How do you solve a problem like Ricco?
I've been waiting for word from the Tour about whether Ricco's results after his positive doping test would be annulled, but Christian Prudhomme isn't returning my calls. So I've decided we can't let it slide and, in the Pool, all of Ricco's points-scoring results from the time trial stage (in which he tested positive) onwards will be removed. That means Valverde will be scored as the winner in Super-Besse, and Efimkin in Bagneres-de-Bigorre.
I have also decided to do the same to Piepoli, who hasn't tested positive but is going to face the consequences of being caught with doping products. That means Juan Jose Cobo is the new winner of the Hautacam stage.
I have adjusted the other results and jerseys accordingly. I also noticed that I had scored Ricco -25 points for his positive test when he should have been given -50 for being arrested. That has been fixed too.
In practical terms, this doesn't have a major effect on the Pool. The same entries still make up the top 10, though thre are a couple small shuffles: Paul McAneney jumps into second ahead of Trisha K (& RP), and Josee Lamirande is tied with Paul Crowley instead of being three points behind him. It has also tightened up the gaps a little bit. But I preferred to do it now rather than when the final rankings are determined ...
Meanwhile, in the real world, Sylvain Chavanel finally got his win today after the sprinter teams miscalculated and let him and Jeremy Roy stay away. A slightly lacklustre sprint behind seems to indicate nobody's trying terribly hard to dislodge Freire from the green jersey. There was a surprising number of abandons -- big names, too: Cunego didn't even start, and Flecha, Feillu and Wegmann all missed the time cut after being dropped early on.
In the Pool it was another low-scoring affair, with Team Last Minute just sqeaking by Jay "Green Jersey" Heins for the win and Fee rounding out the podium.
Remi Berube continues to lead, but as noted above the gap is closing: Paul McAneney is just 26 points back in the hunt for the win.
How will this shake out in the time trial tomorrow? A quick analysis of stage four shows that Berube and McAneney were almost dead even -- 31 and 30 points respectively -- and Tricia and Proulx were both well back, with just 14. All the riders who placed top 10 that day are still in the Tour, so all things being equal Remi's lead could be safe until we throw in the final rankings.
Until tomorrow,
KW
Stage: 19
Description: Flat
Date: Friday July 25
Start/finish: Roanne/Montluçon
Distance 165.5 km
1st CHAVANEL Sylvain
2nd ROY Jeremy
3rd CIOLEK Gerald
4th ZABEL Erik
5th HAUSSLER Heinrich
6th DUQUE Leonardo
7th POZZATO Filippo
8th HUSHOVD Thor
9th FORSTER Robert
10th DEAN Julian
Mountains SCHUMACHER Stefan
Young rider ROY Jeremy
Aggressive CHAVANEL Sylvain
Teams COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE
Abandon CUNEGO Damiano
Abandon BRANDT Christophe
Abandon FLECHA Juan Antonio
Abandon FEILLU Romain
Abandon WEGMANN Fabian
Overall:
Yellow SASTRE Carlos
Team TEAM CSC SAXO BANK
Green FREIRE Oscar
Polka dots KOHL Bernhard
Young rider SCHLECK Andy
Pool stage results:
1 Team Last Minute 34
2 Jay "Green Jersey" Heins 33
3 Fee 30
4 Team Twink 28
4 Deb Hine 28
6 Julie Deschenes-Furry 26
6 Kiwi Mike 26
8 Paul McAneney Team 2 25
8 Kris Westwood 25
10 David Markin 23
11 Marc Boudreau 22
11 Meylina Kandoy 22
11 Matthew Ellis A-Team 22
11 Stephan Sander 22
11 Sebastian Robillard-Cardinal 22
11 Alexandra Lai 22
17 Mike House 21
18 Bob Webber 20
18 Steve Proulx 20
18 Peter Metuzals 20
18 Chris Holzhauer 20
22 Devil's Island CC 19
23 Paul McAneney 17
23 VIPER 17
23 Oro Rocks! 17
23 Team Kingsmere 17
23 Team mtbrkerz 17
23 Phelan 17
23 Paul Skafel 17
23 Dr. Ed 17
23 Rob Grondin 17
32 TinaB 16
32 Jboys 16
34 Julie Jay 15
34 Tricia K (& RP) 15
34 Conor O'Brien 15
34 Paul Gagnon 15
34 Earl Wexler 15
34 Donneli 15
34 Grimpeur Kings 15
34 Old Farts 15
42 Superfan 14
42 Josée Lamirande 14
42 Linda Gilligan 14
42 Barnet Cycling Club 14
46 Sandy Fulton 13
46 Vince Caceres 13
48 Les Boyz 12
48 Team Nestle 12
50 Hamburglars 10
50 Ian Dewar 10
50 Westboro Chiropractic 10
50 Paul Crowley 10
50 Jeffrey Furry 10
50 Helena Deveer 10
50 Tyler Lawlor 10
50 Remi Berube 10
58 Bill Richardson 9
58 Flip i Flap 9
58 Chris White 9
58 Jay "GC" Heins 9
62 Gordon Dalling 7
62 Getafix 7
62 Biggie Flave 7
65 Ian Dalling 5
65 Erich Zappe 5
65 Richard And Catherine 5
65 Matthew Ellis B-Team 5
65 Team Willow 5
65 Blaine Penny 5
71 Sheri Jay 3
71 Grimpeur George 3
71 natbikes.com 3
71 France in my Pants 3
71 Ilennod 3
76 Richard Swandel 2
76 Luc Mahler 2
78 Julian Hine 0
78 K8 Scallion 0
78 Are we there yet? 0
78 Lisa McMurray 0
78 Doug Corner 0
83 Bat of Alpe d'Huez -2
84 Mhairi Gilmore -7
Pool overall:
1 Remi Berube 553
2 Paul McAneney 527
3 Tricia K (& RP) 516
4 Steve Proulx 513
5 Bob Webber 502
6 Stephan Sander 493
6 Team Last Minute 493
8 Josée Lamirande 485
8 Paul Crowley 485
10 Meylina Kandoy 483
11 Les Boyz 479
12 Chris Holzhauer 471
13 Marc Boudreau 470
14 Matthew Ellis A-Team 464
15 Team Twink 463
16 Peter Metuzals 456
17 Earl Wexler 451
18 Jay "Green Jersey" Heins 450
19 Flip i Flap 446
20 Grimpeur Kings 437
21 Phelan 427
22 Jeffrey Furry 424
23 Alexandra Lai 414
24 Paul McAneney Team 2 412
25 Devil's Island CC 407
26 Kiwi Mike 406
27 Team Kingsmere 402
28 Hamburglars 399
29 Vince Caceres 398
30 Helena Deveer 397
31 David Markin 396
32 Barnet Cycling Club 392
33 TinaB 387
33 Dr. Ed 387
35 Donneli 386
35 Sebastian Robillard-Cardinal 386
37 Deb Hine 384
38 Team mtbrkerz 380
39 Jboys 375
39 Jay "GC" Heins 375
41 Paul Skafel 373
42 Paul Gagnon 371
43 Rob Grondin 370
44 Fee 363
45 Linda Gilligan 359
45 Westboro Chiropractic 359
47 Team Nestle 355
48 Luc Mahler 354
49 Oro Rocks! 353
50 Superfan 351
51 Julie Deschenes-Furry 349
52 Sandy Fulton 346
53 VIPER 343
54 Gordon Dalling 342
55 Grimpeur George 341
56 Team Willow 337
57 natbikes.com 328
58 Ian Dalling 323
59 Julian Hine 319
59 Mike House 319
61 Chris White 317
62 Bill Richardson 309
62 Bat of Alpe d'Huez 309
64 Ian Dewar 306
64 Richard And Catherine 306
66 Getafix 304
67 Sheri Jay 298
68 Richard Swandel 297
69 Conor O'Brien 295
70 Are we there yet? 291
71 Matthew Ellis B-Team 286
72 Blaine Penny 281
73 Tyler Lawlor 279
74 Biggie Flave 273
75 Lisa McMurray 266
76 Doug Corner 253
77 France in my Pants 243
78 Kris Westwood 227
79 Julie Jay 226
80 Mhairi Gilmore 224
81 Erich Zappe 174
82 Old Farts 95
83 Ilennod 73
84 K8 Scallion 49