Holy Halberto!

Like Tony H, Halberto has been a mainstay of the FGBC Cycling Pools over the years. But unlike Tony, his efforts have been largely futile. Another way to say it is that he has just plain sucked. Not today though. Far from sucking, he stepped up with a solid 220 point performance and bagged a stage win for his troubles. And in the overall race, he's actually in the top third. Halberto sits in 13th place after today's performance. Ian finished second with 180 points. I bet they hatched a plan during yesterday's night ride in Brandon. For third place, there was a three-way tie between Bill, Jonny B, and me. We all had 150 points. In the overall race, RRR is finally starting to show what they're really made of. KK drops another spot. He's down to 5th now. And the Impaler is in 8th and falling fast. The FGBC still holds the lead. That would be me. Mike is in second, but Chris A and Prince Dan are just waiting for the right opportunity to make their move. I should, however, also mention that 3 out of the bottom 6 teams are also FGBCers. We will have a team meeting before the 2009 FGBC Tour de France Pool.

In the real race, Ivan Basso gave it a try today. He attacked on the final climb and got up to a minute advantage at one point. But the chasing group of contenders managed to reel him back in. Leo Bertagnolli won the stage. Once again, there was a breakaway that managed to stay away. Pauwels and Pinotti were second and third. The only big change in the overall has to do with Simoni, who finished over 17 minutes back and dropped out of the top 20. Also interesting is the list of riders who have packed it in--the Ritirati. Four more quit the race today: Tyler Farrar and Eros Cappecchi did not start today, while David Millar, Iban Mayoz, and Ricardo Serrano decided during the stage that it just wasn't fun anymore. The full list of riders who have abandoned now stands at 23:

DNS CANCELLARA Fabian SUI SAX
DNS CAPECCHI Eros ITA FUJ
DNS CAVENDISH Mark GBR THR
DNS CHAINEL Steve FRA BBO
DNF DEL NERO Jesus ESP FUJ
DNS FARRAR Tyler USA GRM
DNF GARCIA DA PENA David ESP XGZ
DNS HORNER Christopher USA AST
DNF HORRILLO MUNOZ Pedro ESP RAB
DNF LOUBET Julien FRA ALM
DNF MAYOZ ECHEVERRIA Iban ESP XGZ
DNS MEYER Cameron AUS GRM
DNF MILLAR David GBR GRM
DNF PEREZ SANCHEZ Francisco ESP GCE
DNF PIDGORNYY Ruslan UKR ISD
DNS POZZATO Filippo ITA KAT
DNS RENSHAW Mark AUS THR
DNF RODRIGUEZ Joaquin ESP GCE
DNF RUSS Matthias GER MRM
DNF SCHOLZ Ronny GER MRM
DNF SERRANO Ricardo ESP FUJ
DNF VANDEVELDE Christian USA GRM
DNF VANENDERT Jelle BEL SIL

As always, see Pez for the rest of the story.

Tomorrow should be interesting. A 237 km ride over 3 big climbs, with an uphill finish to top it all off:



If there's a stage to watch, this could very well be it.

Highlights:




Stage 15 Results:

Hal L 220
Ian H 180
Bill A 150
Chris H 150
Jonny B 150
Charlene 140
Dan L 120
Mike G 120
Andy L 100
Rachel H 90
Dallas S 80
Kevin K 80
Greg W 75
Brian S 50
Paddy H 50
Vic P 50
David S 45
Chris A 35
Mark S 35
Paul V 35
Brad E 30
Naomi H 20
Chris D 15
Donna H 15
John W 15
Chris O 10
Jonah H 10
Jonny G 10
Matt H 10
Craig P 0
Miriam H 0
LeAnn F 0
Adam B 0


Overall Standings:

Chris H 2800
Mike G 2575
Chris A 2553
Dan L 2500
Kevin K 2474
Ian H 2426
Greg W 2373
Brad E 2288
Dallas S 2252
Andy L 2221
Paul V 2174
Naomi H 2171
Hal L 2091
Mark S 2041
David S 2022
Bill A 2002
Jonah H 1848
Donna H 1814
Brian S 1767
LeAnn F 1764
Charlene G 1760
Matt H 1755
Chris O 1733
John W 1647
Rachel H 1636
Paddy H 1625
Jonny B 1593
Craig P 1563
Adam B 1561
Vic P 1533
Miriam H 1509
Chris D 1506
Jonny G 1468