both have monster days in the Giro Pool. But Listen Up Maggots has a bigger lead than ever.

Video here.

Check out tomorrow's stage profile:


Top 20:

1 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 5:37:14 0:00 22"
2 KIRYIENKA Vasil BLR TCS 5:41:52 4:38 12"
3 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin ESP GCE 5:42:22 5:08 8"
4 RUJANO GUILLEN José VEN GCE 5:44:42 7:28
5 BETTINI Paolo ITA QST 5:45:13 7:59
6 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 5:46:02 8:48
7 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 5:46:11 8:57
8 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 5:46:11 8:57
9 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 5:46:15 9:01
10 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 5:46:15 9:01
11 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 5:46:17 9:03
12 POZZOVIVO Domenico ITA CSF 5:46:25 9:11
13 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 5:46:28 9:14
14 PIEPOLI Leonardo ITA SDV 5:46:41 9:27
15 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 5:46:47 9:33
16 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 5:46:52 9:38
17 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 5:47:11 9:57
18 VALJAVEC Tadej SLO ALM 5:47:11 9:57
19 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 5:47:25 10:11
20 SORENSEN Chris DEN CSC 5:47:37 10:23


GC after stage 14:

1 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 63:10:47 0:00
2 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 63:10:52 0:05
3 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 63:11:15 0:28
4 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 63:11:49 1:02
5 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 63:11:54 1:07
6 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 63:11:58 1:11
7 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 63:12:05 1:18
8 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 63:12:18 1:31
9 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 63:12:19 1:32
10 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 63:12:22 1:35
11 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 63:12:27 1:40
12 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 63:12:51 2:04
13 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 63:12:53 2:06
14 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 63:13:38 2:51
15 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 63:13:41 2:54
16 PIEPOLI Leonardo ITA SDV 63:14:03 3:16
17 BETTINI Paolo ITA QST 63:15:19 4:32
18 POZZOVIVO Domenico ITA CSF 63:15:30 4:43
19 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 63:15:34 4:47
20 SORENSEN Chris DEN CSC 63:15:40 4:53


Today's Results:

A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 370
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 345
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 240
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 215
Grande Latte Enema (James) 160
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 160
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 160
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 130
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 100
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 100
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 95
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 90
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 80
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 80
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 70
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 65
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 60
Remaining Men Together (David S) 45
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 40
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 40
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 25
Project Mayhem (Donna) 25
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 10
Chemical Burn (Cam) 10
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 0
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 2359
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 1798
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 1722
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 1653
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 1611
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1479
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1457
Grande Latte Enema (James) 1451
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1430
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 1339
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 1220
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 1129
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 1120
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 1120
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 1118
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 1059
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 1041
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 981
Remaining Men Together (David S) 972
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 854
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 831
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 615
Project Mayhem (Donna) 609
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 565
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 557
Chemical Burn (Cam) 523

Cavendish Counters; Two in a Row for I'd Fight Gandhi

There are really only two players in the fight for sprint supremecy in this year's Giro: Daniele Bennati and Mark Cavendish. Bennati won yesterday, even though Cavendish had a bigger kick. But the young man fron the Isle of Man got his revenge today. He beat Bennati by well over a bike length. Koldo Fernandez was third. But perhaps the most exciting thing about today is that it's done. The race begins in earnest tomorrow, with three killer stages in the Dolomites.

Over in the FGBC pool, we have a repeat of yesterday's podium. Sprinter-heavy I'd Fight Gandhi takes another win with 290 points, followed by Listen Up Maggots and Ikea Nesting Instinct with 215 and 185 points respectively.

Bring on the mountains. This race is about to blow wide open. If only the same could be said for the FGBC Pool.

Top 20:

1 CAVENDISH Mark GBR THR 4:11:07 0:00 20"
2 BENNATI Daniele ITA LIQ 4:11:07 0:00 14"
3 FERNANDEZ Koldo ESP EUS 4:11:07 0:00 8"
4 ZABEL Erik GER MRM 4:11:07 0:00
5 DEAN Julian NZL TSL 4:11:07 0:00
6 LORENZETTO Mirco ITA LAM 4:11:07 0:00
7 USOV Alexandre BLR ALM 4:11:07 0:00
8 TRUSSOV Nikolai RUS TCS 4:11:07 0:00
9 MCEWEN Robbie AUS SIL 4:11:07 0:00
10 BROWN Graeme AUS RAB 4:11:07 0:00
11 GATTO Oscar ITA GST 4:11:07 0:00
12 HAYMAN Mathew AUS RAB 4:11:07 0:00
13 JEGOU Lilian FRA FDJ 4:11:07 0:00
14 FORSTER Robert GER GST 4:11:07 0:00
15 MISSAGLIA Gabriele ITA SDA 4:11:07 0:00
16 SCOGNAMIGLIO Carlo ITA BAR 4:11:07 0:00
17 SEROV Alexander RUS TCS 4:11:07 0:00
18 PAGLIARINI Luciano BRA SDV 4:11:07 0:00
19 PEREZ ARANGO Marlon A. COL GCE 4:11:07 0:00
20 BAZAYEV Assan KAZ AST 4:11:07 0:00


GC after stage 13:

1 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 57:17:06 0:00
2 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 57:22:56 5:50
3 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 57:24:05 6:59
4 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 57:24:47 7:41
5 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 57:24:57 7:51
6 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 57:24:58 7:52
7 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 57:25:02 7:56
8 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 57:25:26 8:20
9 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 57:25:37 8:31
10 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 57:25:38 8:32
11 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 57:26:03 8:57
12 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 57:26:03 8:57
13 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 57:26:08 9:02
14 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 57:26:16 9:10
15 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 57:26:36 9:30
16 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 57:26:39 9:33
17 PINOTTI Marco ITA THR 57:26:49 9:43
18 PETROV Evgeni RUS TCS 57:26:54 9:48
19 VEIKKANEN Jussi FIN FDJ 57:27:14 10:08
20 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 57:27:20 10:14


Today's Results:

I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 290
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 215
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 185
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 155
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 150
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 135
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 115
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 80
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 75
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 70
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 60
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 60
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 35
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 35
Grande Latte Enema (James) 25
Remaining Men Together (David S) 5
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 0
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 0
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 0
Project Mayhem (Donna) 0
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 0
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 0
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 0
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 0
Chemical Burn (Cam) 0
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 2144
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 1788
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 1583
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1392
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1384
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 1352
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1340
Grande Latte Enema (James) 1291
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 1266
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 1259
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 1078
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 1060
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 1040
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 1001
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 969
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 929
Remaining Men Together (David S) 927
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 921
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 880
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 831
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 754
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 590
Project Mayhem (Donna) 584
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 565
Chemical Burn (Cam) 513
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 457

Three for Bennati

172 kms of racing and it comes down to a couple of centimetres. Bennati manages to hold off a hard-charging Cavendish to take the win. McEwen is third. With the exception of Bennati, these are of course Matt's men. So is Julian Dean, who finished 13th. So I'd Fight Gandhi wins another sprint stage with 265 points. That's enough to move them into second place overall, just 431 points back of the lead. Listen Up Maggots is right there as well with a bargain basement collection of fast men (Forster, Fernandez, Dean). Another 205 points for the potty-mouthed princess of Pinedale. The prince of Pinedale, otherwise known as the poosher, was just behind with 200 points. More from CN.

Top 20:

1 BENNATI Daniele ITA LIQ 4:05:29 0:00 24"
2 CAVENDISH Mark GBR THR 4:05:29 0:00 12"
3 MCEWEN Robbie AUS SIL 4:05:29 0:00 8"
4 FERNANDEZ Koldo ESP EUS 4:05:29 0:00
5 BETTINI Paolo ITA QST 4:05:29 0:00
6 FORSTER Robert GER GST 4:05:29 0:00
7 PAGLIARINI Luciano BRA SDV 4:05:29 0:00
8 BAZAYEV Assan KAZ AST 4:05:29 0:00
9 USOV Alexandre BLR ALM 4:05:29 0:00
10 SEROV Alexander RUS TCS 4:05:29 0:00
11 JEGOU Lilian FRA FDJ 4:05:29 0:00
12 GREIPEL André GER THR 4:05:29 0:00
13 DEAN Julian NZL TSL 4:05:29 0:00
14 BOSSONI Paolo ITA LAM 4:05:29 0:00
15 TRUSSOV Nikolai RUS TCS 4:05:29 0:00
16 CHEREL Mikael FRA FDJ 4:05:29 0:00
17 SUTTON Christopher AUS TSL 4:05:29 0:00
18 GATES Nick AUS SIL 4:05:29 0:00
19 BROWN Graeme AUS RAB 4:05:29 0:00
20 PEREZ ARANGO Marlon A. COL GCE 4:05:29 0:00


GC after stage 12:

1 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 53:05:46 0:00
2 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 53:11:36 5:50
3 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 53:12:45 6:59
4 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 53:13:38 7:52
5 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 53:13:40 7:54
6 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 53:13:50 8:04
7 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 53:13:55 8:09
8 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 53:14:18 8:32
9 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 53:14:19 8:33
10 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 53:14:19 8:33
11 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 53:14:43 8:57
12 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 53:14:56 9:10
13 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 53:14:56 9:10
14 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 53:15:01 9:15
15 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 53:15:29 9:43
16 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 53:15:32 9:46
17 PETROV Evgeni RUS TCS 53:15:34 9:48
18 PINOTTI Marco ITA THR 53:15:42 9:56
19 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 53:16:00 10:14
20 PIEPOLI Leonardo ITA SDV 53:16:02 10:16


Stage 12 results:

I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 265
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 205
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 200
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 180
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 170
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 145
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 110
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 100
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 100
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 80
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 75
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 75
Remaining Men Together (David S) 65
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 60
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 45
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 45
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 40
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 40
Project Mayhem (Donna) 0
Grande Latte Enema (James) 0
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 0
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 0
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 0
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 0
Chemical Burn (Cam) 0
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 1929
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 1498
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 1398
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1357
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1280
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 1272
Grande Latte Enema (James) 1266
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1234
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 1231
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 1104
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 1060
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 1018
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 969
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 965
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 929
Remaining Men Together (David S) 922
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 921
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 886
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 880
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 754
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 696
Project Mayhem (Donna) 584
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 565
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 520
Chemical Burn (Cam) 513
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 457


For the record, here's a list of all the guys who are no longer racing. Anyone still racing with a full squad?

Stage 1 DNS: Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare)
Stage 2 DNS: Igor Astarloa (Team Milram)
Stage 2 DNF: David Zabriskie (Slipstream Chipotle – H30)
Stage 3 DNF: Bradley McGee (Team CSC)
Stage 4 DNF: Stuart O'Grady (Team CSC)
Stage 4 DNF: Dominique Cornu (Silence-Lotto)
Stage 4 DNF: Tom Stubbe (Française des Jeux)
Stage 5 DNS: Nick Nuyens (Cofidis)
Stage 6 DNF: Enrico Poitschke (Team Milram)
Stage 6 DNF: Kevin De Weert (Cofidis)
Stage 6 DNF: Rene Mandri (AG2R La Mondiale)
Stage 7 DNF: Alberto Loddo (Tinkoff Credit Systems)
Stage 7 DNF: Yauheni Hutarovich (Française des Jeux)
Stage 7 DNF: Aitor Galdos (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
Stage 7 DNF: Patrick Calcagni (Barloworld)
Stage 8 DNF: Steve Morabito (Astana)
Stage 8 DNF: Sergio Ghisalberti (Milram)
Stage 9 DNF: Bingen Fernandez Bustinza (Cofidis)
Stage 9 DNF: Filippo Savini (CSF Group Navigare)
Stage 10 DNS: Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff Credit Systems)
Stage 10 DNS: Magnus Backstedt (Slipstream)
Stage 10 DNS: Steve Zampieri (Cofidis)
Stage 11 DNS: Francesco Bellotti (Barloworld)
Stage 11 DNS: Andrea Moletta (Gerolsteiner)
Stage 11 DNS: Geert Steurs (Silence - Lotto)
Stage 11 DNF: Volker Ordowski (Gerolsteiner)
Stage 11 DNF: Mauro Santambrogio (Lampre)
Stage 11 DNF: Mauricio Soler (Barloworld)
Stage 11 DNF: Rik Verbrugghe (Cofidis)

late edition

hmmm, bacon dogs....

ouch

tinker tim's newly minted y-frame bike. that kinda sucks.

Thursday Anticipation

One more week to go. Get caught up on your sleep now. It is going to be awesome.



OTT: The Answering Machine, The Information

Bella, Donna

On a stage filled with crashes and further abandonments, it is only fitting that Project Mayhem is the day's big winner in the FGBC Giro Pool. Alessandro Bertolini emerges a somewhat fortunate victor from an original breakaway group of five that had become three by the end. Fortunato Baliani got taken down by some cobbles within the final km and Pablo Lastras was held up just enough by it that Bertolini took an easy win. Lots of crashes involving Leipheimer, Piepoli, Sella, not to mention Visconti in the pink jersey (see photo). Despite early reports that he might not be able to continue, it sounds like he's going to soldier on. Soler and Verbrugge won't be continuing either. Both abandoned the race on the first climb of the day. The next two days tilt back in favour of the sprinters. And then it's two big days in the high mountains. More from CN, VN, and Pez.

With Bertolini and Lastras on her team, Donna's Project Mayhem scores a decisive victory with 275 points. They surpass four other teams while vaulting out of last place in the pool. That dubious honour is now held by Darryl's team, A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing. Grande Latte Enema and Stomach Full of Xanax are tied for a distant second place with 155 points each. Listen Up Maggots is still cruising along with a big lead despite receiving only 5 points on the day. But notice how close it is in the battle for the second podium step: four teams within 50points of each other, with the standings changing every day.

Top 20:

1 BERTOLINI Alessandro ITA SDA 5:44:22 0:00 20"
2 LASTRAS GARCIA Pablo ESP GCE 5:44:27 0:05 12"
3 BALIANI Fortunato ITA CSF 5:44:27 0:05 12"
4 DALL'ANTONIA Tiziano ITA CSF 5:45:03 0:41
5 MANGEL Laurent FRA ALM 5:45:55 1:33 2"
6 VEIKKANEN Jussi FIN FDJ 5:45:55 1:33 6"
7 BENNATI Daniele ITA LIQ 5:48:15 3:53
8 ZABEL Erik GER MRM 5:48:15 3:53
9 LORENZETTO Mirco ITA LAM 5:48:15 3:53
10 REBELLIN Davide ITA GST 5:48:15 3:53
11 DE GROOT Bram NED RAB 5:48:15 3:53
12 BLAUDZUN Michael DEN CSC 5:48:15 3:53
13 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 5:48:15 3:53
14 VAN HUFFEL Wim BEL SIL 5:48:15 3:53
15 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 5:48:15 3:53
16 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 5:48:15 3:53
17 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 5:48:15 3:53
18 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 5:48:15 3:53
19 CHEREL Mikael FRA FDJ 5:48:15 3:53
20 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 5:48:15 3:53


GC after stage 11:

1 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 49:00:17 0:00
2 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 49:06:07 5:50
3 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 49:07:16 6:59
4 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 49:08:09 7:52
5 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 49:08:11 7:54
6 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 49:08:21 8:04
7 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 49:08:26 8:09
8 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 49:08:49 8:32
9 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 49:08:50 8:33
10 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 49:08:50 8:33
11 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 49:09:14 8:57
12 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 49:09:27 9:10
13 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 49:09:27 9:10
14 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 49:09:32 9:15
15 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 49:10:00 9:43
16 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 49:10:03 9:46
17 PETROV Evgeni RUS TCS 49:10:05 9:48
18 PINOTTI Marco ITA THR 49:10:13 9:56
19 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 49:10:31 10:14
20 PIEPOLI Leonardo ITA SDV 49:10:33 10:16


Todays Results:

Project Mayhem (Donna) 275
Grande Latte Enema (James) 155
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 155
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 110
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 105
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 100
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 90
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 85
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 80
Remaining Men Together (David S) 45
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 40
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 40
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 35
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 25
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 25
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 20
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 5
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 5
Chemical Burn (Cam) 5
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 5
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 0
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 0
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 0
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 0
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 0
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 1724
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1282
Grande Latte Enema (James) 1266
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 1233
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 1232
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 1198
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 1156
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1100
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1089
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 1064
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 980
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 969
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 929
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 921
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 918
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 880
Remaining Men Together (David S) 857
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 795
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 776
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 754
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 596
Project Mayhem (Donna) 584
Chemical Burn (Cam) 513
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 505
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 460
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 412

OTT: The Old 97's, The Fool

Spring Dogfest Haiku Report

Bacon wrapped hot dogs

The beer will be at Ingolf

There were northern lights

I think that just about sums it up.

Come On Arlene

Oh I swear . . .

I'm swearing alright. This was supposed to be the stage where the gap came back together again. And now you go ahead and increase it?

"These people round here
Wear beaten down eyes sunk in smoke dried faces
So resigned to what their fate is . . ."

Their fate is apparently to get their butts kicked by Listen Up Maggots in the 2008 FGBC Giro Pool. A 442 point lead! Very impressive. How do you make it look so easy? Even King Andy is humbled right now.

Bruseghin wins it. Just like he did last year. Contador (fractured elbow?) and Kloden were second and third. An interesting 1-2 punch for Astana in the overall race. More from CN, VN, and Pez.

Top 20:

1 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 56:41 0:00
2 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 56:49 0:08
3 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 57:01 0:20
4 PINOTTI Marco ITA THR 57:17 0:36
5 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 57:25 0:44
6 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 57:27 0:46
7 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 57:35 0:54
8 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 57:40 0:59
9 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 57:42 1:01
10 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 57:43 1:02
11 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 57:43 1:02
12 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 57:46 1:05 Maglia Rosa
13 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 57:59 1:18
14 PETROV Evgeni RUS TCS 58:12 1:31
15 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 58:19 1:38
16 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 58:45 2:04
17 GUSEV Vladimir RUS AST 58:46 2:05
18 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 58:50 2:09
19 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 58:52 2:11
20 MARTIN Tony GER THR 58:54 2:13


GC after stage 10:

1 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 43:12:02 0:00
2 RUSS Matthias GER GST 43:15:33 3:31
3 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 43:17:52 5:50
4 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 43:19:01 6:59
5 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 43:19:54 7:52
6 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 43:19:56 7:54
7 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 43:20:06 8:04
8 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 43:20:11 8:09
9 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 43:20:34 8:32
10 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 43:20:35 8:33
11 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 43:20:35 8:33
12 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 43:20:59 8:57
13 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 43:21:12 9:10
14 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 43:21:12 9:10
15 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 43:21:17 9:15
16 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 43:21:45 9:43
17 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 43:21:46 9:44
18 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 43:21:48 9:46
19 PETROV Evgeni RUS TCS 43:21:50 9:48
20 PINOTTI Marco ITA THR 43:21:58 9:56


Today's Results:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 345
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 305
Grande Latte Enema (James) 295
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 270
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 250
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 245
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 215
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 195
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 155
Remaining Men Together (David S) 150
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 135
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 130
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 130
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 130
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 125
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 110
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 105
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 100
Chemical Burn (Cam) 100
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 80
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 80
Project Mayhem (Donna) 65
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 60
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 55
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 15
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 10


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 1719
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1277
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 1207
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 1156
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 1128
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 1118
Grande Latte Enema (James) 1111
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1095
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1089
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 979
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 940
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 921
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 918
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 879
Remaining Men Together (David S) 812
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 780
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 774
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 755
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 741
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 729
Chemical Burn (Cam) 508
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 486
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 485
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 460
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 412
Project Mayhem (Donna) 309

OTT: Shout Out Louds, Please Please Please

Spring Dogfest

Tuesday May 20, 9:30 pm. Meet at my place at 9pm to ride over together.

Bring dogs and buns and some $$ to cover the keg from Half Pints.

Mr. Eppstein would appreciate a confimation of your attendance. Drop a comment below, please.

Be there. There's plenty of Spring Ride talk that needs to go down. The counter is down to single digits.

morden race preview

it really is too bad that the spring ride and the back 40 mountain bike race are on the same weekend. sounds like the event will be the same type of party, good time event as southern cross was last year in altona. free camping, free passes to the back forty music festival for racers, post race pizza from warky's, rocky mountain demo days, and kilometers of roller coaster single track. for those who have not ridden these trails, you will be impressed. the only really flat parts of the route are the 6.5 kms of road (gravel and paved), otherwise it is climbs and descents. sport class should be able to do the 20kms in an hour and change to an hour and a half, experts in just under an hour. there are 20 bridges to cross, some switch-backs, and a couple of climbs that will be a challenge for the single-speeders (shifty people who feel the need to ride multi-speed bikes could have an advantage).



james and his bob heading out for the ride and to do some trail work on the way. he rode the downhills faster than anyone else, even with the bob in tow - nutty.


marking one of the twenty bridge crossing on the trail.


one of the two creek crossings on the trail. the first one is easier; this one sucks because it is followed by a nice little climb (i could not quite make it using 34X16 - 34X18 would be doable)

for those going on the spring ride you may want to try hard to make this race - its going to be memorable. i will be heading to the spring ride on friday morning and then leaving for the morden race on the saturday (with a quick stop in winnipeg on the way through to feed the cats) if anyone wants a ride.

Brad the Impaler

Plenty of spills and cheap thrills in the Pembina Hills yesterday afternoon. Johnny S, Jonny G, and me, accompanied by four virgin riders: Gavin, Paul B, Brad, and Kevin. We rode last year's new cut, and this year's too. Sweet, flowing singletrack. Lots of other riders out too, most notably three old school Mennonite kids, between 8 and 12 years old. Buttoned up collars, jeans, thick accents, and very friendly. I think we may have met the next Floyd Landis. Good times.






Johnny S still hates climbing.



And then, wihtout warning, hell broke loose as Brad the Impaler unleashed a torrent vitriolic furor the likes of which I have not witnessed in a long, long time.

First, he grabbed a log and beat to death this poor wounded bat--ostensibly in an attempt to put it out of its misery after we'd somehow injured it in a trailside tree clearing project, but it all seemed just a bit too cruel for such an excuse.



And then, just when we thought we'd gotten him settled down, he went turned his rage on himself. It appears he was trying to throw himself on a twisted heap of jagged branches and broken tree stumps. But he missed and ended up in a twisted heap of his own on the makeshift creek crossing. Let us find this guy one of the sweetest jerseys in the world, and soon. I'd definitely want him lining up on my side in a darkened alley.



OTT: Nadine, Streets

Benna by a Hair; I'd Fight Gandhi too

The sprinters haven't really had all that many opportunities to flex their short twitch muscle fibres throughout the first nine stages of this year's Giro. But they had their day on stage 9 with a flat run in to the finish. Paolo Bettini almost stole one from the fast men, and for a while he seemed to think he'd won it. But Daniele Bennati was able to hold him off with a well-timed bike throw. He takes his second stage of the Giro in a photo-finish, winning by just a few centimetres. McEwen was there too, but so far the wins keep eluding him.

We had a photo-finish in the FGBC Pool as well. Matt's I'd Fight Gandhi wins by a mere five points over Jonny B's Skinny Guys FIght 'Til They're Burger, 230 to 225. Listen Up Maggots was right there as well, with 215 points. Arlene's team continues to pile up the points and now hold a lead of 233 points over Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice. After that, though, it's all pretty tight. The gap between first and second is about the same as that between second and eighth place.

Today is the first rest day, and tomorrow is the first of three individual time trials. Just under 40 km, and mostly uphill. There will be a shakeup in the GC, that's for sure.

Ultimo Chilometro:

Top 20:

1 BENNATI Daniele ITA LIQ 5:30:06 0:00 22"
2 BETTINI Paolo ITA QST 5:30:06 0:00 12"
3 MCEWEN Robbie AUS SIL 5:30:06 0:00 8"
4 ZABEL Erik GER MRM 5:30:06 0:00
5 FERNANDEZ Koldo ESP EUS 5:30:06 0:00
6 FORSTER Robert GER GST 5:30:06 0:00
7 CAVENDISH Mark GBR THR 5:30:06 0:00
8 DALL'ANTONIA Tiziano ITA CSF 5:30:06 0:00
9 DEAN Julian NZL TSL 5:30:06 0:00
10 USOV Alexandre BLR ALM 5:30:06 0:00
11 BAZAYEV Assan KAZ AST 5:30:06 0:00
12 JEGOU Lilian FRA FDJ 5:30:06 0:00
13 LORENZETTO Mirco ITA LAM 5:30:06 0:00
14 BROWN Graeme AUS RAB 5:30:06 0:00
15 ERMETI Giairo ITA LPR 5:30:06 0:00
16 FOTHEN Thomas GER GST 5:30:06 0:00
17 GATTO Oscar ITA GST 5:30:06 0:00
18 SUTTON Christopher AUS TSL 5:30:06 0:00
19 TRUSSOV Nikolai RUS TCS 5:30:06 0:00
20 SEROV Alexander RUS TCS 5:30:06 0:00


GC after stage 9:

1 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 42:14:16 Maglia Rosa
2 RUSS Matthias GER GST 42:14:50 0:34
3 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 42:20:09 5:53
4 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 42:21:43 7:27
5 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 42:21:48 7:32 Maglia Verde
6 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 42:21:49 7:33
7 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 42:22:02 7:46
8 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 42:22:12 7:56
9 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 42:22:27 8:11
10 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 42:22:31 8:15
11 SORENSEN Nicki DEN CSC 42:22:40 8:24
12 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 42:22:46 8:30
13 PIEPOLI Leonardo ITA SDV 42:22:54 8:38
14 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 42:22:55 8:39
15 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 42:22:55 8:39
16 REBELLIN Davide ITA GST 42:22:56 8:40
17 SORENSEN Chris DEN CSC 42:23:11 8:55
18 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin ESP GCE 42:23:12 8:56
19 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 42:23:13 8:57
20 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 42:23:29 9:13


Stage 9 Results:

I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 230
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 225
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 215
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 145
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 140
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 135
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 125
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 100
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 100
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 100
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 100
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 85
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 75
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 65
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 60
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 55
Remaining Men Together (David S) 50
Grande Latte Enema (James) 0
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 0
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 0
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 0
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 0
Chemical Burn (Cam) 0
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 0
Project Mayhem (Donna) 0
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 1374
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 1141
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 1048
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 1034
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 1015
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 1007
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 983
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 902
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 818
Grande Latte Enema (James) 816
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 811
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 810
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 734
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 731
Remaining Men Together (David S) 662
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 649
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 629
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 625
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 574
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 565
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 426
Chemical Burn (Cam) 408
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 330
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 307
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 290
Project Mayhem (Donna) 244

OTT: The Hold Steady, Massive Nights

The Cobra Strikes Again

Top 20 in Stage 8:

1 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 0:00 20"
2 BETTINI Paolo ITA QST 4:41:05 0:00 12"
3 REBELLIN Davide ITA GST 4:41:05 0:00 8"
4 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 4:41:05 0:00
5 PIETROPOLLI Daniele ITA LPR 4:41:05 0:00
6 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 4:41:05 0:00
7 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 4:41:05 0:00
8 POZZOVIVO Domenico ITA CSF 4:41:05 0:00
9 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 4:41:05 0:00
10 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 4:41:05 0:00
11 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 4:41:05 0:00
12 VALJAVEC Tadej SLO ALM 4:41:05 0:00
13 RUJANO GUILLEN José VEN GCE 4:41:05 0:00
14 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 4:41:05 0:00
15 DEVENYNS Dries BEL SIL 4:41:05 0:00
16 VEIKKANEN Jussi FIN FDJ 4:41:05 0:00
17 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin ESP GCE 4:41:05 0:00
18 POSSONI Morris ITA THR 4:41:05 0:00
19 PETROV Evgeni RUS TCS 4:41:05 0:00
20 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 4:41:05 0:00


GC After Stage 8:

1 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 36:44:06 0:00
2 RUSS Matthias GER GST 36:44:40 0:34
3 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 36:49:59 5:53
4 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 36:51:33 7:27
5 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 36:51:39 7:33
6 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 36:51:42 7:36
7 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 36:51:52 7:46
8 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 36:52:02 7:56
9 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 36:52:17 8:11
10 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 36:52:25 8:19
11 SORENSEN Nicki DEN CSC 36:52:34 8:28
12 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 36:52:36 8:30
13 PIEPOLI Leonardo ITA SDV 36:52:44 8:38
14 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 36:52:45 8:39
15 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 36:52:45 8:39
16 REBELLIN Davide ITA GST 36:52:46 8:40
17 SORENSEN Chris DEN CSC 36:53:01 8:55
18 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin ESP GCE 36:53:02 8:56
19 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 36:53:03 8:57
20 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 36:53:19 9:13


Stage 8 Results:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 250
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 200
Grande Latte Enema (James) 190
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 185
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 165
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 160
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 150
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 125
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 125
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 110
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 90
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 75
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 75
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 75
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 75
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 65
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 60
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 60
Chemical Burn (Cam) 60
Remaining Men Together (David S) 50
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 40
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 35
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 10
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 10
Project Mayhem (Donna) 10
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 1159
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 1066
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 949
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 907
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 842
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 838
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 818
Grande Latte Enema (James) 816
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 811
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 790
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 718
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 685
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 649
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 634
Remaining Men Together (David S) 612
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 596
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 574
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 565
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 564
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 525
Chemical Burn (Cam) 408
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 307
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 290
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 286
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 275
Project Mayhem (Donna) 244

Sunday

It looks like ther are a couple of options for riding shaping up for Sunday:

1) Trans-Canada Trail south of Tinker.

Jonnys G & S, Brad, and myself are in so far. We're meeting at 1:30 pm at the little parking spot by the trailhead for the Trans Canada Trail section south of Tinker Creek. It's kind of hard to describe if you don't already know, but let me be foolish and give it a try. Take the road south from Morden past Tinker Creek. It becomes the 201 at some point. About 2 miles south of Tinker it heads up a hill and turns right. At the first mile road after that, there's a small and entirely nondescript gravel parking spot just south of the intersection. Make sense? Be there.

2) Ride to BHP

Ian and Donna are planning an easy (~20km/h) ride out to BHP on the North East Pioneers Rails-to-Trails route and other gravel roads. Probably leaving from the legislature at about 10 a.m.

Join up for either one if you're able.

There may also be a ride on Saturday at the Morden lake trail. But I'm not entirely sure. Be in touch with Alberto on that one.

Don't expect timely Giro updates this weekend. Limited internet connection.

Killer on the Prowl?

Today's stage, with its mountain-top finish, was billed as the first stage with significant GC implications. While not as decisive as the 3 TTs and two monster mountain stages to come in the second half, this was supposed to be the stage where those who are serious about going for the pink jersey played their first cards. What did we learn? We learnt that the Killer (Di Luca) and the Cobra (Ricco) are on the hunt for pink. We also learnt that Contador is interested in having a go at it too. All three were in the first chase group, though Di Luca dropped Contador with ease in the final km, while Ricco stayed glued to his wheel. Kloden, Menchov, Simoni, Leipheimer and the Sorensens were all about 50 seconds further back. Noone really lost big time today and nobody declared themselves the man to beat either, but the list of real contenders for the overall title is starting to become a little clearer.

Over in the FGBC Pool, Grande Latte Enema takes the stage with 250 points courtesy of Cardenas, Di Luca, Bruseghin, Savoldelli, and Simoni. James was just complaining to me yesterday about how poorly he was doing. I told him not to worry, and reassured him that it wasn't time to worry yet. I suspect those guys will likely rack up quite a few more points before we're through. Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice grabs second place with 225 points and, more importantly, jumps into second place overall. A Predator Posing as a House Pet was third, with 205 points. Watch out for King Andy. Listen Up Maggots, extends its stranglehold on the pink jersey. They currently hold a 43 point lead over Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice. Tonight We Make Soap and You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake are 110 and 112 points back, respectively.

Watch the Killer's attack:



Top 20:

1 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 4:45:05 0:00 26"
2 KIRYIENKA Vasil BLR TCS 4:45:51 0:46 12"
3 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 4:46:07 1:02 8" Maglia Verde
4 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 4:46:38 1:33 2"
5 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 4:47:09 2:04
6 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 4:47:09 2:04
7 PIEPOLI Leonardo ITA SDV 4:47:12 2:07
8 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 4:47:15 2:10
9 REBELLIN Davide ITA GST 4:48:00 2:55
10 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 4:48:00 2:55
11 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 4:48:00 2:55
12 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin ESP GCE 4:48:00 2:55
13 MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 4:48:00 2:55
14 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 4:48:00 2:55
15 SORENSEN Chris DEN CSC 4:48:00 2:55
16 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 4:48:00 2:55
17 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 4:48:00 2:55
18 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA AST 4:48:00 2:55
19 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 4:48:00 2:55
20 SORENSEN Nicki DEN CSC 4:48:00 2:55


GC after stage 7:

1 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 32:03:01 Maglia Rosa
2 RUSS Matthias GER GST 32:03:10 0:09
3 BOSISIO Gabriele ITA LPR 32:08:44 5:43
4 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 32:10:28 7:27
5 SELLA Emanuele ITA CSF 32:10:37 7:36
6 CARDENAS Felix Rafael COL BAR 32:10:47 7:46
7 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 32:10:54 7:53
8 NARDELLO Daniele ITA SDA 32:10:54 7:53
9 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 32:10:57 7:56
10 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 32:11:12 8:11
11 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 32:11:20 8:19
12 SORENSEN Nicki DEN CSC 32:11:29 8:28
13 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 32:11:31 8:30
14 PIEPOLI Leonardo ITA SDV 32:11:39 8:38
15 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 32:11:40 8:39
16 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 32:11:40 8:39
17 REBELLIN Davide ITA GST 32:11:49 8:48
18 SORENSEN Chris DEN CSC 32:11:56 8:55
19 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin ESP GCE 32:11:57 8:56
20 BRUSEGHIN Marzio ITA LAM 32:11:58 8:57


Today's Results:

Grande Latte Enema (James) 250
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 225
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 205
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 200
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 145
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 135
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 135
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 130
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 105
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 100
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 85
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 80
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 80
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 70
Remaining Men Together (David S) 50
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 45
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 40
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 30
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 25
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 25
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 25
Chemical Burn (Cam) 25
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 15
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 0
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 0
Project Mayhem (Donna) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 909
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 866
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 799
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 797
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 778
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 758
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 686
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 682
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 643
Grande Latte Enema (James) 626
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 605
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 574
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 569
Remaining Men Together (David S) 562
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 521
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 520
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 499
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 485
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 474
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 440
Chemical Burn (Cam) 348
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 307
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 280
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 265
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 251
Project Mayhem (Donna) 234

OTT: The Jayhawks, Wichita

Stage 6

. . . i.e., yesterday. Just the facts:

Top 20:

1 PRIAMO Matteo ITA CSF 5:24:49 0:00 22"
2 PEREZ LEZAUN Alan ESP EUS 5:24:57 0:08 12"
3 TRUSSOV Nikolai RUS TCS 5:25:16 0:27 8"
4 MARTENS Paul GER RAB 5:25:20 0:31
5 IGLINSKIY Maxim KAZ AST 5:25:21 0:32
6 NARDELLO Daniele ITA SDA 5:25:25 0:36
7 GAVAZZI Francesco ITA LAM 5:25:29 0:40 4"
8 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 5:25:29 0:40 6"
9 BACKSTEDT Magnus SWE TSL 5:25:32 0:43
10 RUSS Matthias GER GST 5:25:36 0:47
11 MCCARTNEY Jason USA CSC 5:25:52 1:03
12 BENNATI Daniele ITA LIQ 5:36:23 11:34 Maglia Ciclamino
13 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 5:36:23 11:34
14 CHEREL Mikael FRA FDJ 5:36:23 11:34
15 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen BEL SIL 5:36:23 11:34
16 SIMONI Gilberto ITA SDA 5:36:23 11:34
17 TONTI Andrea ITA QST 5:36:23 11:34
18 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 5:36:23 11:34 Maglia Rosa
19 BETTINI Paolo ITA QST 5:36:23 11:34
20 VEIKKANEN Jussi FIN FDJ 5:36:23 11:34


GC after Stage 6:

1 VISCONTI Giovanni ITA QST 27:14:04 0:00 Maglia Rosa
2 RUSS Matthias GER GST 27:14:04 0:00 Maglia Bianca U23
3 NARDELLO Daniele ITA SDA 27:15:26 1:22
4 PEREZ LEZAUN Alan ESP EUS 27:18:46 4:42
5 GAVAZZI Francesco ITA LAM 27:19:38 5:34
6 PRIAMO Matteo ITA CSF 27:23:11 9:07
7 PELLIZOTTI Franco ITA LIQ 27:23:12 9:08
8 DI LUCA Danilo ITA LPR 27:23:19 9:15
9 POSSONI Morris ITA THR 27:23:20 9:16
10 NIBALI Vincenzo ITA LIQ 27:23:20 9:16
11 VANDEVELDE Christian USA TSL 27:23:27 9:23
12 SORENSEN Nicki DEN CSC 27:23:29 9:25
13 SIVTSOV Kanstantsin BLR THR 27:23:30 9:26
14 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA LPR 27:23:31 9:27
15 NOE' Andrea ITA LIQ 27:23:34 9:30
16 LARSSON Gustav Erik SWE CSC 27:23:40 9:36
17 KLODEN Andreas GER AST 27:23:40 9:36
18 PFANNBERGER Christian AUT BAR 27:23:40 9:36
19 CONTADOR Alberto ESP AST 27:23:42 9:38
20 RICCO' Riccardo ITA SDV 27:23:45 9:41


Stage 6 Results:

I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 125
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 90
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 85
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 85
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 85
Remaining Men Together (David S) 80
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 75
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 75
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 50
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 40
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 40
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 30
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 25
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 25
Grande Latte Enema (James) 25
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 15
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 0
Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 0
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 0
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 0
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 0
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 0
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 0
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 0
Project Mayhem (Donna) 0
Chemical Burn (Cam) 0


Overall Standings:

Listen Up Maggots (Arlene) 774
I'd Fight Gandhi (Matt) 733
Ikea Nesting Instinct (Tomek) 733
Tonight We Make Soap (Rachel) 694
You Are Not a Beautiful or Unique Snowflake (Dallas) 652
Gasoline and Frozen Orange Juice (Paddy) 641
Skinny Guys Fight 'Til They're Burger (Jonny B) 580
I am Jack's Smirking Revenge (Brad) 563
B Times C Equals X (Hal) 556
Remaining Men Together (David S) 512
I'll Take the Parasites (Chris) 499
OALETTSRFEDTZ (Colin) 495
A Predator Posing as a House Pet (Andy) 477
Chloe's Libido (Johnny M) 455
His Name Was Robert Paulson (Bill) 441
The Most Beautiful Day of Raymond K. Hessel's Life (Charlene) 399
Grade School Girlfriend (Adam) 389
Grande Latte Enema (James) 376
Stomach Full of Xanax (Laura) 374
Chemical Burn (Cam) 323
Controlled Destruction (Ian) 305
Near Life Experience (LeAnn) 280
A House Full of Condiments and No Food … How Embarrasing (Darryl) 267
First You Have to Give Up (Craig) 265
You Met Me at a Very Strange Time in My Life (Jonny G) 236
Project Mayhem (Donna) 234

Stage 7 coming soon.