Ive now updated the rankings after California.
Individually, 248 points for Hagen lifted him to 5th - while a monsterous 585 from Taylor Phinney helped him climb up to 7th, with Luis Leon edging Samuel in the Sanchez battle for 10th.
1
Damiano
Cunego
ITA
La Gazzetta dello Sport
1571
2
Yuri
Trofimov
RUS
Sony Ericsson
1477
3
Emanuele
Sella
ITA
Lipton Ice Tea
1339
4
Alessandro
Ballan
ITA
Sony Ericsson
1149
5
Edvald Boasson
Hagen
NOR
Team B&O
1079
6
Robert
Gesink
NED
Jack Wolfskin
1036
7
Taylor
Phinney
USA
Wikipedia
1025
8
Fabian
Cancellara
SWI
Carmeuse Cyclisme
927
9
Marcus
Burghardt
GER
Wikipedia
873
10
Luis Leon
Sanchez Gil
ESP
Energie-Diesel
845
11
Samuel
Sánchez Gonzalez
ESP
Festina - Corona
840
12
Vincenzo
Nibali
ITA
Domina Vacanze
768
13
Alejandro
Valverde
ESP
Café de Colombia
738
14
Jan
Bakelants
BEL
Pearl Adidas
728
15
Nick
Nuyens
BEL
Domina Vacanze
720
16
Tom
Boonen
BEL
Warner Brothers
711
17
Frank
Schleck
LUX
Vesuvio-Accumalux
705
18
Joaquin
Rodriguez Oliver
ESP
Philips - TDC
669
19
Sam
Bewley
NZL
Festina - Corona
622
20
Stijn
Devolder
BEL
Philips - TDC
601
21
Janez
Brajkovic
SLO
Domina Vacanze
586
22
Carlos
Castaño
ESP
Festina - Corona
586
23
Sergio Luis
Henao Montoya
COL
Team Nespresso
560
24
Jérôme
Baugnies
BEL
Lipton Ice Tea
552
25
Patrik
Sinkewitz
GER
Auber 93 - Look
539
26
Domenico
Pozzovivo
ITA
Energie-Diesel
539
27
Jerome
Coppel
FRA
Auber 93 - Look
514
28
Michael
Rogers
AUS
La Gazzetta dello Sport
497
29
Aleksandr
Pluchkin
MOL
Team B&O
479
30
William
Ford
AUS
Auber 93 - Look
435
For the team standings, Wikipedia amassed a massive 879 - showing that it can pay to really focus on a shorter race rather than a GT. So after their post-Giro drop, theyre right back up there. Up above them though, Festina close in on 2nd place, as Auber now drop to 4th. The other really interesting battle is at the bottom. Just 43 points separated 15th-18th - with Cafe de Colombia only a further 50 points away in 14th. Of course, Cafe de Colombia and Vesuvio are both set to cash in with their Vuelta performances so far, but it looks set to be quite a tight battle for the relegation spots this season.
Exactly what i needed. Will drop down at least behind Pearl Adidas and Domina after the vuelta, but that would be the two weakest stretches of my season gone.
Don't think Cafe de Colombia are going to be sucked into the relegation dogfight. Looking at the races left - if Gomez Marchante can deliver some decent results we may sneak into the top 10. My prediction is 12th though....