tour tipping – the final stage

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well the tour has been run and won so we can all look forward to a bit of a sleep in…until the olympics.  the complete domination of the sky team robots kind of took all the fun out of the event but there were some good moments from some of the minor teams.

in the tipping comp, team “C’est la Vie” took the wiggo approach and completely dominated the final week.  once he had a gap it would have taken a breakaway win to pull him back.  on GC he finished the tour a full 15min clear of his next rival.

General Classification Team Name Time Gap
1 3 days 15:26:42 C’est la Vie
2 3 days 15:42:17 Sempre Veloce 0:15:35
3 3 days 15:45:34 Team RunBMC 0:18:52

in the sprint competition, team “Darkside” maintained a healthy lead until the final week when (i think) a missed tip cost him the lead.  he was only trailing by 4 points heading into the final stage and in an attempt to jump clear he tipped against “the cav” and actually fell to 3rd spot over all.  team “C’est la Vie” cleaned up again.

Sprinters Points Team Name
1 449 pts C’est la Vie
2 417 pts Team RunBMC
3 416 pts Darkside

the mountains points are always a hard one to pick as the rider that usually gains the most points in a stage is not the winner, but part of a breakaway.  for most of the tour, this comp hovered around the low single digits for points until a flurry of activity in the pyrenees.  “Plan G” managed to stay that one solitary point ahead to take the victory.  with 3rd place tied on 35 points, the count back showed that “festina lente” received more points from HC climbs then team “C’est la Vie”

Mountain Points Team Name
1 41 pts Plan G
2 40 pts Get the Edge
3 35 pts festina lente
4 35 pts C’est la Vie

stage wins seem straight forward but are actually hard to pick.  this is evident by the number of times that the stage points hit a jackpot.  in the first week there was always someone picking one of the main sprinters.  in the subsequent weeks picking the breakaway was hard as even in the mountains, there was no guarantee that the gc riders would catch them before the finish.  at the end of the day the winner didn’t even pick the most stage wins, but picked the one that counted.  stage 13 when the points had hit a jackpot of 40 and were split between the top two placegetters.

Team Name Stage Wins
1 Pantini Hill Powder 31.8
2 Team RunBMC 30.2
3 Get the Edge 16.8

now there are prizes for the top three in all categories, but unfortunately, i don’t have them all right now.  i forgot to get them off anna before she took off to france, so will get them sorted out when she returns.  there are lights, carbon handlebars and track pumps in the prize pool.

thanks to all that participated this year.  25 teams meant that we raised a further $500 towards the uci fundraiser to help get the spr reps over to south africa.

5 thoughts on “tour tipping – the final stage”

  2. …and as the Sky turned blue, the people all screamed “’twas nothing short of a miracle” that long lanky Wiggle!! Team RunBMC S?:12

    Thanks heaps Pete for organising and staying with it, even though you’re own tipping was doomed (as usual?) from the outset!!

  4. Thanks pete for organising the tipping. I would have to agree it was one of the more boring TDFs I’ve seen and it was evidenced by me being able to keep the lead and win by 15 min, easy to keep the lead once in front as everyone had to pick a roughy to get up.

  5. Thanks Pete it was a good comp and definately made the tour more exciting. I will need to keep polishing my crystal ball …..it didnt work too good. But roll on the Vuelta for more late nights!

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