Ah, Bastille Day, and the best the French could muster was fourth on the stage. C'est la vie, quoi! Popovych took the July 14th for Discovery, on the same day that two of their riders, Savoldelli and Noval, packed their bags and checked out.
Nobody's doing that in the Tour Pool, though, especially Meylina Kandoy - second on the stage - who continues to eat into Metuzals and DeVeers lead. These two had another mediocre day out, finishing tied for 20th on the day. But Bastille Day honours go to Ian Dalling once again with a truly outstanding effort. Too bad he is so far down on the overall ...
Mr. Glen finally picked up some long-overdue points, elbowing past Phil Brun del Re who now occupies the lanterne rouge position.
- Kris Westwood (reporting from Kamloops, BC)
Date: 14-Jul Stage: 12 Start/Finish: Luchon > Carcassonne Distance 211,5 1st POPOVYCH Yaroslav UKR DSC 2nd BALLAN Alessandro ITA LAM 3rd FREIRE Oscar ESP RAB 4th LE MEVEL Christophe FRA C.A 5th BOONEN Tom BEL QSI 6th MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL 7th VENTOSO Francisco ESP SDV 8th ZABEL Erik GER MRM 9th BENNATI Daniele ITA LAM 10th HUSHOVD Thor NOR C.A Mountains RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN RAB Young rider VENTOSO Francisco ESP SDV Aggressive BENNATI Daniele ITA LAM Teams DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM Abandon PLOUHINEC Samuel FRA AGR Abandon MARTINEZ José Alberto ESP AGR Abandon GALVEZ Isaac ESP CEI Abandon SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA DSC Abandon NOVAL GONZALEZ Benjamin ESP DSC Overall: Yellow LANDIS Floyd USA PHO Team T-MOBILE TEAM Green MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Polka dots DE LA FUENTE David ESP SDV Young rider FOTHEN Marcus GER GST
RANK TOT Stage rank Stage points 1 487 20 30 Peter Metuzals 2 469 20 30 Helena DeVeer 3 448 30 27 Linda Gilligan 4 442 48 22 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 5 434 30 27 Orange Scheisse 6 426 2 46 Meylina Kandoy 7 418 23 29 Markus Chiang 8 416 9 37 Stefan Sander 9 415 23 29 Jamie Bryan 10 406 18 32 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 11 396 48 22 Steve Proulx 12 390 3 43 Nat Faulkner 12 390 10 36 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 14 384 33 26 Grimpeur George 15 383 26 28 Tyler Lawlor 16 378 10 36 "Barnet CC" 17 376 3 43 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 18 370 26 28 Blaine Penny 18 370 15 34 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 20 364 1 48 Ian Dalling 21 362 26 28 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 22 354 33 26 Chris Holzauer 23 352 33 26 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 24 350 63 14 Chris & Storm 25 347 37 25 Julie Deschenes-Furry 26 344 44 24 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 27 337 7 38 Matt Toulouse 27 337 23 29 Mhairi Gilmore 29 334 45 23 Doug Hinan 30 333 10 36 Kevin Field "Fev" 31 330 5 42 The Cyclery 32 325 70 12 Natasha Elliott 32 325 6 40 Jeffrey Furry 34 323 45 23 Courtnay Romkey 35 321 63 14 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 36 319 57 18 Ross Knight 37 318 37 25 Derrick St. John 38 312 57 18 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 39 310 26 28 Lori Meyers 40 308 37 25 Marc Boudreau 41 306 53 19 Sandy Fulton 42 302 7 38 Alex Lai 43 299 37 25 Vicki Thomas 43 299 53 19 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 45 295 13 35 Julie Jay 46 291 37 25 Gordon Dalling 47 280 16 33 Neil la Plante 48 279 53 19 Josh Hall 49 276 52 20 SUPERFAN 50 274 63 14 Musky Ninja 51 265 69 13 Rob Grondin 52 251 63 14 J to the U 53 237 30 27 Wilby McKnight 54 235 16 33 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 54 235 48 22 "Dick und Doof" 56 231 37 25 Dave Thomas 56 231 70 12 Ed Makarchuk 58 227 70 12 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 58 227 63 14 Jennifer Garrett 60 226 45 23 Mike Larochelle 60 226 19 31 Team Oro Rocks 62 223 63 14 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 63 222 60 16 Team Damdom 64 221 48 22 Team Boyz on Bikes 65 213 60 16 Richard and Catherine 66 208 13 35 Shawn Clarke 67 205 75 10 Team 18 Wheeler 68 185 83 5 Kiwi Mike 69 175 75 10 Donelli 70 174 20 30 Reed Archer 70 174 53 19 Larginski 72 172 74 11 Sheri Jay 73 171 75 10 Rob Kerr 74 159 80 9 Adrian Das 75 157 33 26 "Team Wheelywotten" 76 142 37 25 Les Boyz 77 133 70 12 Dave Shirley 78 122 81 8 Chris White 79 109 81 8 Kate Scallion 80 96 75 10 Team OK 81 89 75 10 Operation Spain 82 66 83 5 Los Spics 83 57 86 0 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 84 39 85 2 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 85 29 59 17 Il Gatto 86 15 62 15 Mr. Glen 87 4 86 0 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine"
The whip got cracked good and hard in the Tour today with the first altitude finish of the year. A lot of dreamers got shuffled out of the GC mix, notably Iban Mayo (abandon) and George Hincapie (21 minutes down). Discovery is definitely out of contention for the overall, and T-Mobile suffered a setback as their top rider, Kloden, lost time on the new yellow jersey, Floyd Landis.
Leipheimer's remarkable ride to second on the stage helped drive a bit of a wedge between our top Tour Pool contenders. Metuzals now holds a healthy 18-point lead over DeVeer. The stage honours go to Julie Jay with a solid haul of 45 points. With Metuzals and Deveer only finishing 19th and 61st on the stage, does this mean their time will soon be up? We shall have to wait and see ... Linda Gilligan, Meyina Kandoy and Tyler Lawlor are starting to shuffle up the ranking.
Happy news from the back of the pack, as Il Gatto sprang past Phil Brun del Re into 85th place. Mr. Glen, meanwhile, has taken out a serious option on the lanterne rouge position.
Until tomorrow -- KW
Date: 13-Jul Stage: 11 Start/Finish: Tarbes > Val d'Aran - Pla-de-Beret Distance 206,5 1st MENCHOV Denis RUS RAB 2nd LEIPHEIMER Levi USA GST 3rd LANDIS Floyd USA PHO 4th EVANS Cadel AUS DVL 5th SASTRE Carlos ESP CSC 6th BOOGERD Michael NED RAB 7th ZUBELDIA Haimar ESP EUS 8th SCHLECK Frank LUX CSC 9th KLÖDEN Andréas GER TMO 10th MOREAU Christophe FRA A2R Mountains DE LA FUENTE David ESP SDV Young rider FOTHEN Marcus GER GST Aggressive DE LA FUENTE David ESP SDV Teams GEROLSTEINER Abandon LOMBARDI Giovanni ITA CSC Abandon CRETSKENS Wilfried BEL QSI Abandon MAYO Iban ESP EUS Overall: Yellow LANDIS Floyd USA PHO Team T-MOBILE TEAM Green MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Polka dots DE LA FUENTE David ESP SDV Young rider FOTHEN Marcus GER GST
RANK TOT Stage rank Stage points 1 457 19 34 Peter Metuzals 2 439 61 17 Helena DeVeer 3 421 4 42 Linda Gilligan 4 420 12 37 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 5 407 19 34 Orange Scheisse 6 389 31 29 Markus Chiang 7 386 61 17 Jamie Bryan 8 380 4 42 Meylina Kandoy 9 379 38 25 Stefan Sander 10 374 35 27 Steve Proulx 10 374 77 7 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 12 358 17 35 Grimpeur George 13 355 4 42 Tyler Lawlor 14 354 47 22 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 15 347 22 32 Nat Faulkner 16 342 2 44 "Barnet CC" 16 342 47 22 Blaine Penny 18 336 54 20 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 18 336 38 25 Chris & Storm 20 334 12 37 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 21 333 27 30 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 22 328 27 30 Chris Holzauer 23 326 31 29 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 24 322 8 38 Julie Deschenes-Furry 25 320 47 22 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 26 316 58 18 Ian Dalling 27 313 70 13 Natasha Elliott 28 311 27 30 Doug Hinan 29 308 37 26 Mhairi Gilmore 30 307 77 7 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 31 301 31 29 Ross Knight 32 300 12 37 Courtnay Romkey 33 299 4 42 Matt Toulouse 34 297 61 17 Kevin Field "Fev" 35 294 8 38 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 36 293 45 23 Derrick St. John 37 288 58 18 The Cyclery 38 287 74 9 Sandy Fulton 39 285 38 25 Jeffrey Furry 40 283 3 43 Marc Boudreau 41 282 65 16 Lori Meyers 42 280 81 3 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 43 274 24 31 Vicki Thomas 44 266 38 25 Gordon Dalling 45 264 45 23 Alex Lai 46 260 1 45 Julie Jay 46 260 24 31 Josh Hall 46 260 12 37 Musky Ninja 49 256 19 34 SUPERFAN 50 252 50 21 Rob Grondin 51 247 54 20 Neil la Plante 52 237 66 15 J to the U 53 219 50 21 Ed Makarchuk 54 215 74 9 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 55 213 35 27 Jennifer Garrett 55 213 50 21 "Dick und Doof" 57 210 58 18 Wilby McKnight 58 209 24 31 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 59 206 34 28 Team Damdom 59 206 87 -5 Dave Thomas 61 203 73 11 Mike Larochelle 62 202 22 32 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 63 199 66 15 Team Boyz on Bikes 64 197 8 38 Richard and Catherine 65 195 38 25 Team 18 Wheeler 65 195 27 30 Team Oro Rocks 67 180 82 1 Kiwi Mike 68 173 17 35 Shawn Clarke 69 165 79 5 Donelli 70 161 12 37 Rob Kerr 70 161 82 1 Sheri Jay 72 155 71 12 Larginski 73 150 66 15 Adrian Das 74 144 44 24 Reed Archer 75 131 66 15 "Team Wheelywotten" 76 121 54 20 Dave Shirley 77 117 8 38 Les Boyz 78 114 61 17 Chris White 79 101 74 9 Kate Scallion 80 86 38 25 Team OK 81 79 79 5 Operation Spain 82 61 82 1 Los Spics 83 57 54 20 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 84 37 50 21 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 85 12 71 12 Il Gatto 86 4 85 0 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine" 87 0 85 0 Mr. Glen
A break finally stuck today -- on the first mountain stage of the Tour. Unsung Cyril Dessel rode himself into second on the stage and top of the mountain ranking with a long breakaway with Juan Miguel Mercado. AG2R must be thrilled with the way this Tour is turning out -- a stage win and yellow is pretty good so far.
For the Tour Pool it was an extremely low scoring day: "Operation Spain" won the stage with a mere 16 points -- and they lurk back in 80th place overall. Yours truly was second with 10 points, and then a bunch of teams tied for third with seven points -- including Metuzals and DeVeer, maintaining our one-point spread for the overall lead.
A significant abandon today with Laurent Brochard pulling the pin. Both Remi Berube and Phil Brun del Re finished the stage on minus points as a result, but Il Gatto and Mr. Glen have little to fear for the time being: the dead-last spot is theirs for now.
Until tomorrow -- KW
Date: 12-Jul Stage: 10 Start/Finish: Cambo-les-Bains > Pau Distance 190,5 1st MERCADO Juan Miguel ESP AGR 2nd DESSEL Cyril FRA A2R 3rd LANDALUZE Inigo ESP EUS 4th MORENI Cristian ITA COF 5th RINERO Christophe FRA SDV 6th ISASI Inaki ESP EUS 7th VASSEUR Cédric FRA QSI 8th BENNATI Daniele ITA LAM 9th ZABEL Erik GER MRM 10th GARZELLI Stefano ITA LIQ Mountains DESSEL Cyril FRA A2R Young rider RICCO Riccardo ITA SDV Aggressive MERCADO Juan Miguel ESP AGR Teams EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI Abandon BROCHARD Laurent FRA BTL Abandon ENGOULVENT Jimmy FRA C.A Overall: Yellow DESSEL Cyril FRA A2R Team AG2R PREVOYANCE Green MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Polka dots DESSEL Cyril FRA A2R Young rider FOTHEN Marcus GER GST
RANK TOT Stage rank Stage points 1 423 3 7 Peter Metuzals 2 422 3 7 Helena DeVeer 3 383 10 5 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 4 379 10 5 Linda Gilligan 5 373 3 7 Orange Scheisse 6 369 10 5 Jamie Bryan 7 367 3 7 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 8 360 10 5 Markus Chiang 9 354 10 5 Stefan Sander 10 347 10 5 Steve Proulx 11 338 10 5 Meylina Kandoy 12 332 10 5 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 13 323 10 5 Grimpeur George 14 320 10 5 Blaine Penny 15 316 10 5 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 16 315 10 5 Nat Faulkner 17 313 3 7 Tyler Lawlor 18 311 10 5 Chris & Storm 19 303 10 5 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 20 300 10 5 Natasha Elliott 20 300 10 5 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 22 298 10 5 Ian Dalling 22 298 10 5 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 22 298 10 5 "Barnet CC" 22 298 10 5 Chris Holzauer 26 297 3 7 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 26 297 10 5 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 28 284 59 0 Julie Deschenes-Furry 29 282 10 5 Mhairi Gilmore 30 281 10 5 Doug Hinan 31 280 3 7 Kevin Field "Fev" 32 278 10 5 Sandy Fulton 33 277 2 10 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 34 272 10 5 Ross Knight 35 270 10 5 Derrick St. John 35 270 59 0 The Cyclery 37 266 52 2 Lori Meyers 38 263 10 5 Courtnay Romkey 39 260 10 5 Jeffrey Furry 40 257 10 5 Matt Toulouse 41 256 10 5 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 42 243 10 5 Vicki Thomas 43 241 10 5 Alex Lai 43 241 10 5 Gordon Dalling 45 240 10 5 Marc Boudreau 46 231 10 5 Rob Grondin 47 229 59 0 Josh Hall 48 227 10 5 Neil la Plante 49 223 52 2 Musky Ninja 50 222 59 0 J to the U 50 222 10 5 SUPERFAN 52 215 10 5 Julie Jay 53 211 58 1 Dave Thomas 54 206 59 0 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 55 198 59 0 Ed Makarchuk 56 192 10 5 Mike Larochelle 56 192 52 2 Wilby McKnight 56 192 59 0 "Dick und Doof" 59 186 59 0 Jennifer Garrett 60 184 59 0 Team Boyz on Bikes 61 179 10 5 Kiwi Mike 62 178 59 0 Team Damdom 62 178 59 0 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 64 170 59 0 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 64 170 10 5 Team 18 Wheeler 66 165 59 0 Team Oro Rocks 67 160 10 5 Donelli 67 160 59 0 Sheri Jay 69 159 59 0 Richard and Catherine 70 143 52 2 Larginski 71 138 59 0 Shawn Clarke 72 135 52 2 Adrian Das 73 124 59 0 Rob Kerr 74 120 59 0 Reed Archer 75 116 59 0 "Team Wheelywotten" 76 101 59 0 Dave Shirley 77 97 59 0 Chris White 78 92 59 0 Kate Scallion 79 79 59 0 Les Boyz 80 74 1 16 Operation Spain 81 61 52 2 Team OK 82 60 59 0 Los Spics 83 37 59 0 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 84 16 87 -5 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 85 4 86 -2 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine" 86 0 59 0 Il Gatto 86 0 59 0 Mr. Glen
The mountains are looming ahead, so today was the last chance for the sprinters to play. A long breakaway attempted to spoil the party, but once again they were brought back and Oscar Freire stuck it to McEwen for his second win of this year's Tour, and his third career Tour stage victory. The rest of the top 10 was made up of the usual suspects. The stage couldn't have been better for the fast men: the highest point on the profile was only 78 m above sea level, and no climber points were on offer today at all.
Ian Dalling added to his stage win tally in the Tour Pool with another fine performance. As always, our top contenders are progressing at an equal rate, but with any luck tomorrow should bring the first shakeup as the riders adapt to the steep, slow, airless Pyrenees passes.
A demain, KW
Date: 11-Jul Stage: 9 Start/Finish: Bordeaux > Dax Distance 169,5 1st FREIRE Oscar ESP RAB 2nd MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL 3rd ZABEL Erik GER MRM 4th BOONEN Tom BEL QSI 5th MORENI Cristian ITA COF 6th GALVEZ Isaac ESP CEI 7th VENTOSO Francisco ESP SDV 8th PAOLINI Luca ITA LIQ 9th KOPP David GER GST 10th HUSHOVD Thor NOR C.A Young rider VENTOSO Francisco ESP SDV Aggressive KNEES Christian GER MRM Teams GEROLSTEINER Overall: Yellow HONCHAR Serhiy UKR TMO Team T-MOBILE TEAM Green MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Polka dots PINEAU Jérôme FRA BTL Young rider FOTHEN Marcus GER GST
RANK TOT Stage rank Stage points 1 416 3 36 Peter Metuzals 2 415 3 36 Helena DeVeer 3 378 13 26 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 4 374 13 26 Linda Gilligan 5 366 3 36 Orange Scheisse 6 364 13 26 Jamie Bryan 7 360 6 35 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 8 355 13 26 Markus Chiang 9 349 13 26 Stefan Sander 10 342 13 26 Steve Proulx 11 333 10 33 Meylina Kandoy 12 327 13 26 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 13 318 10 33 Grimpeur George 14 315 26 25 Blaine Penny 15 311 26 25 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 16 310 26 25 Nat Faulkner 17 306 13 26 Chris & Storm 17 306 6 35 Tyler Lawlor 19 298 26 25 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 20 295 13 26 Natasha Elliott 20 295 13 26 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 22 293 1 40 Ian Dalling 22 293 13 26 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 22 293 26 25 "Barnet CC" 22 293 13 26 Chris Holzauer 26 292 13 26 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 27 290 2 38 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 28 284 12 30 Julie Deschenes-Furry 29 277 26 25 Mhairi Gilmore 30 276 26 25 Doug Hinan 31 273 6 35 Kevin Field "Fev" 31 273 26 25 Sandy Fulton 33 270 45 24 The Cyclery 34 267 26 25 Ross Knight 34 267 6 35 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 36 265 26 25 Derrick St. John 37 264 46 19 Lori Meyers 38 258 26 25 Courtnay Romkey 39 255 26 25 Jeffrey Furry 40 252 48 18 Matt Toulouse 41 251 26 25 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 42 238 26 25 Vicki Thomas 43 236 26 25 Alex Lai 43 236 26 25 Gordon Dalling 45 235 26 25 Marc Boudreau 46 229 64 9 Josh Hall 47 226 26 25 Rob Grondin 48 222 26 25 Neil la Plante 48 222 64 9 J to the U 50 221 48 18 Musky Ninja 51 217 48 18 SUPERFAN 52 210 64 9 Dave Thomas 52 210 53 17 Julie Jay 54 206 64 9 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 55 198 64 9 Ed Makarchuk 56 192 64 9 "Dick und Doof" 57 190 46 19 Wilby McKnight 58 187 53 17 Mike Larochelle 59 186 64 9 Jennifer Garrett 60 184 64 9 Team Boyz on Bikes 61 178 58 16 Team Damdom 61 178 64 9 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 63 174 53 17 Kiwi Mike 64 170 74 8 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 65 165 53 17 Team 18 Wheeler 65 165 64 9 Team Oro Rocks 67 160 74 8 Sheri Jay 68 159 74 8 Richard and Catherine 69 155 53 17 Donelli 70 141 48 18 Larginski 71 138 60 15 Shawn Clarke 72 133 48 18 Adrian Das 73 124 74 8 Rob Kerr 74 120 74 8 Reed Archer 75 116 58 16 "Team Wheelywotten" 76 101 74 8 Dave Shirley 77 97 74 8 Chris White 78 92 74 8 Kate Scallion 79 79 82 0 Les Boyz 80 60 60 15 Los Spics 81 59 63 10 Team OK 82 58 60 15 Operation Spain 83 37 82 0 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 84 21 82 0 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 85 6 82 0 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine" 86 0 82 0 Il Gatto 86 0 82 0 Mr. Glen
To satisfy your relentless thirst for entertainment, I have compiled some stats on the Tour and the Pool so far that should keep you amused -- KW
Stage winners so far:
Prologue HUSHOVD Thor NOR C.A
1 CASPER Jimmy FRA COF
2 MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL
3 KESSLER Matthias GER TMO
4 MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL
5 FREIRE Oscar ESP RAB
6 MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL
7 HONCHAR Serhiy UKR TMO
8 CALZATI Sylvain FRA A2R
Note: McEwen has already secured the bonus for 3 or more stage wins.
Tour Pool stage winners so far, in order of the number of wins (includes ties):
3 Peter Metuzals
3 Helena DeVeer
2 Ian Dalling
2 Julie Deschenes-Furry
1 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan
1 Linda Gilligan
1 The Cyclery
Greatest improvement from Prologue to Stage 8:
Ian Dalling: 49 places (78th to 29th)
Honourable mentions to Kris "Can't Win" Westwood (44 places - 83rd to 39th) and "Mr. Stevens' Picks" (40 places - 70th to 30th)
Worst progression from Prologue to Stage 8:
"Dick und Doof": lost 47 places (8th to 55th)
Honourable mentions to Superfan (lost 43 places - 9th to 52nd) and "Wheelywotten" and "Boyz on Bikes", both losing 40 places (35th to 75th and 18th to 58th respectively)
Top 20 scoring riders and teams, with points scored:
111 MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL
85 BOONEN Tom BEL QSI
56 HUSHOVD Thor NOR C.A
52 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM
47 BENNATI Daniele ITA LAM
43 FREIRE Oscar ESP RAB
34 PINEAU Jérôme FRA BTL
31 FOTHEN Marcus GER GST
29 ZABEL Erik GER MRM
29 HONCHAR Serhiy UKR TMO
25 EISEL Bernhard AUT FDJ
24 ROGERS Michael AUS TMO
22 PAOLINI Luca ITA LIQ
21 CASPER Jimmy FRA COF
20 T-MOBILE TEAM
19 HINCAPIE George USA DSC
18 LANG Sebastian GER GST
18 CALZATI Sylvain FRA A2R
17 GALVEZ Isaac ESP CEI
15 VAUGRENARD Benoît FRA FDJ
15 KOPP David GER GST
15 KESSLER Matthias GER TMO
Top 20 picks (by number of entries who picked them - includes alternates):
62 BOONEN Tom BEL QSI
53 LANDIS Floyd USA PHO
51 MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL
49 LEIPHEIMER Levi USA GST
42 VALVERDE Alejandro ESP CEI
42 EVANS Cadel AUS DVL
39 RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN RAB
36 POPOVYCH Yaroslav UKR DSC
36 HUSHOVD Thor NOR C.A
32 HINCAPIE George USA DSC
31 DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM
30 MOREAU Christophe FRA A2R
29 MAYO Iban ESP EUS
28 TEAM CSC
25 O’GRADY Stuart AUS CSC
23 KLÖDEN Andréas GER TMO
21 ZABRISKIE David USA CSC
20 SAVOLDELLI Paolo ITA DSC
19 ZABEL Erik GER MRM
19 CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM
Teams or riders nobody picked who scored points, in descending order of their points scored so far:
47 BENNATI Daniele ITA LAM
31 FOTHEN Marcus GER GST
29 HONCHAR Serhiy UKR TMO
25 EISEL Bernhard AUT FDJ
22 PAOLINI Luca ITA LIQ
18 LANG Sebastian GER GST
18 CALZATI Sylvain FRA A2R
17 GALVEZ Isaac ESP CEI
15 KESSLER Matthias GER TMO
15 VAUGRENARD Benoît FRA FDJ
15 KOPP David GER GST
12 CARLSTRÖM Kjell FIN LIQ
11 ISASI Inaki ESP EUS
10 HALGAND Patrice FRA C.A
9 VENTOSO Francisco ESP SDV
6 LARSSON Gustav SWE FDJ
5 BALLAN Alessandro ITA LAM
3 LIQUIGAS
3 AG2R PREVOYANCE
3 CREDIT AGRICOLE
3 FRANCAISE DES JEUX
3 ALBASINI Michael SUI LIQ
2 STEEGMANS Gert BEL DVL
2 SCHRÖDER Björn GER MRM
1 DUMOULIN Samuel FRA A2R
1 WROLICH Peter AUT GST
1 MARTINEZ Egoi ESP DSC
1 GESLIN Anthony FRA BTL
1 BENETEAU Walter FRA BTL
For fear of humiliating them, I won't mention the teams with 0 points so far, Il Gatto and Mr. Glen.
Beaut ride from Sylvain Calzati today, attacking his breakaway companions with about 30 km to ride and soloing in for the stage win. Though the stage looked flat, the roads in Brittany never really are, so Calzati's win was an impressive achievement.
Not taking anything away from the winner, but the chase never really materialized in the peloton - you get the impression they were thinking more about the rest day tomorrow than bringing the break back. No changes to the overall standings, except Calzati should have jumped up a few places.
And still Metuzals leads the Tour Pool rankings, despite another stage win from Julie Deschenes-Furry, who has crept her way up the rankings from 43rd after Stage 3 to 26th today.
With both of them choosing Boonen, Hincapie, Hushovd, Landis, McEwen, O'Grady and Zabel, Metuzals and DeVeer have been in lock-step since Valverde's abandon: though the Spaniard lost 5 points for Metuzals there, he had already earned 6 in the prologue, and that single point advantage continues to separate the Gentle Giant of the Glebe from the Blackberry Queen. DeVeer will be counting on Azevedo and Mayo to earn her points in the mountains; Metuzals needs Leipheimer to get his act together to hold her off.
Enjoy the rest day, everyone.
- Kris W.
Date: 9-Jul Stage: 8 Start/Finish: Saint-Méen-le-Grand > Lorient Distance 181,0 1st CALZATI Sylvain FRA A2R 2nd CARLSTRÖM Kjell FIN LIQ 3rd HALGAND Patrice FRA C.A 4th MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL 5th BENNATI Daniele ITA LAM 6th ZABEL Erik GER MRM 7th EISEL Bernhard AUT FDJ 8th PAOLINI Luca ITA LIQ 9th BOONEN Tom BEL QSI 10th KOPP David GER GST Mountains CALZATI Sylvain FRA A2R Young rider EISEL Bernhard AUT FDJ Aggressive CALZATI Sylvain FRA A2R Teams AG2R PREVOYANCE Overall: Yellow HONCHAR Serhiy UKR TMO Team T-MOBILE TEAM Green MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Polka dots PINEAU Jérôme FRA BTL Young rider FOTHEN Marcus GER GST
RANK TOT Stage rank Stage points 1 380 4 20 Peter Metuzals 2 379 4 20 Helena DeVeer 3 352 12 15 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 4 348 12 15 Linda Gilligan 5 338 12 15 Jamie Bryan 6 330 4 20 Orange Scheisse 7 329 12 15 Markus Chiang 8 325 4 20 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 9 323 12 15 Stefan Sander 10 316 12 15 Steve Proulx 11 301 12 15 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 12 300 2 22 Meylina Kandoy 13 290 12 15 Blaine Penny 14 286 12 15 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 15 285 12 15 Nat Faulkner 15 285 2 22 Grimpeur George 17 280 12 15 Chris & Storm 18 273 12 15 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 19 271 4 20 Tyler Lawlor 20 269 12 15 Natasha Elliott 20 269 12 15 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 22 268 12 15 "Barnet CC" 23 267 12 15 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 23 267 12 15 Chris Holzauer 25 266 12 15 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 26 254 1 25 Julie Deschenes-Furry 27 253 12 15 Ian Dalling 28 252 4 20 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 28 252 12 15 Mhairi Gilmore 30 251 12 15 Doug Hinan 31 248 12 15 Sandy Fulton 32 246 61 2 The Cyclery 33 245 54 7 Lori Meyers 34 242 12 15 Ross Knight 35 240 12 15 Derrick St. John 36 238 4 20 Kevin Field "Fev" 37 234 45 13 Matt Toulouse 38 233 12 15 Courtnay Romkey 39 232 4 20 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 40 230 12 15 Jeffrey Furry 41 226 12 15 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 42 220 61 2 Josh Hall 43 213 12 15 Vicki Thomas 43 213 61 2 J to the U 45 211 12 15 Alex Lai 45 211 12 15 Gordon Dalling 47 210 12 15 Marc Boudreau 48 203 54 7 Musky Ninja 49 201 12 15 Rob Grondin 49 201 61 2 Dave Thomas 51 199 45 13 SUPERFAN 52 197 12 15 Neil la Plante 52 197 61 2 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 54 193 45 13 Julie Jay 55 189 61 2 Ed Makarchuk 56 183 61 2 "Dick und Doof" 57 177 61 2 Jennifer Garrett 58 175 61 2 Team Boyz on Bikes 59 171 54 7 Wilby McKnight 60 170 45 13 Mike Larochelle 61 169 61 2 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 62 162 52 9 Team Damdom 62 162 61 2 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 64 157 45 13 Kiwi Mike 65 156 61 2 Team Oro Rocks 66 152 61 2 Sheri Jay 67 151 61 2 Richard and Catherine 68 148 45 13 Team 18 Wheeler 69 138 45 13 Donelli 70 123 54 7 Larginski 70 123 52 9 Shawn Clarke 72 116 61 2 Rob Kerr 73 115 54 7 Adrian Das 74 112 61 2 Reed Archer 75 100 79 0 "Team Wheelywotten" 76 93 54 7 Dave Shirley 77 89 61 2 Chris White 78 84 61 2 Kate Scallion 79 79 79 0 Les Boyz 80 49 60 5 Team OK 81 45 79 0 Los Spics 82 43 79 0 Operation Spain 83 37 79 0 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 84 21 79 0 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 85 6 79 0 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine" 86 0 79 0 Il Gatto 86 0 79 0 Mr. Glen