Trofimov's strong lead is wiped out in just 1 race, as Damiano Cunego storms to the top of the leaderboard after his 5th consecutive Giro d'Italia triumph. The lead is not huge though, so there is more to come in the battle for number 1 in these standings.
Also jumping up is Sella into 3rd - moving past Ballan who could only score 50 points in the race, his abilities not really suited to Grand Tours. Other movements based on the race are:
Nibali to 9th
Devolder to 18th
Castano to 20th
Henao Montoya to 22nd
Pozzovivo to 24th
Rogers to 26th
Ulissi to 31st
Docker to 32nd
Marzano to 36th
Keizer to 39th
Visconti to 44th
Breschel to 46th
Intxausti to 47th
Efimkin to 48th
Tenorio to 50th
Auber 93 - LookPrevious: 2nd; New: 3rd
After their strong start to the season, Auber are now starting to be caught by more teams as the inevitable slide down the table beckons. Only La Gazzetta have passed them in this race, but while before they were 747 ahead of the next team, there are now 5 teams situated in the 747 points below them.
Carmeuse CyclismePrevious: 13th; New: 17th
The cobbles gamble hasnt worked, and Carmeuse now find themselvs in the relegation zone. It's a tough uphill fight from now on, if they are to save themselves from the drop.
Domina VacanzePrevious: 7th; New: 6th
Vinceno Nibali may have taken 3rd in the race, but his stage win apart, had a semi-quiet race - thus failed to keep up with the mass scoring of Cunego and Sella, explaining why just 1 place has been gained. But the other 2 Grand Tours are expected to be more lucrative for them, so everyone else watch out.
Energie-DieselPrevious: 12th; New: 9th
One of three of last year's promoted continental teams who are currently in the Top 10, Energie-Diesel delivered a strong Giro to overtake 4 teams, while of course dropping one spot due to the leap of La Gazzetta. But with Pozzovivvo's biggest race over, have the team now peaked at 9th, with the need now to look behind them rather than in front?
Festina - CoronaPrevious: 3rd; New: 4th
Theyve lost a place, but can have little complaints about what was a brilliant Giro for the team. They are already establishing a strong presence in the Top 5, and it would be a somewhat of a surprise if they dont at least maintain this all season, maybe even go higher...
Jack WolfskinPrevious: 8th; New: 10th
The team are finding themselves enveloped in a close battle for the last spot in the Top 10. They lead the way for now, but it could so very easily change. But nevertheless, to still be in the Top 10 after the Giro must be considered a success for the Dutch team.
La Gazzetta dello SportPrevious: 14th; New: 2nd
They may not be showing the form of last year, but after a below-par start, La Gazzetta have come screaming back to the top of the leaderboard. But this was slated to be their best race - and yet they still trail Sony Ericsson by 900 points. At this stage, a repeat of their season's triumph last year appears unlikely.
LafargePrevious: 19th; New: 19th
The Giro turned out to be a very good race for Lafarge. Docker did very well, with his 2 early stage wins, plus Bret winning from a breakaway and decent points from Tenorio. They may still be last, but are much closer to their rivals now.
Lipton Ice TeaPrevious: 9th; New: 5th
While being dissapointed that Sella missed out on beating Cunego once again, the Lipton team cannot be dissapointed with their progression in the rankings. If this is the year they top the rankings, then the Giro has provided a strong stepping stone - but still work to be done against Sony Ericsson.
Pearl AdidasPrevious: 4th; New: 7th
Rujano may not have performed as hoped, and theyve dropped 3 places to 7th - but to put it in perspective - team leader and reigning TDF Champ Markus Fothen has yet to even ride yet. Theyll now look to the Vuelta, to see if Rujano can fare any better in Spain than Italy.
Philips - TDCPrevious: 15th; New: 11th
Having been slipping towards the relegation zone, Stijn Devolder's performance has helped lift Philips back on to the brink of the Top 10. Re-entering the Top 10 is bound to be the target now, as expectation will shift onto Thomas Dekker's shoulders.
Sony EricssonPrevious: 1st; New: 1st
When considering that they did not enter with their strongest of squads, the Giro is a job well done for Sony Ericsson. Over 500 points scored, with Marzano taking 8th - and their large lead remains.
Team B&OPrevious: 6th; New: 8th
Winning the TTT was such a huge boost for the B&O team, with the ranking points from that, and then Keinath's performance that followed, helping them to a strong total in a race without their 2 big leaders.
Team NespressoPrevious: 17th; New: 13rd
Henao Montoya ensured Nespresso did not stay long in the relegation zone, and while that battle is not over, Nespresso will now look to carry their Giro momentum forward into the rest of the season.
Team Starbucks-RadioshackPrevious: 18th; New: 18th
Like Lafarge, Starbucks should come away happy from the race. They may have hoped for more from Vladimir Efimkin in 14th place, but Matti Breschel will have delivered above expectations in the sprints, and the team has made good gains on Cafe de Colombia, Warner Bros and Carmeuse.
Vesuvio-AccumaluxPrevious: 16th; New: 15th
Intxausti belowed badly underpar, and the team will hope that he does not do the same in the Vuelta - but confidence in the young Spaniard is low right now within the team. They ought to be safely in the Top 10 by the seasons ends, but theres work to do right now.
Warner BrothersPrevious: 10th; New: 16th
Youd be forgiven for not noticing Warner Bros in the Giro, they only received ranking points for finishing the race, after all. A 6 place drop and now into the relegation battle - time for Boonen and Spilak to stepup.
WikipediaPrevious: 5th; New: 12th
The lowest scoring team in the race, as the team focused elsewhere, to California, rather than look for a strong showing in Italy. They are likely to therefore bounce back into the Top 10 once racing ends there, but will there be a worry that this drop will repeat itself following the Vuelta aswell?
This years rankings are going to be really interesting, the Giro will probably be the most predictable of the Grand Tours.. the others I cannot imagine individual riders dominating as much as they did in the Giro.
Festina, Lipton and Domina Vacanze have got to reel in Sony quicker than they did from the Giro!
My fundamental problem this year is i will be blanked in two grand tours. Don't see the team as in real danger of going down but cant see them pushing too high with this combined with Van Garderen being a mediocre leader for the hills.
Very nice reading stuff here. Also a huge thumbs up to Smowz for an amazing Giro report. What at job!
Seeing my team in 4th is definately great. I don't see Auber as the main competitor for the overall, nor La Gazzetta for that matter, so I'm very happy to be infront of Lipton and Domina after the Giro, which should be my worst of the 3 GT's (Atleast on paper)... So this is looking very very interesting. Sony Ericsson will be difficult to reel back in. - Hopefully it will be a slow reeling proces starting from now on. Tour of California will probably be somewhat neutral, hopefully 100 points reeled in, and then the Vuelta... I really hope to take a humongous chunk into their lead there, and that will hopefully be enough for my team to be well into 2nd place, as I'm really fearing for Domina Vacanze and Lipton Ice Tea in the long run.
My wish is for Alberto Contador to win the Vuelta, do top 3-4 in the Tour and go podium in Dauphine Libere. If that will happen then my chances for overall top 3 are very very fine!
Great performance from my team in the Giro and if Hagen pulls off a podium in Cali I don't think my Top 10 goal is gonna be an issue whatsoever. I may dump a bit after La Vuelta, but then comes the Tour where Pluchkin will be the favourite and I believe the man to beat in that race following last year's 7th place after a crash and having to go on a kamikaze attack in one of the final mountain stages cost what would have been a certain podium and most likely even the overall win.
A_Schleck wrote:
Great performance from my team in the Giro and if Hagen pulls off a podium in Cali I don't think my Top 10 goal is gonna be an issue whatsoever. I may dump a bit after La Vuelta, but then comes the Tour where Pluchkin will be the favourite and I believe the man to beat in that race following last year's 7th place after a crash and having to go on a kamikaze attack in one of the final mountain stages cost what would have been a certain podium and most likely even the overall win.
The tour is so much stronger this year, not saying he won't win, but about 20 80+ mountains are there, but I don't think Pluchkin is favourite
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182]Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
A_Schleck wrote:
Great performance from my team in the Giro and if Hagen pulls off a podium in Cali I don't think my Top 10 goal is gonna be an issue whatsoever. I may dump a bit after La Vuelta, but then comes the Tour where Pluchkin will be the favourite and I believe the man to beat in that race following last year's 7th place after a crash and having to go on a kamikaze attack in one of the final mountain stages cost what would have been a certain podium and most likely even the overall win.
The tour is so much stronger this year, not saying he won't win, but about 20 80+ mountains are there, but I don't think Pluchkin is favourite
Yeah well didn't really consider that. Screw it he'll win anyway