A bit of weekend drama, as prayers have been answered and one certain person was as unlucky as he could be, with a new high- and low-score on stage 8!
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
S8
Plapp
Kelderman
Ulissi
Arrieta
Prodhomme
Vendrame
Fortunato
Steinhauser
Bardet
Martinelli
kandesbunzler
60
8
30
10
108
Ollfardh
26
16
42
AbhishekLFC
26
8
34
seancoll
26
26
Ulrich
8
10
18
Laurens
16
16
ember
16
16
Nemolito
8
8
alexkr00
8
8
knockout
0
First a word on what could have been. If knockout would have selected the same riders as the stage before, he would have scored 235 points. Well over double the points of the previous and new stage record, and leading the table of ten managers after eight stages very clearly as well. Life can be cruel, though, as today none of of the top-10 riders were on his list, seeing him finish with zero points.
On top of today's table we find kandesbunzler26, beating the previous high-score, set by himself, by three points! Prodhomme and Steinhauser were only selected by him, and the extra Fortunato and Bardet points give him 108 in total. As said yesterday, a couple of low-scoring stages by him in the previous days, but he's back with a bang!
Numbers two to four on the stage all selected number three Ulissi. Ollfardh with yet another podium for the third/fourth time in a row now, thanks to also selecting Vendrame. Abhishek selected Fortunato, giving him 34 points today. vendrame and Fortunato the reason why four other managers didn't end with 0 points in the end, with Fortunato the only rider from the top-10 selected by at least five managers today.
Let's see what that gives for the maglia rosa.
S1-7
8
Total
ember
408
16
424
kandesbunzler
286
108
394
alexkr00
384
8
392
seancoll
362
26
388
Ulrich
337
18
355
Laurens
328
16
344
Ollfardh
279
42
321
AbhishekLFC
273
34
307
knockout
282
0
282
Nemolito
274
8
282
Ember still on top! But kandesbunzler, who had been sliding down the rankings in the last couple of days, catapults into second, only thirty points behind the lead now. Alex didn't score a lot, but enough to stay on the podium and stay rather close to the lead as well.
In fact, starting from alexkr00 up until Laurens in sixth, everybody drops one place because of the kandesbunzler jump. Except for alexkr00 losing eight points today, all of the others actually stayed at the same amount of points, or came a bit closer to the points total of ember.
Ollfardh and Abhishek's podium performance sees them rise to seventh and eighth, whereas the very unlucky knockout now shared the red lantern with myself, instead of leading with a bonus of +- 100 points over ember.
Good luck for the gravel stage today, and as always, tell me if you spot a mistake
What a stage! I didn't score very well in this game (what a surprise!), but the stage winner definitely makes up for it a lot. Viva Van Aert! Onto the stage rankings now.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
S9
Van Aert
Del Toro
Ciccone
Carapaz
S. Yates
Tiberi
Ayuso
Arensman
Bernal
A. Yates
Ulrich
12
15
70
4
5
106
AbhishekLFC
15
26
16
4
61
Ollfardh
12
15
26
4
57
ember
12
15
26
4
57
seancoll
12
16
4
5
37
Laurens
12
15
4
5
36
alexkr00
15
16
4
35
Nemolito
12
4
5
21
kandesbunzler
12
4
16
knockout
12
4
16
Eight out of ten managers still had faith in Van Aert, despite his sickness and not so amazing racing so far, and it paid off. Twelve points each. A bit like eurovision, but at least there Nemo has been victorious. Abhishek and Alex did not select Van Aert, but belong to the group of six that did select Del Toro, giving 15 points.
Second biggest points scorer of the stage was Ciccone with 26. Three people selecting the number three of the stage, Abhishek, Ollfardh and ember. The three of them finish second to fourth in the stage rankings, thanks to Carapaz. Only Ulrich selected the Ecuadorian, who gives him a record-high scoring amount of seventy points in one stage! Adding some Bernal and Ayuso points (Ayuso for everybody actually) sees Ulrich end up with 106 points, which is the second higest amount of points so far, just below kandesbunzler's 108. Second stage win on three stages as well for Ulrich, congratulations! Alex, myself, kandesbunzler and knockout in the right half of the scoring teams, but unlike myself alex did select captain Tiberi, which will give him 8 points extra at the end of the line as well.
Total rankings now.
S1-8 9 Total
ember
424
57
481
Ulrich
355
106
461
alexkr00
392
35
427
seancoll
388
37
425
kandesbunzler
394
16
410
Laurens
344
36
380
Ollfardh
321
57
378
AbhishekLFC
307
61
368
Nemolito
282
21
303
knockout
282
16
298
And actually almost nothing has changed. Everybody stays in his spots, except for an exact 2-5 position switch between Ulrich and kandesbunzler. The first time on the podium for the American MG superhero, can he keep up this good form? knockout and myself do a little 9-10 switch, but we stay close together and are waiting for the right time to rise through the rankings. Knockout's virtual 200+ points of the previous stage still see him in the virtual lead, just to show that one stage can still change everything. (Not to rub salt in the wounds of our current red lantern, because I realize very well that I'm probably back there very soon!)
As always, spot a mistake, tell me! At least Storer didn't get a top-10 this time so I couldn't screw that one up
Another little update: After only seancoll managed to predict a S1 breakaway rider correctly, none of us predicted Del Toro to wear white after S9. All of us picked Ayuso or Tiberi.
I just want to say—I'm not in this, but thanks for running it. Need more stuff like this on the site again. Haven't had much time to follow cycling this year, as you can see from my bailing on the spring classics game. But if you do something like this for the TDF, I hope I can join.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
I just want to say—I'm not in this, but thanks for running it. Need more stuff like this on the site again. Haven't had much time to follow cycling this year, as you can see from my bailing on the spring classics game. But if you do something like this for the TDF, I hope I can join.
Thank you for the comment! Hope to be able to do this for the TdF, and would love to see you join for sure.
Onto the stage rankings.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
S10
Hoole
Tarling
Hayter
Cattaneo
Affini
Vine
Plapp
Frigo
Hepburn
Azparren
Nemolito
33
9
35
7
84
AbhishekLFC
33
9
13
6
13
74
Ollfardh
9
13
35
7
6
70
kandesbunzler
33
9
13
7
62
seancoll
9
13
6
13
41
alexkr00
9
13
7
6
35
knockout
9
7
6
13
35
ember
9
13
7
6
35
Laurens
9
7
6
22
Ulrich
9
7
6
22
The rain made sure none of the GC riders came into a scoring position, which means the differences on the day between us are a bit bigger than what they might have been otherwise. Although the differences are still rather low, compared to some other stages.
Everybody selected Tarling, but he didn't win. It was winner Hoole and number four Cattaneo scoring the most points. Selected by three and two managers respectively, it means the four managers selecting one of them are in the top-4 of the stage. Myself, selecting both of them, winning the stage this way. Hayter (80/6) and Plapp (40/3) giving 13 points each to a handful of managers, with Affini and Vine giving six points per manager, both with eight selections.
S1-9
10
Total
ember
481
35
516
Ulrich
461
22
483
kandesbunzler
410
62
472
seancoll
425
41
466
alexkr00
427
35
462
Ollfardh
378
70
448
AbhishekLFC
368
74
442
Laurens
380
22
402
Nemolito
303
84
387
knockout
298
35
333
Ember, just like Del Toro, remains in pink. Ulrich still in second, but kandesbunzler fights his way onto the podium today. Seancoll stays fourth, so it was a position switch with alexkr00, who is now fifth. Ollfardh and Abhishek both gain a spot, with Laurens dropping to eighth. Myself and knockout remain in the last two positions for now.
Several breakaway chances and interesting sprint options in the coming week, so good luck to all!
