Just a quick update on missing payments. Thanks to everyone who ponied up. I'm still missing entry fees from the following:
Jamie Bryan
Rob Kerr (yes, I know you said you'd pay at the shop)
Larginski
Il Gatto
Just so you know, when you don't cough up it ends up coming out of my pocket because we honour our commitment to the Seenite Sports young rider bursary and the prize list.
Speaking of which, thanks to Meylina Kandoy, Tyler Lawlor and Vicki Thomas who have all contributed their prize money back to the bursary. Thanks, too, to Craig DeVeer, Gene Della Siega, Michel LeBlanc and Glen Rendall, all of whom paid entries without putting a team in, or, in Glen's case, paid a self-imposed penalty for entering late.
Cheers -- KW
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"
I have tracked down the majority of the missing entry fees for the Pool, and my apologies to those of you whose name I published but who had actually already paid - especially Kate Scallion, who thanked me for her public humiliation.
So we are now missing fees only for the following six entries:
Jamie Bryan
Rob Kerr
Ross Knight
Neil la Plante
Larginski
Il Gatto
I know a couple of you may have arranged payment through the shop, so please let me know that has been done and I can wipe it from the books. The rest of you slackers, pay up.
Cheers -- KW
So, the moment you've all been waiting for: the announcement of the prize winners in the TDF pool!
As you know, there is a combination of cash and merchandise prizes in the Pool every year. Half the entry fees go back into prizes, and we have spread the joy amongst the top 10 in the pool. In addition, our usual contributors have stepped up with some great swag. If you have won a prize, please contact Kiwi Mike at the Cyclery to pick it up. You can reach him at the shop (613-730-2856 or thecyclery@rogers.com).
In the past, many of our cash prize winners have contributed their winnings back into the Seenite Sports Young Rider Bursary, where the other half of all the entry fees goes. Far be it for me to tug the philanthropic strings of your heart, but if any of our winners would care to do this, it would be greatly appreciated. This year so far we have amassed $465 for the bursary (including entry fees from Michel LeBlanc, Craig DeVeer and Gene Della Siega, who never actually fielded a team in the Pool) and it would be great to break the $500 mark.
Thanks again to everyone for entering the pool. It was good fun for me as well and I'm already looking forward to next year. Read on for the prize winners.
Winner Result Cash Prize Chris Holzauer 1st $130 T-Mobile jersey in winner's size from Dave Shirley, Outdoor Gear Canada Julie Deschenes-Furry 2nd $65 Pair of TDF special edition Michelin tires from Sean Gilmore, Michelin Vicki Thomas 3rd $50 Mystery item from Tim Hadfield, Shimano, Shimano Canada Tyler Lawlor 4th $45 Mystery item from Dave Bell, Lightweight/Isaac Meylina Kandoy 5th $35 Windstopper mechanic's apron from The Cyclery Grimpeur George 6th $30 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 7th $25 Peter Metuzals 8th $20 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 9th $15 Nat Faulkner 10th $10
Special prizes: Peter Metuzals (Leading the most days in the Tour Pool): Krike t-shirt from Kiwi Mike's Ski Service Ian Dalling (Entry that scored most points on Bastille Day): Krike t-shirt from Kiwi Mike's Ski Service Phil Brun del Re (Last place in Pool): BLT lights from Brian Gilliland Vicki Thomas (gained 75 places - Greatest improvement from day 1 to finish): Level 6 hat from Tyler Lawlor, Level 6 Dick und Doof (lost 60 places - Greatest plummet from day 1 to finish):Krike t-shirt from Kiwi Mike's Ski Service Ian Dalling (Most stage wins): Krike t-shirt from Kiwi Mike's Ski Service
Before we go on to distributing prizes, I have the unpleasant task of chasing down people for entry fees. My apologies if you have paid already, but according to my records the following entries have not paid:
Kate Scallion
Vicki Thomas
Jamie Bryan
Rob Kerr
Ross Knight
Neil la Plante
Dave Thomas
SUPERFAN
Sheri Jay
Julie Jay
Operation Spain
Josh Hall
Larginski
Kevin Field "Fev"
Il Gatto
Mr. Glen
If you paid, please let me know how. If not, let me know how you plan to.
On a more positive note, the following individuals paid but never entered:
Michel LeBlanc
Craig DeVeer
Gene Della Siega
Please let me know if you want your $10 back or if you want to contribute it to the Seenite Sports Young Rider Bursary.
Cheers,
-- Kris Westwood
Well, it's finally over. The sprinters got their final day in the sun, with Hushovd taking the honours and making up for missing out on the green jersey. Landis won his tour, keeping the Yankees (and those smug OLN commentators) happy. Rasmussen repeated his climbing exloits. Cunego showed he can race well outside Italy. T-Mobile showed they are strong even without a true leader, and Discovery showed they can't win the Tour without Lance.
Florent Brard kept us guessing by dropping out overnight after messing himself up in the time trial.
So, how did it shake out in the Tour Pool? Well, Holzauer hung on for the win over our multiple stage winner Jule Deschenes-Furry. Vicki Thomas finished a strong third. Long-time leader Peter Metuzals dropped to eigth overall, and long-time pretender Helena DeVeer slid down to 12th.
At the back of the pool, Phil Brun del Re finally managed to get into the positive numbers but held on to Lanterne Rouge.
Sharp-eyed readers will notice SUPERFAN suddenly jumped up to 16th place in the standings. This is due to an error on my part: I forgot to include Evans in our mystery entry's team. My apologies for that.
Stay tuned for the announcement of the final prizes for the Pool this week! Thanks to everyone for participating.
-- Kris Westwood
Date: 23-Jul Stage: 20 Start/Finish: Sceaux - Antony > Paris Champs-Élysées Distance 154,5 1st HUSHOVD Thor NOR C.A 2nd MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL 3rd O’GRADY Stuart AUS CSC 4th ZABEL Erik GER MRM 5th PAOLINI Luca ITA LIQ 6th DUMOULIN Samuel FRA A2R 7th EISEL Bernhard AUT FDJ 8th GESLIN Anthony FRA BTL 9th BALLAN Alessandro ITA LAM 10th WROLICH Peter AUT GST Mountains RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN RAB Mountains PENA Victor Hugo COL PHO Young rider EISEL Bernhard AUT FDJ Aggressive HERNANDEZ Aitor ESP EUS Teams TEAM MILRAM Abandon BRARD Florent FRA CEI
Team GC 1st T-MOBILE TEAM Team GC 2nd TEAM CSC Team GC 3rd RABOBANK Team GC 4th AG2R PREVOYANCE Team GC 5th CAISSE D’EPARGNE-ILLES BALEARS Team GC 6th LAMPRE-FONDITAL Team with all finishers DAVITAMON - LOTTO Green 1st MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Green 2nd ZABEL Erik GER MRM Green 3rd HUSHOVD Thor NOR C.A Green 4th EISEL Bernhard AUT FDJ Polka dots 1st RASMUSSEN Mickael DEN RAB Polka dots 2nd LANDIS Floyd USA PHO Polka dots 3rd DE LA FUENTE David ESP SDV Polka dots 4th SASTRE Carlos ESP CSC Young rider 1st CUNEGO Damiano ITA LAM Young rider 2nd FOTHEN Marcus GER GST Young rider 3rd SPRICK Matthieu FRA BTL Total number of finishers 139 Lanterne rouge VANSEVANT Wim BEL DVL Rider winning 3 stages or more MC EWEN Robbie AUS DVL Biggest time gap to second LANDIS Floyd USA PHO
RANK TOT Stage rank Stage points GC points 1 790 11 29 181 Chris Holzauer 2 778 21 27 182 Julie Deschenes-Furry 3 761 48 14 196 Vicki Thomas 4 754 7 32 176 Tyler Lawlor 5 748 4 37 150 Meylina Kandoy 6 747 11 29 166 Grimpeur George 7 738 21 27 143 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash" 8 734 1 45 118 Peter Metuzals 9 727 7 32 169 "Mr. Stevens Picks" 10 722 48 14 160 Nat Faulkner 11 713 3 39 138 Glenn "My Team is Clean" Robinson 12 706 1 45 112 Helena DeVeer 12 706 11 29 134 Markus Chiang 14 705 21 27 128 Linda Gilligan 15 702 6 35 143 Orange Scheisse 16 701 11 29 130 Stefan Sander 16 701 11 29 180 SUPERFAN 18 691 57 12 150 Ian Dalling 19 689 48 14 183 Marc Boudreau 19 689 48 14 186 Gordon Dalling 21 688 48 14 166 Rob Grondin 22 684 11 29 122 Jamie Bryan 23 674 57 12 146 Alex Lai 24 672 48 14 150 Derrick St. John 25 663 57 12 151 "Barnet CC" 26 662 48 14 138 Team D.O.P.E.- Downplaying Operation Puerto Evidence 27 657 11 29 156 Matt Toulouse 28 651 21 27 138 Craig Hawkes "Sith Riders" 29 650 48 14 152 Jeffrey Furry 30 644 9 31 141 Sean O'Donnell "The Ruse is Up" 31 629 28 24 117 Blaine Penny 32 620 11 29 130 Chris & Storm 33 619 57 12 147 Courtnay Romkey 34 613 11 29 121 Eva Ortega "VillaEva" 35 600 11 29 100 Steve Proulx 36 599 57 12 141 Paul Scafel "Team Venga Venga Venga" 37 591 57 12 130 Ross Knight 38 589 82 0 162 Richard and Catherine 39 572 33 20 113 Kevin Field "Fev" 40 571 57 12 113 Mhairi Gilmore 41 567 10 30 69 Spencer Campbell "Texless" 42 560 30 22 111 Doug Hinan 42 560 35 17 136 Josh Hall 44 550 35 17 136 Team Damdom 45 542 30 22 132 Julie Jay 46 535 35 17 131 J to the U 46 535 57 12 101 Sandy Fulton 48 527 35 17 143 Team Oro Rocks 49 523 4 37 76 Natasha Elliott 50 512 57 12 83 John Fee / Cynthia Phelan 51 494 82 0 145 Shawn Clarke 52 492 43 15 81 The Cyclery 53 486 29 23 87 Lori Meyers 54 483 43 15 85 Kris "Can't win" Westwood 55 480 35 17 115 Ed Makarchuk 56 479 43 15 124 Yellow Dopes "Grubby Rabbit" 57 478 48 14 98 Neil la Plante 58 471 77 2 158 Chris White 59 468 35 17 100 Deb Hine's Most Excellent Picks 60 467 74 8 102 Musky Ninja 61 464 77 2 119 Jay "Son of Rudy" Heins 62 463 43 15 117 Jennifer Garrett 63 440 77 2 134 Rob Kerr 64 429 25 25 98 Wilby McKnight 65 426 57 12 95 Mike Larochelle 66 425 35 17 134 Dave Shirley 67 419 57 12 115 Reed Archer 68 410 25 25 77 "Dick und Doof" 69 397 74 8 102 Adrian Das 70 374 57 12 83 Kiwi Mike 70 374 35 17 105 Team 18 Wheeler 72 369 71 10 111 Les Boyz 73 357 77 2 110 Kate Scallion 74 314 30 22 53 Donelli 75 294 57 12 51 Sheri Jay 76 288 33 20 31 Team Boyz on Bikes 77 270 43 15 58 "Team Wheelywotten" 78 265 25 25 11 Dave Thomas 79 257 74 8 45 Larginski 80 256 71 10 92 Team OK 81 249 82 0 74 Operation Spain 82 246 77 2 106 Il Gatto 83 213 82 0 54 Los Spics 84 201 82 0 60 Mr. Glen 85 197 87 -3 83 Remi "Team MTB + Frenchies" Berube 86 170 57 12 54 Luise Sander "No Euros Here" 87 11 71 10 4 Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine"