Yes I enjoyed the reporting too as I have all the reports. If you look back at the early days of Man Game reports there were very brief run downs. The game is well and truly bought alive by a comprehensive report.
From a Red Bull perspective, JL Augustyn really rode incredably well and I was very pleased to see Roman Kilun on the attack in the last stage.
An excellent race for a couple of teams in particular, Pirelli , Sport Lisboa and UBS all showed their strengths. Meanwhile Taaramae was very strong, in response to early wins by Pozzato and Ignatiev three names for the individual standings I think.
Winning all 4 jerseys in a HC race is a surefire way to score a lot of ranking points, and this is exactly what Rein Taaramae gets, having overcome the competition with relative ease. Scoring 349 points, he jumps right into the lead of the continental tour - just ahead of Bellis.
Florentino Marquez took 2nd here, rather than attempt a defense of his Tachira title, and is rewarded by 5th place in the rankings. This years Tachira winner was a fairly anonymous 14th overall here, but Ochoa Quintero remains well placed at 6th. Another of the early stage race winners, Dan Craven, has also now climbed in to the Top 10, following his performance in Algarve; while Jose Serpa is another new entrant to the Top 10.
Overall victory in Algarve only puts Ignatiev 12th for now, while his close rival there, Van den Broeck, has gone 19th.
1
Rein
Taaramäe
Team IKEA - Bianchi
349
2
Jonathan
Bellis
Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by the Moon X
337
3
Yukiya
Arashiro
Red Bull
286
4
Juan
Van Heerden
Pendleton's Twicer
248
5
Florentino
Marquez
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
236
6
Richard
Ochoa Quintero
YouTube - Twitter
211
7
Mark
Cavendish
100% Me
196
8
Dan
Craven
Bimbo Nutella
187
9
Francisco
Colorado
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
171
10
José
Serpa
Pirelli - Internazionale
169
11
Yeison
Delgado
Quiksilver-Kraft
166
12
Mikhail
Ignatiev
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
153
13
Maximiliano
Richeze
UBS - Annie Chun's
151
14
Lars
Croket
Petronas - Olympus
151
15
Leonardo
Bertagnolli
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
140
16
Filippo
Pozzato
Mercedes-Benz
140
17
Juan José
Haedo
Mercedes-Benz
135
18
Romain
Sicard
EL AL - IDF
133
19
Jurgen
Van den Broeck
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
129
20
John-Lee
Augustyn
Red Bull
121
21
Aleksandar
Flügel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
114
22
Daryl
Impey
Yamaha - Greenpeace
113
23
Bernhard
Kohl
UBS - Annie Chun's
105
24
Allan
Davis
Quiksilver-Kraft
105
25
Grégory
Rast
EL AL - IDF
103
26
Manuel
Lloret
Petronas - Olympus
100
27
Maxime
Monfort
Team LEGO
98
28
Anthony
Roux
UBS - Annie Chun's
93
29
Stef
Clement
Team Pokerstars.com
92
30
Sébastien
Duret
Pendleton's Twicer
92
31
David
Abal
Santander
90
32
Ricardo
Van der Velde
Petronas - Olympus
87
33
Nicolas
Roche
100% Me
86
34
Julián
Rodas
Red Bull
85
35
Chris
Froome
100% Me
85
36
Vasili
Kiryenka
Tinkoff Credit Systems - Rosneft
85
37
Andrea
Moletta
Pendleton's Twicer
84
38
Oliver
Zaugg
YouTube - Twitter
83
39
Gerald
Ciolek
Team LEGO
82
40
Simone
Ponzi
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
82
41
Damian
Martínez
Quiksilver-Kraft
82
42
Andres
Saldarriaga
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
80
43
Hubert
Schwab
Team LEGO
79
44
Marcello
Pavarin
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
78
45
Johan
Vansummeren
Intesa
78
46
Ben
Hermans
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
75
47
Simon
Gerrans
Petronas - Olympus
73
48
Marco
Guillén
Team Pokerstars.com
69
49
Mikel
Astarloza
Bbox Bouygoues Telecom
67
50
Alessandro
Proni
Vespa-Caffrey's
66
Team
Ignatiev's victory in Algarve took Wiggle to the top of the team standings for the first ever time, but this was shortlived however, and they slip to 2nd as SL Benfica move into the lead, having taken over 500 points from the past 2 races.
Former leaders Red Bull are able to stay close to Wiggle, thanks to Augustyn, while Petronas are up to 4th, and IKEA shoot up to 6th - thanks of course to Taaramae. Also moving back in to the Top 10 are UBS, while after a 5 race break, initial leaders Mercedes Benz have now fallen out of it - down to 13th.
