Did Somebody Say "British Invasion"?

Since that has apparently become the official theme of the real race, we at the 2012 FGBC Tour de France Pool have evidently decided we should follow suit. Unlike the yawner that was the real race, however, that meant there was some excitement in the vicarious version.

Those who have played our silly little games before will know that King Andy, our British-born veteran, has been known to relate to newcomers in a manner that can only be described as icy. Troy is still licking his wounds from the savage beating Andy unleashed on him in the Spring Classics Pool. Jason proved to be a much more formidable opponent in the Tour de France Pool. So much so that King Andy had to enlist the help of Prince Dan to wrest the vicarious yellow jersey from Jason's seemingly impenetrable grip. Dan may not have the accent that his father does, but apparently he still has the mean streak that the Brits are sometimes known for. And poor, unsuspecting Jason bore the brunt of it. Jason led the race from the Prologue all the way through to Stage 17. And he could be forgiven for thinking he had the whole thing pretty much sewn up. But just as he does when he races bikes for real, Dan started slow and got progressively stronger as the race chugged along. On stage 2, while Jason had already been in yellow for three days, Dan was all the way down in 26th place. By stage 9, he was still in 9th place. And he only moved into the top three on stage 12. But from there it was a slow and steady rise until he finally pulled on the vicarious yellow jersey after stage 18. And then on the next stage, after Dan had delivered the decisive kick to the groin, King Andy moved into second overall, bumping Jason down to third place. It was actually quite an impressive performance--a one-two tag-team reminiscent of British Bulldogs' Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid from back when it was pro wrestling rather than pro cycling that captured the hearts of the Dark Side. In the end, Jason was lucky to remain on the podium at all. Once the dust settled, Brian was just 10 points from pushing Jason from the podium altogether. The difference between Dan and Andy was also very close. The King finished just 20 points behind his crown prince.

The stage winners since our last update were as follows:

Stage 16: Thomas
Stage 17: Patrick
Stage 18: Adam
Stage 19: Brian
Stage 20: Chris H

Full results and overall standings can be found here.

Now we have some prizes to sort out. I guess Jason wins the Revolution Wheelworks socks. We'll let Dan choose between the FGBC socks and the free entry to the Brandon Race. Andy gets whichever prize is left over. Sound good?

Thanks for playing everybody. That was fun.

If I can get my act together, we'll get the Fall Classics Pool launched in the next little while so that we can include the Olympic road race and ITT. Those take place on July 28 and August 2, respectively. And then the Clasica San Sebastian is on August 4. So check back in a few days if you're up for more cycling geek fun courtesy of the FGBC's Dept. of Low Stakes Gambling.

And finally, I apologize for not being able to update the results in a more timely fashion. But watching a bunch of kids participate in their first big cycling event was way more fun than watching this Tour. Just think of the party we could have had in Swan River if you'd all joined me up there.