Giro di Lombardia? Check
Chrono des Herbiers? Check
Japan Cup? Check
3 way battle for ProTour? Check
A host of other positional battles? Check
The end of the season? Oh so close!
"We all know that wasn't the real footage of the Worlds anyway. That was just the staged footage to perpetuate the coverup that it was actually Vinokourov that won the race."
Buying Pellizotti has turned out to be a brilliant move Id hoped he might do well in Lombardia, particularly after the Worlds but taking 2nd with Schleck also 5th is definately a surprise.
Ill update the rankings for after this race shortly
With Devolder not riding Herbiers or Japan - even a victory for Cunego in Japan with Shleck not scoring will not be enough to stop the Luxembourg winning individual glory.
Lombardia could turn out to be decisive after the points haul for Accumalux. Magenta may trail by just 9 points, but have weaker lineups than their 2 rivals in the final races and could now be out of it. France TV will need Gesink and Kroon to do exceptionally well in Herbiers and Japan, with Cancellara and Schleck slipping up. Its a tall order. Its also now hard to see anyone other than Mapei and Sony Ericsson be relegated.
1 Accumalux-Formex 863
2 Magenta All Stars 854
3 France Televisions 830
4 Erste 598
5 La Gazetta Dello Sport 595
6 Credit Lyonnais 567
7 Virgin Media Pro Cycling Team 537
8 Festina 500
9 Wikipedia 498
10 Carlsberg 473
11 Philips-Hummel 454
12 Domina Vacanze 438
13 Eurosport 434
14 Warner Brothers 364
15 American Suzuki 308
16 Nintendo-Honda 278
17 Mapei 229
18 Sony Ericsson 214
Edited by SportingNonsense on 10-11-2008 01:34
Schleck will win the individual, but Devolder had such an incredible season that he put up all his points, in only riding 4 races this year. Even though Schleck will take the individual, Devolder has to be named the cyclist of the year, if we have the awards again this year. He took 4th in De Ronde, 1st in Romandie, 2nd in Columbia, and took the most coveted of victories the Tour de France. What a year to put up as many points as he did in so few races.
Edited by stemple on 10-11-2008 20:47