Fantasy Giro Stage 3: Paolini Pounces

 

I hope all my readers back in the UK enjoyed the May Bank Holiday today -  I heard the sun came out and everything.  Meanwhile in Atlanta it’s been a bit chilly and rainy.  And I had to go to work, as America doesn't believe in May.  On the bright side, they did give us some free BBQ for lunch.

 

On the down side, the server put my chocolate chip cookie on top of my baked beans – why would you do that? He could have at least put it on top of the corn on the cob if he was short of plate space.  Also, for some reason there was a DJ. He was playing all the songs the kids like these days, but he looked like he’d been in the game since Thomas Edison cut his first wax cylinder.  You'll have to take my word for it, since I'm a poor photographer.  I hope you can at least see that he had a nice hat.

 

Anyway, onto the race that brings us all here.  Three stages, three race leaders.  Yes indeed, it’s all been going on at the Giro.  I thought that the big names would take it easy today and maybe let a break get away – shows how much I know.  Those tough climbs near the finish saw the sprinters dispatched, and at the front of the race there were fireworks aplenty after the early break had been shut-down.  Having a fair few digs was last year’s winner, Ryder Hesjedal.

He certainly looks like he means business this year, but most of the favorites managed to match his attacks on the final climb.  Down the other side Luca Paolini sneaked away and held on till the line to take the win and the race lead.

 

Pretty much everyone else who’s important was in a group of twenty or so behind him.  Everyone except my boy Scarponi that is, as he crashed on the descent.  He seemed fairly unscathed, but lost precious seconds.  Picking up some tasty bonus seconds for 2^nd and 3^rd were Evans and Hesjedal, but Wiggins is still lurking in second overall.

Best score of the day went to Zero Resistance, who seem to be part of a Canadian take-over of the league.  Eh?

Rank		Team	Directeur	Score
1		Zero Resistance	Christopher Rowley	323
2		MDR	Matt Reeve	294
3		Cat 2 Grupetto	Sherwood	293
4		Amgen	Bradley Dean	285
5		Kiwi Nation (no actual kiwis)	Eddy	272
6		Synergy	Adrian Leggett	247
7		Sit up and beg	Denspeck	227
8		Rouleurs	tdm911	221
9		Fulgas	Vincent Lavallee	193
10		Get Jacked	robert thompson	176
11		Charmers	Craigatron	174
12		Mungo Cycling	Mungo	174
13		Smugblokes	Mark Philo	170
14		Cornerstone Clydesdales	James Patterson	168
15		Bile Beans	Vestan Pance	167
16		Return of Reflex	Karlos	150
17		Team Doodle	RobbieT	134
18		hitfbsuckers	Warwick Anderson	111
19		Cofeedis	Tom Fee	104
20		Camembert Electrique	Mark	102
21		Evil Chan Bots	Evil Dr Chan	102

Just like the real Giro, in the fantasy Giro, we have our third leader in three days.  Say hello to MDR.  They may not be there tomorrow.

Rank		Team	Directeur	Score
1		MDR	Matt Reeve	646
2		Smugblokes	Mark Philo	587
3		Zero Resistance	Christopher Rowley	578
4		Cat 2 Grupetto	Sherwood	556
5		Return of Reflex	Karlos	553
6		Cofeedis	Tom Fee	544
7		Amgen	Bradley Dean	516
8		Bile Beans	Vestan Pance	479
9		Camembert Electrique	Mark	463
10		Synergy	Adrian Leggett	458
11		Kiwi Nation (no actual kiwis)	Eddy	443
12		hitfbsuckers	Warwick Anderson	442
13		Rouleurs	tdm911	436
14		Fulgas	Vincent Lavallee	406
15		Mungo Cycling	Mungo	402
16		Get Jacked	robert thompson	397
17		Sit up and beg	Denspeck	347
18		Charmers	Craigatron	335
19		Evil Chan Bots	Evil Dr Chan	321
20		Cornerstone Clydesdales	James Patterson	298
21		Team Doodle	RobbieT	248

Tomorrow then.  An uphill finish, and after today's fun and games it should be a belter.  I could really do with some of my boys earning some points.