Individually, Ginanni continues to lead - but former leader Taaramae is closing, with Trofimov and Danielson also close. Another dominant GC in Ster Elektro lifts Ignatiev right up to 5th, while Pedraza has climbed to 6th.
1
Francesco Ginanni
ITA
Vespa-Caffrey's
708
2
Rein Taaramäe
EST
Team IKEA - Bianchi
693
3
Yuri Trofimov
RUS
Sony Ericsson
681
4
Tom Danielson
USA
Team Starbucks
672
5
Mikhail Ignatiev
RUS
100% Me
598
6
Walter Pedraza
COL
Sony Ericsson
590
7
Raúl Granjel Cabrera
CUB
Sony Ericsson
533
8
Philippe Gilbert
BEL
AON Global
526
9
Leif Hoste
BEL
Nvidia Intel
510
10
Fabian Wegmann
GER
BMC Racing Team
494
11
Sam Bewley
NZL
M&M Cycling
494
12
Juan Van Heerden
RSA
AON Global
468
13
Manuel Lloret
ESP
Team Olympus AirAsia
457
14
Tejay Van Garderen
USA
Wal-Mart
435
15
Kim Kirchen
LUX
Jack Wolfskin
430
16
Francisco Ventoso
ESP
Santander
427
17
Matthias Kessler
GER
Nespresso-Sportzone
416
18
Geert Steurs
BEL
Nespresso-Sportzone
408
19
Alejandro Valverde
ESP
Santander
389
20
Dominique Cornu
BEL
Jack Wolfskin
383
21
Rinaldo Nocentini
ITA
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
366
22
Jurgen Vandenbroeck
BEL
Molteni
363
23
Stefan Schumacher
GER
Wii Racing
357
24
Gianpaolo Caruso
ITA
Nvidia Intel
356
25
Giovanni Visconti
ITA
Team Starbucks
356
26
Juan Miguel Mercado
ESP
Team Energie-Diesel
355
27
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya
COL
Nespresso-Sportzone
352
28
Marc de Maar
NED
AON Global
347
29
Robert Kiserlovski
CRO
M&M Cycling
345
30
Leonardo Bertagnolli
ITA
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
341
31
Daniel Martin
IRL
100% Me
322
32
Niels Albert
BEL
Jack Wolfskin
322
33
Adam Blythe
GBR
100% Me
321
34
Ben Swift
GBR
100% Me
317
35
Ben Hermans
BEL
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
316
36
Mikel Astarloza
ESP
Nvidia Intel
316
37
Sylvain Calzati
FRA
BMC Racing Team
310
38
Erik Mohs
GER
IrnBru - RBS
299
39
Florentino Marquez
ESP
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
297
40
Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio
MEX
Team Energie-Diesel
291
41
Peter Stetina
USA
BMC Racing Team
286
42
Aleksandar Flügel
GER
Team IKEA - Bianchi
279
43
Luca Paolini
ITA
Kenda Pro Cycling
264
44
Bradley Wiggins
GBR
100% Me
262
45
Pedro Nicácio
BRA
Team Energie-Diesel
262
46
Peter Kennaugh
GBR
100% Me
258
47
Oscar Freire
ESP
Nokia-Nike
257
48
Ivan Basso
ITA
Vespa-Caffrey's
254
49
Sergio Ghisalberti
ITA
Sony Ericsson
251
50
Matthew Goss
AUS
Jack Wolfskin
248
Teams
With 3 riders in the Top 7 shown above, Sony Ericsson have certainly got the right mix for the continental tour, and continue to lead. The important stat now being that they are over 1000 points into the safety of the promotion spots. Im still not sure how 100% Me are doing so well in 2nd, but it does not matter, they cant promote, but the next 3 teams can and currently they are Jack Wolfskin, Energie-Diesel and Starbucks. Theyre not having it easy though, with Nespresso, BMC, Vespa and IKEA keeping close.
A gap is starting to emerge beyond the top 9, nearly 200 pts before 10th placed AON Global, who lead the bunch of 11 teams separated by little more than 500 pts. NVidia and Wiggle are two of the more notable recent movers within this bunch.
1
Sony Ericsson
3275
2
100% Me
2823
3
Jack Wolfskin
2405
4
Team Energie-Diesel
2239
5
Team Starbucks
2202
6
Nespresso-Sportzone
2105
7
BMC Racing Team
1987
8
Vespa-Caffrey's
1950
9
Team IKEA - Bianchi
1940
10
AON Global
1752
11
Team Olympus AirAsia
1725
12
Santander
1589
13
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
1541
14
M&M Cycling
1537
15
Nvidia Intel
1505
16
IrnBru- RBS
1467
17
Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Michelin
1453
18
Team NOS
1443
19
Wal-Mart Pro Cycling Team
1294
20
Kenda Pro Cycling
1206
21
Molteni
988
22
Wii Racing
972
23
Nokia-Nike
783
24
EON Ruhrgas
767
25
Team LEGO - CapriSonne
729
26
Acqua & Sapone
370
27
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
309
28
Team Ultimate
133
29
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
5 of my next 7 races are .HC races and I hope to get quite a lot of points from them as the promotion spot seems to be in a little bit of danger at the moment.
BMC won't be scoring points til the Tour of Denmark, though we might get a good number of points with 2 good GC options for that race. Promotion is still an aspiration.