The Ardennes have been and gone, along with Murcia and Romandie. So who led the rankings going into the Giro?
His wait for a debut Ardennes victory will go on for another year, but Jan Bakelandts emerged as the top pointscorer in the races thanks to a pair of 2nd places and a 6th.
For a second season running, Frank Schleck pulled out victory in Liege Bastogne Liege to hide his earlier disappointments and it makes Vesuvio-Accumalux the top scorers - with thanks to Paterski's surprise podium in Fleche Wallone. Rivals Pearl Adidas arent far behind, while UBS-La Pierre enjoyed a much needed prosperous period.
Include Murcia and Romandie in the mix and Pendletons, Jack Wolfskin and Wikipedia all join the mix as top scorers. Pendletons of course saw consecutive victories from Zabriskie and Gilbert, while Jack Wolfskin had success with Chavanel. For Wikipedia, a slightly frustrating period though - Taylor Phinney twice ending a stage race in 2nd place.
Onto the rankings, and while Pearl Adidas led throught the Ardennes, the move back to the mountains in Romandie ended that as Vesuvio-Accumalux reclaimed the top spot. Vesuvio having previously dropped to their worst ranking of the season .... 3rd.
Theres a gap from Sony Ericsson to Jack Wolfskin in 4th but then its pretty close, with Nestle and Pendletons Twicer. And then just 133 points separates 7th to 11th: B&O, Wiggle, Festina, Milka and Wikipedia.
After Bacardi we have UBS up 3 to 13th, while Carmeuse began their post-cobbles slide down 3 to 14th. Also climbing are Spyker, who scored an invaluable win with Dekker in Romandie. Theyre the only team to have won a race outside of the Top 9.
Spyker are just 5 points ahead of Santander, but there is then a clear 250 point gap to the relegation zone which Webeffect have fallen into. Its then over 300 points until the bottom sides of Cafe de Colombia and Warner Brothers.
On the individual standings, Bakelandts unsurprisingly takes the lead ahead of Boonen, with Trofimov moving into 2nd. Boonen is the only rider in the Top 18 of the standings not to have participated in these last 5 races, with Cancellara being the only other rider like that in the Top 25.
Gesink is 4th after scoring in all 5 races - had things gone to plan, Im sure he expected to be higher in the standings at this point. Race winners Gilbert and Schleck are both into the Top 10, with Schleck and Ponzi being the highest placed riders who will ride the Giro.
Phinney joins the rankings in a high 13th, with other new entries being Dekker (29th), Ricco (40th), Amador (62nd), Cunego (87th) and Arroyo (96th). 19 riders meanwhile have gained over 100 places, most prominently: Taaramae (39th), Albasini (45th) and Paterski (58th).
Surely Colombia can do something to help Cunego to ensure their beloved gain maximum points
Things are interestingly poised - the stage races could see many dreams made and shattered.
Top spot: Vesuvio look very good with a fair bit more stage racing mountain climbing ability bang for their buck then the closest rivals.
Relegation: Well Warner Brothers are doing well to be as close as they are. Carmuese have always looked a little thin on the ground but they do have the Northern Europe card to play later on in the season I suppose. I am beginning to wonder whether Webeffect may also suffer. I did point the finger at UBS earlier in the year but they like all the other promoted teams are doing very well indeed.
