Fantasy Vuelta Overall: Old Dogs Learn New Tricks

Well done Chris Horner.  He won the Vuelta yesterday after an exciting three weeks of racing.

While Frenchie Kenny Elissonde won the stage up the fearsome and foggy Angliru, the real action was going on behind.  Nibali was only 3 seconds off the Red Jersey and tried again and again to shake Horner on the steep climb.  But as they got nearer the top it was Horner who did the dropping and made it clear who was the strongest GC man in the race.

So yesterday's stage was the old photo-opp and sprint format as seen on the last day of the TDF.  Young Australian Michael Matthews took his second sprint win of the race.

So that mean Horner becomes the first American Grand-Tour winner since this guy.

This guy.

This guy.

Yesterday's win had raised some eyebrows.  How can someone who, quite frankly is getting on a bit, win so convincingly against younger competition?  Someone who has never really shown any form in a three week race suddenly crushes the established names?  I say innocent until proven guilty, so until I hear otherwise Drew's win stands.  

	Dudes Riding Using Good Stuff	Drew Stephenson	5706
	ENRICO 666	ENRICO 666	4973
	Charmers	Craigatron	4919
	Scibstiques	Paul Scibilia	4571
	KLOEFEKAPPERS	Jan Van Belleghem	4299
	Rouleurs	tdm911	4271
	Red Devils	Warwick Anderson	4132
	Bile Beans	Vestan Pance	3415
	MungoCyclic	Mungo	3170
	Team Chanbots	Evil Dr Chan	3044

Besides, Drew (and the rest of us) were still a little behind the overall Velogames Vuelta winner.

Pocem kamdeš

Ali

9166

Well that's about it for the 2013 Fantasy Season.  I hope to see you all again in 2014, where I imagine we'll be kicking things off with the Fantasy Classics. 

Fantasy Vuelta Stages 18&19: Horner Takes Race by the Horns

Howdy all.  This time I would like to blame the lateness of my post on Drew.  For I've been wasting my time on a Facebook campaign to make him ditch his valve caps.  Seeing as I also have a blog at my disposal, I would like to take the opportunity to point out that valve caps are unnecessary and make you look like a Fred.  So forget this article and throw them away! You'll look pro!

Anyone who says a cyclist can't be fast over the age of 35 has obviously never been on a ride with 70-something-year-old Ken Rosskopf.  Or for that matter, pushing-42-year-old Chris Horner. Young whipper-snapper Vincenzo Nibali has been fading a bit in the last couple of stages, allowing old-man-Horner to get within 3 seconds of his lead yesterday. While Vasil Kiryienka did a bit to save Sky's blushes with a stage win.

And Mungo had some good news at last with best score of the day.

	MungoCyclic	Mungo	223
	ENRICO 666	ENRICO 666	161
	Dudes Riding Using Good Stuff	Drew Stephenson	161
	Team Chanbots	Evil Dr Chan	159
	Red Devils	Warwick Anderson	138
	Scibstiques	Paul Scibilia	103
	Rouleurs	tdm911	103
	KLOEFEKAPPERS	Jan Van Belleghem	101
	Charmers	Craigatron	91
	Bile Beans	Vestan Pance	89

And today, it was age before beauty again, as Horner finished ahead of Nibbles and did enough to take over the race lead with just one tough stage to go.

Stage 19 scores are still to come, but we can be pretty sure that the ValveKapper will still be winning the overall.

	Dudes Riding Using Good Stuff	Drew Stephenson	4137
	Charmers	Craigatron	3576
	Scibstiques	Paul Scibilia	3419
	ENRICO 666	ENRICO 666	3376
	KLOEFEKAPPERS	Jan Van Belleghem	3198
	Rouleurs	tdm911	2678
	Red Devils	Warwick Anderson	2618
	Bile Beans	Vestan Pance	2556
	Team Chanbots	Evil Dr Chan	2423
	MungoCyclic	Mungo	1982

Fantasy Vuelta Stage 17: Mollema Overcomes Wind Problem

Here I am, back in a flash with a Vuelta update only one day after the last one!  As you might have gathered from my sporadic posting, I haven't been watching this year’s Vuelta as closely as I should, so my insights into the race have been minimal.  Luckily, everyone’s favorite CyclingNews commenter ellenbrook2001 has been paying attention and has once again cut through the bullshit to say what I know we have all been thinking.

We've had the rain, today we had the wind. 

And when it gets windy things tend to get strung-out, with the strongmen making the cut and the weaklings left chasing.  The Dutch are famous for being able to ride in the wind, so no big surprise to see Bauke Mollema hanging with the big-boys and sneaking away at the end to take the stage.  Young Mollema would appear to be the new next big thing of Dutch Cycling, after his team-mate Robert Gesink turned out to be the next big underachiever of Dutch Cycling.

In the GC battle, Nico Roche moved up a few spots and is back up to 5^th. I do have a soft spot for Nico, so it’s good to see him doing well.  Back in my bike shop days, I had a customer who met his mum and informed me that at least in the early 90’s, she was a total fox.  

Obviously it would have been nicer to see young Roche doing well while riding for the Bile Beans, but my team was chosen in haste and I never got around to re-picking.  To be honest I can't even remember who’s in my team, I thought I had Mollema, but I guess I don't..... Nor does Drew, but it didn't stop him getting top score.

	Dudes Riding Using Good Stuff	Drew Stephenson	303
	Scibstiques	Paul Scibilia	271
	Red Devils	Warwick Anderson	161
	Bile Beans	Vestan Pance	147
	MungoCyclic	Mungo	119
	Rouleurs	tdm911	75
	Charmers	Craigatron	65
	KLOEFEKAPPERS	Jan Van Belleghem	61
	ENRICO 666	ENRICO 666	58
	Team Chanbots	Evil Dr Chan	54

So Drew remains on top for the foreseeable future.

	Dudes Riding Using Good Stuff	Drew Stephenson	3892
	Charmers	Craigatron	3320
	ENRICO 666	ENRICO 666	3117
	KLOEFEKAPPERS	Jan Van Belleghem	3026
	Scibstiques	Paul Scibilia	3026
	Rouleurs	tdm911	2483
	Red Devils	Warwick Anderson	2416
	Bile Beans	Vestan Pance	2256
	Team Chanbots	Evil Dr Chan	2200
	MungoCyclic	Mungo	1732

More bike riding will be happening tomorrow.  It’s stage 18 don't you know?