So, as you have no doubt heard, Floyd Landis has tested positive after his heroic ride to Morzine on stage 17. Now, we still have to wait for the B sample to be tested before the final verdict is handed down, but it don't look good for the hipless wonder. It's not exactly good for cycling, either.
But, more importantly, what does this mean for the Tour Pool? Well, Mike and I have discussed this and, given that we have already started to hand out cash and merchandise, we will let the original results stand for the sake of the prizes. However, bragging rights are far more important, so who "really" won?
Taking Landis out of the results from stage 17 on and slapping him with a 25-point penalty, it turns out the pool would have been dominated by Grimpeur George, followed a long way back by Stefan Sander and Rob Grondin. Chris Holzauer drops from first to fourth, Julie Deschenes-Furry from second to sixth and Vicki Thomas from third to fifth. Six of the top 10 entries remain in the top 10, with Kandoy, Crowley, Metuzals and Faulkner losing out, and Sander, Grondin, Chris & Storm and Ortega taking their place.
While we wait for the B sample, we can ponder possible explanations (other than the obvious one, which is that he deliberately cheated). Could it have been the beer he drank after stage 16? Was it the cortisone injections he had for his hip? Or the medication he is using to treat his thyroid condition? All these have been put forward, but who knows ...
Meanwhile, should we question Chris Holzauer's now-tainted victory? What methods did he use to secure his win? Didn't he realize he would be caught? Should he be suspended for one year, two years, for life?
-- KW
RANK TOT 1 779 Grimpeur George 2 732 Stefan Sander 3 729 Rob Grondin 4 711 Chris Holzauer 5 683 Vicki Thomas 6 680 Julie Deschenes-Furry 7 665 Tyler Lawlor 8 647 Chris & Storm 9 642 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 10 639 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 11 638 Meylina Kandoy 12 635 Nat Faulkner 13 629 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 14 625 Steve Proulx 15 624 SUPERFAN 16 621 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 17 620 Peter Metuzals 18 615 Markus Chiang 19 604 Gordon Dalling 20 603 Marc Boudreau 21 595 Linda Gilligan 22 592 Helena DeVeer 23 591 Jamie Bryan 24 590 Team Damdom 24 590 Orange Scheisse 26 584 Ian Dalling 27 583 Derrick St. John 27 583 Mhairi Gilmore 29 575 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 30 574 Alex Lai 31 571 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 32 569 Matt Toulouse 33 561 Jeffrey Furry 34 556 "Barnet CC" 35 553 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 36 545 Sandy Fulton 37 540 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 38 536 Blaine Penny 39 526 Natasha Elliott 40 518 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 41 517 Courtnay Romkey 42 515 Chris White 43 513 Ed Makarchuk 44 505 Neil la Plante 45 502 Lori Meyers 46 497 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 47 496 Richard and Catherine 48 489 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 49 488 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 50 482 Ross Knight 51 481 Josh Hall 52 464 Wilby McKnight 53 458 Kevin Field "Fev" 54 449 Doug Hinan 55 448 J to the U 56 440 Team Oro Rocks 57 435 Mike Larochelle 58 433 Julie Jay 59 419 "Dick und Doof" 60 416 Adrian Das 61 389 Shawn Clarke 62 386 Kate Scallion 63 382 The Cyclery 64 379 Team 18 Wheeler 65 378 Kiwi Mike 65 378 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 67 377 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 68 356 Musky Ninja 69 355 Jennifer Garrett 70 352 Rob Kerr 71 336 Dave Shirley 72 328 Reed Archer 73 320 Sheri Jay 74 316 Donelli 75 290 Team Boyz on Bikes 76 276 Il Gatto 77 275 "Team Wheelywotten" 78 273 Operation Spain 79 266 Dave Thomas 80 262 Les Boyz 81 260 Larginski 82 234 Los Spics 83 226 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 84 217 Mr. Glen 85 175 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 86 145 Team OK 87 11 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine"Posted by kriswestwood at July 28, 2006 08:07 AM
it's people like Chris Holzauer that give sports gambling a bad name. what's worse is that it appears that he will get away with it too. i motion that we bring his case to the UCI, the Canadian Cycling Association and if that doesn't work then get Jean-Marie Leblanc to make a ruling (we'll tell him that Chris is an American). Of course Chris will probably deny any doping allegations, but his deafening silence is evidence enough for me to pass indictment. a two-year ban would be in order.
psst, Chris let me know your picks for next year, and i'll split the pot with you 50-50.
M
Posted by: Markus Chiang at July 28, 2006 11:17 AMAs I said in an earlier e-mail to Richard T...
I have not taken any substances banned by the UCI. I blame La Presse and Dick Pound.
Kindest regards, Chris
PS I was so excited by my win that I drank all my winnings in one go and promptly threw up all over my new jersey. I still can't get the stains out.
Posted by: Chris at July 28, 2006 01:27 PMi can attest to drinking beer as being a very manly pursuit, and therefore the suds could be to blame after all.
i mean after drinking a beer i want to play hockey, club something, procreate, eat meat, and win a bike race... (not necessarily in that order)
Posted by: deck diggler at July 28, 2006 01:33 PMThis means that I beat Jennifer Garrett and that's all that I care about.
Posted by: adrian at July 28, 2006 03:27 PM