congrats to me

Kudos to Petacchi, he had to win every sprint today to win the little fishy jersey and he did it. Classy performance, and he won a final sprint that sounded uphill and didn't suit him. But without Bettini there to pip him, he took it. Evidently it will also be the same sprint for the World Championships, so that will be interesting. Winning the day again, was Pablo Neruda's Nudists. And the final GC win goes to my Unfrozen Taco.

Well, the 2005 Vuelta has been a blast, hope you guys enjoyed it too, i never thought i would win. Drop me a line and let me know what you thought of the new draft format. I know it's easier from an implementation point of view.

heras nearly got the stage

but it was Ruben Plaza, another great name or street address. Pan Blanco won today's stage and my squad broke the 1,000 point mark in the GC. So it looks like the Unfrozen Taco has this Vuelta in the bag. It would take a banner day by Vuelta Skelta to take back the lead, but my money is on Petacchi which would mean Pablo Neruda's Nudists.

Should be the last abandon of this year's Vuelta
OLE! lost David Canada who is not Canadian.

timed to perfection?

So there wasn't a sprint finish, and my man Haussler won the stage, putting me further ahead on GC. I'm not used to winning fantasy sports so commentary ends here. I'm thinking tomorrow will be a battle between Menchov and Sastre in the timetrial, but who knows.

Wouldn't be a vuelta stage without abandons...
Herradura Cura lost Santos Gonzalez
Senor Poopy lost Geslin and Guido Trenti
Pan Blanco lost the Cricket
El Rippo lost Perdiguero
Thor and The Basque Batallion lost the Termin-Aitor

i swear i didn't cheat

Nicki Sorensen won today's stage and nobody had him on their team. The real story of today's battle for the points was Eladio Jimenez who attempted to win the KOM in a single day. Unfortunately for him, there are no more mountains in the Vuelta. Fortunately for me, his points drove Unfrozen Taco to the win on the day and the lead in the overall. One has only to look at my team's performance in the sprint stages to know that this isn't a lock, i expect the lead may change two more times before Sunday. But we shall see...

More for Communidad Valenciana

Carlos Garcia Quesada won today along with A Spain in My Ass and that's quickly becoming one of my favorite jerseys. The tight battle for the overall spread out some with Brian's Vuelta Skelta forging a bit of a lead. Will it be enough? More mountains tomorrow.

gnashing teeth of a rabid vorpal cricket

One of my favorite riders, Paolo "the cricket" Bettini ripped it up today.

This little man, twirling an enormous gear, with his tiny frame sprinting ahead of this humongous peloton.

Due to the uphill sprint, he managed to stop the Alessandro "I'll win everything that's flat" Petacchi train.

Benefitting from his performance was none other than Taylor's Pan Blanco who won the stage.

With only five days remaining in the Vuelta, it's getting a bit crowded at the top. As of today, there is a tie between Dr. Brian'sVuelta Skelta and Jeff's Thor and the Basque Batallion for first place on the GC. A mere 7 points back is Taylor's Team Rookie led by Denis Menchov. I would be remiss if i didn't mention that my sleeping giant, Unfrozen Taco is close behind them. But the real intrigue might come from none other than Carrie Casagrande currently sitting in 7th, but only 135 points back and she has Heras. So anything could happen, if he goes on a tear. Stay tuned...

Wouldn't be a stage without some abandons:
Fruita Freewheelers lost stage-winner Bertagnolli
Las Mariquititas lost former NCS sprinter Julian Dean

125 lbs of fury, Heras Kicks Ass

Roberto rolled into the gold jersey today, while Denis Menchov crumbled like a Spanish version of a Chips Ahoy cookie. Seizing the day was Carrie Casagrande while the Vuelta Skelta maintained his narrow lead for the overall.

Only abandon affecting teams today was Las Mariquititas who lost Boonen.

unfrozen taco baby!

Eladio Jimenez won yesterday as did the Unfrozen Taco, finally! It only took 14 stages. Big win for my squad moved me up to 3rd overall, with Vuelta Skelta taking over the lead on GC.

Abandons continued profusely:
Herradura Cura lost Azevado
Vuelta Skelta lost Joachim
Pan Blanco lost Bellotti
El Rippo lost Tom Steels
Pan Blanco lost Manuel Beltran

unlucky stage 13

Not a great day for Team Disco fans, as Tricky Beltran, Jose Azevado and Benoit Joachim all called it a race. There was confusion at the finish, when Mauricio Ardila finished his sprint at a KOM sprint 200m before the finish line. Samuel Sanchez won the stage with team El Rippo also taking the day. The GC battle has gotten closer but Taylor's Team Rookie is still in the lead. Tomorrow's stage is meant to shake up the vuelta contenders and may be a great springboard for Heras, if he can overcome his injury. We'll see.

Abandons continue at a whopping pace:
Fruita Freewheelers lost Glomser
Herradura Cura lost Piil

blue train rolls again

So blah blah blah Petacchi again blah blah blah Pablo Neruda's Nudists blah blah blah. He got his fourth victory of this year's vuelta on a stage animated by Luis Pasamontes who was off until 15km to go. Reading the play by play made it sound like he got pulled back nearly exclusively by Rolf Aldag who was a MACHINE. Team Rookie held on to her lead, but didn't add much to it. The big mover was Vuelta Skelta

Another day means another bundle of abandons:
OLE! lost Botero
Carrie lost Luis Perez
Thor and the Basque Boys lost Thor!
Herradura Cura lost Markel Irizar
Pan Blanco lost Guesdon
A Spain in My Ass lost Bradley McGee

laiseka wins, mucho mucho abandons

Love that Euskaltel jersey, Roberto Laiseka won the stage along with Thor and the Basque Batallion. Only fitting that Jeff's Thor and the Boys would win on the day that Thor abandoned the Vuelta, bummer. Taylor has put her stamp of authority on the race gc-wise. If Menchov prevails, i think Taylor has it in the bag, don't count Heras and Carrie out though.

Lots of abandons from yesterday...
A Spain in My Ass lost Nozal
Carrie lost Aitor Osa
Taylor lost Fedrigo
Pablo Neruda lost Angel Casero
Taylor lost Max Van Heiswick
Fruita Freewheelers lost Ivanov
Las Mariquititas lost Flecha
Thor lost Garrido


If this keeps up, we may have some low scores.
Check out Menchov in this photo, he looks like he's auditioning for Ernest goes to Spain.

you say manseebo i say mansaybo

So Francisco "Face of Pain" Mancebo won today's stage, along with Vuelta Skelta so congrats to Brian Wolshon for the victory and also for being quoted in yesterday's New York Times. Today was mucho climbing and mucho quitting, i'm in shock by the abandons. In the battle for the GC, Team Rookie continues to smack everyone else around. It may be tough to bring her back, i know Unfrozen Taco ain't going to do it. Come on SASTRE!

Menchov back in GOLD

Here is a rare photo of Roberto Heras commuting to the Vuelta to save gas. I know it's weak but there weren't many photos available this morning.

Today's timetrial was won by Denis Menchov and Herradura Cura which should help Tom move up a bit on the GC. With Menchov's win, Team Rookie took control of the overall again, although behind her places 2nd - 6th are pretty close. I think the real Vuelta is beginning.

the trifecta

Petacchi, Petacchi, Petacchi
He won his third stage today as did Pablo Neruda's Nudists. Meanwhile Thor and the Basque Batallion commandeered the gc lead with steady and consistent sprinting from Thor Hushovd. Tomorrow is the TT.

topsy turvy friday

It's always great to see the Discovery jersey in a victory salute, today Petacchi flatted and it sounded like Zabel was a shoe-in but Max did the deal and won for Team Disco.
Team Rookie, who had the stage winner, finished second to Vuelta Skelta who won with a superb showing of squad depth. Both Pablo Neruda's Nudists and A Spain in My Ass lost ground today as their riders were penalized. No word yet on why they received -5 sprint points, but hey, i just post this stuff i don't officiate. That didn't help A Spain in My Ass's grasp on the GC lead, so a reshuffling was in order and Team Rookie bumped the Fruita Freewheeler powerhouse for top honors.

In other news, you can all thank Taylor for the team substitute suggestion as yesterday's withdrawals saw a lot of team turnover.
Ljungqvist in for Landis on OLE!
Ongarato in for Cadamuro on Vuelta Skelta
Finot in for Auger on Pablo Neruda's Nudists
Coyot in for Bonomi on A Spain in My Ass
Boven out for Team Rookie, Quesada already sub'd in.

back on top

Roberto Heras climbed back into the leaders jersey today with an awesome climbing performance that dumped everybody else. Carrie Casagrande benefited from his slamming ride and won the stage. Meanwhile defending champ from last year, A Spain in My Ass took back the overall lead from the Fruita Freewheelers.

A lot of climbing points were awarded today, likewise there were a few dropouts, most notably Floyd Landis which really shocked me. I thought he might do well this year. Anyway, tomorrow's stage features climbing plus a long descent to the finish, so will it be a day for the climbing sprinters or the regular sprinters or the clmbers?