Weaseled

James has become the 18th different person to win a stage in the 2009 FGBC Tour de France Pool. He had the right combination of riders today, namely Cavendish, Beppu, Armstrong, and Wiggins. Together, they collected 300 points to deliver the Weasel to the podium for an awkward round of kisses. Needless to say, he is quite proud of himself right now. His cheeky grin is so wide, in fact, that he almost choked on it. I think I can see it all the way from Machu Picchu, where he's hiking at the moment. Good thing he's not here to dole out a round of sass. That would be intolerable. We'd have no choice but to secure the permission of Crown Justice to deliver some FGBC-style justice by stealing his jersey again. And then we'd end up with some hurt feelings. The Weasel is hard to stomach when he's grinning impudently from ear to ear. But a whining Weasel is so much worse. It's probably best just to leave everything alone. John Wi took second today, with 275 points. And Keith rounded out the podium. He picked up 265 points. Keith probably hasn't received the attention he deserves. That's because he hasn't made it into the top three in the GC. But he hasn't been that far off. He made it all the way up to 4th overall at one point, and currently sits in 6th place on the GC. John Wi has also been on a good run lately. He's just back of Keith in 7th place. Not bad for two relative newcomes to the world of vicarious racing.

One person who hasn't yet won a stage is Melissa. That is surprising, because she's the only person to have remained among the top three since the race began almost three weeks ago. Not a bad consolation prize. She continues to hold the overall lead with 3349 points. Greg is in second, 122 points back. And Brad the Impaler is holding onto his third place standing. King Andy closed the gap a little bit, though. He's now just 40 points away from taking back his podium spot. In the race for last place, the Fraggle was shut out once again, while Mark S picked up a handful of points. So she solidifes her grip on the lanterne rouge. And Mark now has an 80 point cushion in his bid to avoid the dubious prize.

In the real race, Oscar Freire reminded me why I picked him when he cyclocrossed it through a roundabout with 1.5 km to go.


Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

Cavendish managed to drag himself over the final Cat. 2 climb to take the sprint ahead of Hushovd and Ciolek. That's 5 stage wins for the Manx Mouth. And likely one more to come on Sunday. Not bad. Check out the full story at Pez.

Results and standings here.