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