Fantasty Giro d'Italia 2006

Stage 21 - CSC show of force

2006-05-28T22:22:00.000-05:00

Just finished watching the OLN coverage of the final stage. CSC rode tempo on the closing circuits straight through to the last lap. Impressive, kind of boring, but impressive, not a single breakaway, just a 30+mph procession. Forster took the stage, along with The Giro Zero but unfortunately it was too little too late for Dr. Wolshon's troops to overtake Lisa's Buca Di Luca.

Stage 21
1. The Giro Zero 95
2. Mona Lisa's Mile 51
3. Free Gyros 42
4. Estinzione Del Jeff 27
5. Buca Di Luca 16
6. Lotsa Pasta 4
7. The Late Train 3
8. 1Up Mushrooms 3
9. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 1

GC
1. Buca Di Luca 1195
2. The Giro Zero 976
3. Free Gyros 816
4. Mona Lisa's Mile 781
5. Lotsa Pasta 629
6. Pancetta Filatore 578
7. Estinzione Del Jeff 556
8. 1Up Mushrooms 495
9. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 427
10. Team Rookie 379
11. The Late Train 292

Stage 20 - Openin up a can of whoop-basso

2006-05-27T18:37:00.000-05:00

Ok, that's really lame, but it's stage 20. Basso kicked ass today and left no doubt about who owns the pink shirt. And to no one's surprise, Buca Di Luca took the stage and extended her lead over The Giro Zero. Technically, Dr. Wolshon's boys could win i guess, but it would take something freaky happening.

Stage 20
Buca Di Luca 133
Mona Lisa's Mile 78
Pancetta Filatore 57
Lotsa Pasta 38
The Giro Zero 32
Estinzione Del Jeff 31
Free Gyros 24
Thatsa Spicy Meatball 9
The Late Train 7
1Up Mushrooms 1

GC
1. Buca Di Luca 1179
2. The Giro Zero 881
3. Free Gyros 774
4. Mona Lisa's Mile 730
5. Lotsa Pasta 625
6. Pancetta Filatore 578
7. Estinzione Del Jeff 529
8. 1Up Mushrooms 492
9. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 426
10. Team Rookie 379
11. The Late Train 289

Stage 19 - A Tale of Two Stages

2006-05-26T20:51:00.000-05:00

Today's finish was pretty awesome, Juan Manuel Garate attacked with 7km to go and was joined by Jens Voigt. Voigt sat on as Garate drove and drove to the uphill finish. The whole time i figured Voigt would sprint him in the end and take the stage, but inside the 300 meter mark, he put his hand on Garate's back and told him to go for the win. Pretty class act, on the Italian feed i could hear "Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Bravo Voigt! Bravo! Bravo Garate!". It was nice to see CSC who has the maglia rosa tied up tight, share the winnings with Quick Step in this case.

Then i started to wonder why this seemed so ok to me when i also applauded Hincapie's win last year a top the Pla d'Adet when he picked Pereiro's pocket after sucking wheel for miles. Probably because i don't care about Voigt all that much and i'm a George fan, and Garate was pretty hard working whereas Pereiro struck me as a punk in the TdF. Anyhow, it was a nice happy finish today.

The stage was won today by Jeff which bumped him up a few places, and brings up a good point, tomorrow and Sunday are all that's left, so it's now or never for the Giro Zero or Free Gyros to take over the lead, we shall see.

Stage 19
1. Estinzione Del Jeff 125
2. Pancetta Filatore 84
3. Team Rookie 39
4. Free Gyros 29
5. Buca Di Luca 16
6. Mona Lisa's Mile 14
7. Lotsa Pasta 9
8. 1Up Mushrooms 3
9. The Late Train 2

GC
1. Buca Di Luca 1046
2. The Giro Zero 849
3. Free Gyros 750
4. Mona Lisa's Mile 652
5. Lotsa Pasta 587
6. Pancetta Filatore 521
7. Estinzione Del Jeff 498
8. 1Up Mushrooms 491
9. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 417
10. Team Rookie 379
11. The Late Train 282

Stage 18 - Schumacher Scores Again

2006-05-25T22:12:00.000-05:00

The finish of today's stage was pretty killer, looked like David Lopez had it wrapped up with a few k's to go, but it wasn't to be, Schumacher made it look pretty easy in the small group.

1Up Mushrooms took the stage, and moved up a bit on GC, but the leaders remained unchanged. Two very tough mountain stages to go before the flat finale on Sunday.

Stage 18
1. 1Up Mushrooms 107
2. Mona Lisa's Mile 91
3. Free Gyros 63
4. Lotsa Pasta 20
5. Buca Di Luca 7
6. Estinzione Del Jeff 3
7. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 1

GC
1. Buca Di Luca 1030
2. The Giro Zero 849
3. Free Gyros 721
4. Mona Lisa's Mile 638
5. Lotsa Pasta 578
6. 1Up Mushrooms 488
7. Pancetta Filatore 437
8. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 417
9. Estinzione Del Jeff 373
10. Team Rookie 340
11. The Late Train 280

Stage 17 - Piepoli, maybe epic doesn't describe it.

2006-05-24T22:00:00.000-05:00

Turns out the weather made it hard enough, so they canned the last 5KM. I would have hated to have been a spectator waiting at the top in the snow, only to hear that the finish was 3 miles down the road.

Either way, Piepoli took his second stage in a week. So Buca Di Luca doubled down with Piepoli and Basso to take the stage and put a whoopin on Brian's Giro Zero to assume the Fantasy Pink Jersey.
Stage 17
1. Buca Di Luca 195
2. The Giro Zero 39
3. Pancetta Filatore 19
4. Mona Lisa's Mile 11
5. The Late Train 9
6. Free Gyros 5
7. Estinzione Del Jeff 4

GC
1. Buca Di Luca 1023
2. The Giro Zero 849
3. Free Gyros 658
4. Lotsa Pasta 558
5. Mona Lisa's Mile 547
6. Pancetta Filatore 437
7. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 416
8. 1Up Mushrooms 381
9. Estinzione Del Jeff 370
10. Team Rookie 340
11. The Late Train 280

Original Draft Results

2006-05-23T21:36:00.000-05:00

Rode with Brian The Giro Zero Wolshon tonight and he asked me about the team roster, so here it is, published again. Keep in mind, there were some last minute substitutions that took place on some teams.

Buca Di Luca
Basso
Van Huffel
Krauss
Ekimov
Trentin
Padrnos
Piepoli
Chavanel
Carrasco Gamiz

Estinzione Del Jeff
Danielson
Julich
Garate
Horrach
Serrano
Iker Flores
Calzati
Chaurreau
Duclos-Lassalle

Mona Lisa's Mile
Simoni
Pollack
Bruseghin
Bellotti
Unai Osa
Joachim
Bernaudeau
Sacchi
Gates

Team Rookie
Di Luca
Korff
Sella
Lefevre
Scarponi
Mazzanti
Flickinger
Sorensen
Albizuri Aransolo

Pancetta Filatore
Cunego
Rebellin
Cioni
Voigt
Rogers
Bramati
Pradera
Bertolini
Hiekmann

The Giro Zero
Savoldelli
Forster
Ullrich
Brandt
Beltran
Pellizotti
Scheirlinckx
Rubiera
Fornaciari

The Late Train
Petacchi
McCartney
Lombardi
Zampieri
Bertagnolli
Noe
Botcharov
De Walle
Caruso

Lotsa Pasta
Sastre
McGee
Merckx
Tiralongo
Moreni
Calcagni
Jufre
Gutierrez Cataluna
Andriotto

1Up Mushrooms
Rujano Guillen
Schumacher
Halgand
Eltink
Verbrugghe
Baranowski
Vogels
J.P. McCarty
Elmiger

Thatsa Spicy Meatball
McEwen
Graeme Brown
Belli
Ardila
Dean
Petrov
Mayoz
Hugo Pena
Baguet

Free Gyros
Bettini
Gonchar
Kessler
Parra
Laiseka
David Lopez
Casar
Da Cruz
Bertiogliati

Stage 16 - Basso making a point

2006-05-23T21:28:00.000-05:00

I caught some of the finish today on the website and it was amazing, Basso riding together with Simoni, then blammo, Basso alone dropping everybody for the win. The press is saying he's like Armstrong with his super fast cadence. What's amazing is that tomorrow he'll have to produce again on the feared Stage 17 with the 20+% climbs to the finish. Should be awesome.

Buca Di Luca is also not pulling any punches, winning again, and toppling the Giro Zero. With only a few stages to go, will this be a battle, or will Buca keep rolling.

Stage 16
1. Buca Di Luca 172
2. Mona Lisa's Mile 80
3. Lotsa Pasta 41
4. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 17
5. The Giro Zero 15
6. Free Gyros 13
7. The Late Train 11
8. Estinzione Del Jeff 1

GC
1. Buca Di Luca 828
2. The Giro Zero 810
3. Free Gyros 653
4. Lotsa Pasta 558
5. Mona Lisa's Mile 536
6. Pancetta Filatore 418
7. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 416
8. 1Up Mushrooms 381
9. Estinzione Del Jeff 366
10. Team Rookie 340
11. The Late Train 271

Stage 15 - the sting of the cricket

2006-05-22T21:50:00.000-05:00

Gotta love it when Bettini wins a stage, and that gave Free Gyros the victory and a bit of a cut into the lead of The Giro Zero on GC, the next week could be interesting as the top 3 teams on GC vie for the overall. Benat Albizuri Aransolo was penalized 5 points today, so Team Rookie went negative, that's rare but it happens.

I caught Stage 14 on OLN tonight and i really wish that Savoldelli could have worked some magic on that one so he could solo the super long descent to the finish. It wasn't super technical, but awesome to watch the 11 breakaways going 60.

Stage 15
1. Free Gyros 104
2. Mona Lisa's Mile 70
3. The Giro Zero 51
4. 1Up Mushrooms 34
5. Estinzione Del Jeff 14
6. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 8
7. Buca Di Luca 5
8. Lotsa Pasta 1
9. Team Rookie -5

GC
1. The Giro Zero 795
2. Buca Di Luca 656
3. Free Gyros 640
4. Lotsa Pasta 517
5. Mona Lisa's Mile 456
6. Pancetta Filatore 418
7. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 399
8. 1Up Mushrooms 381
9. Estinzione Del Jeff 365
10. Team Rookie 340
11. The Late Train 260

Stage 14 - Laverde ... who?

2006-05-21T14:49:00.000-05:00

A break made it today, Sandy Casar was the biggest winner in the group moving up a bunch on GC. Basso says tomorrow will be challenging, so more action then. Pretty low scoring fantasy stage taken by Eric and Lotsa Pasta

Stage 14
1. Lotsa Pasta 55
2. Free Gyros 47
3. 1Up Mushrooms 36
4. Estinzione Del Jeff 16
5. The Late Train 13
6. Buca Di Luca 7

GC
1. The Giro Zero 744
2. Buca Di Luca 651
3. Free Gyros 536
4. Lotsa Pasta 516
5. Pancetta Filatore 418
6. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 391
7. Mona Lisa's Mile 386
8. Estinzione Del Jeff 351
9. 1Up Mushrooms 347
10. Team Rookie 345
11. The Late Train 260

Stage 13 - Piepoli in the Rain

2006-05-20T12:53:00.000-05:00

Piepoli took the stage and Buca Di Luca moved up in a big way on the Giro Zero. Can his lead stick? Not if tomorrow's anything like today.

Stage 13
1. Buca Di Luca 187
2. Lotsa Pasta 55
3. Mona Lisa's Mile 38
4. Team Rookie 28
5. The Giro Zero 27
6. Pancetta Filatore 9
7. The Late Train 5
8. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 4

The GC
1. The Giro Zero 744
2. Buca Di Luca 644
3. Free Gyros 489
4. Lotsa Pasta 461
5. Pancetta Filatore 418
6. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 391
7. Mona Lisa's Mile 386
8. Team Rookie 345
9. Estinzione Del Jeff 335
10. 1Up Mushrooms 311
11. The Late Train 247

Stage 12 - A boy named Joan

2006-05-19T16:55:00.000-05:00

I'll tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named Joan.

So i didn't get to watch any of the race today on Italian TV, from what i've read it sounds like a really dramatic one, but when i got back to my desk after a short meeting i received the following from an anonymous contestant.

holy shit... that crash! he straddled the guardrail... and got back on.
He has a taint of steel!

Pretty darn funny, well done today Jeff, way to break the Giro Zero's strangle hold on the top of the board.

Bring on the Mountains!

Stage 12
1. Estinzione Del Jeff 105
2. Team Rookie 54
3. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 23
4. Buca Di Luca 19
5. Lotsa Pasta 12
6. The Giro Zero 9
7. 1Up Mushrooms 4
8. Free Gyros 3

GC
1. The Giro Zero 717
2. Free Gyros 489
3. Buca Di Luca 457
4. Pancetta Filatore 409
5. Lotsa Pasta 406
6. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 387
7. Mona Lisa's Mile 348
8. Estinzione Del Jeff 335
9. Team Rookie 317
10. 1Up Mushrooms 311
11. The Late Train 242

Stage 11 - ... and in the corner of the sausage vendor's eye, a tear formed.

2006-05-18T20:40:00.000-05:00

Yah, der kaiser ist in der housen. Jan ruled the corsa today, doing 50km in a time faster than my p.r. for 40km. Could he be on track for July?

In the GC battle, Basso, much like the Giro Zero, may have done the necessary damage to secure his overall victory. Saturday's mountain stage will be very interesting.

Stage 11
1. The Giro Zero 126
2. Buca Di Luca 82
3. Free Gyros 37
4. Pancetta Filatore 23
5. Lotsa Pasta 20
6. Estinzione Del Jeff 5
7. Mona Lisa's Mile 2
8. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 1

GC
1. The Giro Zero 708
2. Free Gyros 486
3. Buca Di Luca 438
4. Pancetta Filatore 409
5. Lotsa Pasta 394
6. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 364
7. Mona Lisa's Mile 348
8. 1Up Mushrooms 307
9. Team Rookie 263
10. The Late Train 242
11. Estinzione Del Jeff 230

Stage 10 - So close for Axel, but Pellizotti takes it

2006-05-16T22:12:00.000-05:00

Due to some fortuitous scheduling, i was able to catch the finish of today's stage on Italian TV, Axel went for it from the break with 15km to go and held it right down to around 400m or so where the rest of the group blew past him. Tough dice, i was pulling for him. You notice strange stuff when you run a Fantasy Cycling event, like today two guys named Benoit finshed next to each other, yeah, really crazy i know.

Here's the results, the Giro Zero blah blah blah and on GC, the the Giro Zero blah blah blah blah blah. How's that for commentary :D

Stage 10
1. The Giro Zero 97
2. Buca Di Luca 36
3. 1Up Mushrooms 28
4. Estinzione Del Jeff 12
5. Lotsa Pasta 5
6. Mona Lisa's Mile 3

GC
1. The Giro Zero 582
2. Free Gyros 449
3. Pancetta Filatore 386
4. Lotsa Pasta 374
5. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 363
6. Buca Di Luca 356
7. Mona Lisa's Mile 346
8. 1Up Mushrooms 307
9. Team Rookie 263
10. The Late Train 242
11. Estinzione Del Jeff 225

Stage 9 - Vaitkus nips Bettini, wait who?

2006-05-15T12:48:00.000-05:00

Nobody had Vaitkus on their team today, so it will be a bit of a low-scoring affair. The Cricket thought he won and even went no-hands, but it was all for 2nd.

Stage 9
1. Free Gyros 70
2. Mona Lisa's Mile 51
3. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 39
4. The Late Train 20
5. Estinzione Del Jeff 9
6. Lotsa Pasta 8
7. Buca Di Luca 5
8. Pancetta Filatore 3
9. 1Up Mushrooms 1

The GC
1. The Giro Zero 485
2. Free Gyros 449
3. Pancetta Filatore 386
4. Lotsa Pasta 369
5. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 363
6. Mona Lisa's Mile 343
7. Buca Di Luca 320
8. 1Up Mushrooms 279
9. Team Rookie 263
10. The Late Train 242
11. Estinzione Del Jeff 213

Stage 8 - Basso Bingo Bongo

2006-05-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

They said he looked like Lance Armstrong's little brother today, can't wait to see the footage. Basso took it to them today, let's see how well he can fare in the maglia rosa. The stage today was won by Lisa's Buca di Luca with some serious shifting in the GC. It's time for the climbers to take the fore, although they say tomorrow might be another day for Robbie McEwen. We'll see

Stage 8
1. Buca Di Luca 135
2. Pancetta Filatore 75
3. Lotsa Pasta 57
4. The Late Train 41
5. Team Rookie 35
6. Mona Lisa's Mile 15
7. 1Up Mushrooms 14
8. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 8
9. Free Gyros 4
10. Estinzione Del Jeff 2
11. The Giro Zero 1

GC
1. The Giro Zero 485
2. Pancetta Filatore 383
3. Free Gyros 379
4. Lotsa Pasta 361
5. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 324
6. Buca Di Luca 315
7. Mona Lisa's Mile 292
8. 1Up Mushrooms 278
9. Team Rookie 263
10. The Late Train 222
11. Estinzione Del Jeff 204

Stage 7 - Vebrugghe survives

2006-05-13T17:02:00.000-05:00

Pretty cool stage today, thanks to Taylor who let me know about this site which televises the stages live and the quality is pretty good. All the commentary is in Italian, so i figure by June, i'll be able to speak the language pretty fluently. It's great, both days that i've watched, Cipo drops by the booth to hang out and give his opinion of the riders. Rik looks a little like Don Robert in this photo.

Anyway, here's the digits, Gelpimp won the day.

1. 1Up Mushrooms 100
2. The Giro Zero 89
3. Team Rookie 67
4. Lotsa Pasta 34
5. Pancetta Filatore 32
6. Free Gyros 24
7. Estinzione Del Jeff 21
8. Buca Di Luca 20
9. Mona Lisa's Mile 11
10. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 5
11. The Late Train 3

The Giro Zero on GC BLAH BLAH BLAH
1. The Giro Zero 484
2. Free Gyros 375
3. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 316
4. Pancetta Filatore 308
5. Lotsa Pasta 304
6. Mona Lisa's Mile 277
7. 1Up Mushrooms 264
8. Team Rookie 228
9. Estinzione Del Jeff 202
10. The Late Train 181
11. Buca Di Luca 180

Stage 6 - Temptations Sing!

2006-05-12T21:55:00.000-05:00

So maybe everyone won't think that Jan looks like Rick James with his new doo, but at least his team kept the maglia rosa to match their maglia mauves. Robbie brought me the stage win, but there's no bringing back the Giro Zero yet.

1. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 96
2. Mona Lisa's Mile 75
3. Estinzione Del Jeff 34
4. Free Gyros 14
5. The Giro Zero 5
6. Lotsa Pasta 2
7. The Late Train 1

As for the GC
1. The Giro Zero 395
2. Free Gyros 351
3. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 311
4. Pancetta Filatore 276
5. Lotsa Pasta 270
6. Mona Lisa's Mile 266
7. Estinzione Del Jeff 181
8. The Late Train 178
9. 1Up Mushrooms 164
10. Team Rookie 161
11. Buca Di Luca 160

Stage 5 - CSC 35mph average

2006-05-11T21:26:00.000-05:00

I know those are the Gerolsteiners, but i liked the photo. CSC eeked out the win over T-Mobile, but the German squad got Gontchar into the Maglia Rosa, so they both got something out of it. Tough for the T-Mobile's losing contact with their 5th man in the last few hundred meters, but that's part of the charm of the event.

The Giro Zero put on a sizable lead with his victory today.
1. The Giro Zero 188
2. Pancetta Filatore 168
3. Buca Di Luca 150
4. Team Rookie 140
4. Free Gyros 140
5. The Late Train 133
6. Lotsa Pasta 132
7. Estinzione Del Jeff 110
8. Mona Lisa's Mile 89
9. 1Up Mushrooms 15
10. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 11

On GC moves were everywhere, i have a feeling this will happen again on Saturday in the first mountains.

1. The Giro Zero 390
2. Free Gyros 337
3. Pancetta Filatore 276
4. Lotsa Pasta 268
5. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 215
6. Mona Lisa's Mile 191
7. The Late Train 177
8. 1Up Mushrooms 164
9. Team Rookie 161
10. Buca Di Luca 160
11. Estinzione Del Jeff 147

Stage 4 - Robbie Rolled Again

2006-05-09T22:52:00.000-05:00

So Robbie McEwen took it again, giving me the stage and the overall lead. He dedicated his win to a number of people, including Petacchi, what a guy! I'm sure Alessandro appreciates that one. Tomorrow's a day off, then the TTT.

1. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 102
2. Free Gyros 84
3. Mona Lisa's Mile 27
4. 1Up Mushrooms 9
5. Buca Di Luca 7
6. The Late Train 6
6. Lotsa Pasta 6
7. Pancetta Filatore 5
8. Estinzione Del Jeff 3

GC
1. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 204
2. The Giro Zero 202
3. Free Gyros 197
4. 1Up Mushrooms 149
5. Lotsa Pasta 136
6. Pancetta Filatore 108
7. Mona Lisa's Mile 102
8. The Late Train 44
9. Estinzione Del Jeff 37
10. Team Rookie 21
11. Buca Di Luca 10

Stage 3 - Chechu nearly got it

2006-05-09T22:36:00.000-05:00

Schumacher took the stage from Rubiera and the Maglia Rosa on a day custom-made for Bettini. Meanwhile the Ale-Jet exited stage left with a broken knee-cap, bummer there. Seems like Petacchi can't catch a break as of late.

The stage was a low-scoring affair, won by Michael's 1Up Mushrooms

1. 1Up Mushrooms 100
2. The Giro Zero 86
3. Pancetta Filatore 75
4. Free Gyros 35
5. Estinzione Del Jeff 3

The Giro Zero donned the fantasy pink shirt with his consistent scoring.

1. The Giro Zero 202
2. 1Up Mushrooms 140
3. Lotsa Pasta 130
4. Free Gyros 113
5. Pancetta Filatore 103
6. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 102
7. Mona Lisa's Mile 75
8. The Late Train 38
9. Estinzione Del Jeff 34
10. Team Rookie 21
11. Buca Di Luca 3

Stage 2 - McEwen and me in the Hiz-ouse

2006-05-09T22:07:00.000-05:00

Sunday, McEwen derailed the Ale-Jet and gave me my first points and the win ... EXCELLENT. In other news, Jeff lost Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle's son and gained Leonardo Duque, who notched 5th today.

1. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 102
2. Mona Lisa's Mile 70
3. Free Gyros 51
4. The Late Train 38
5. Estinzione Del Jeff 27
6. Team Rookie 7
7. The Giro Zero 5
8. 1Up Mushrooms 5
9. Pancetta Filatore 3
10. Lotsa Pasta 0
10. Buca Di Luca 0

GC Standings

1. Lotsa Pasta 130
2. The Giro Zero 116
3. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 102
4. Free Gyros 78
5. Mona Lisa's Mile 75
6. 1Up Mushrooms 40
7. The Late Train 38
8. Estinzione Del Jeff 31
9. Pancetta Filatore 28
10. Team Rookie 21
11. Buca Di Luca 3

Stage 1 - Il Falco and Lotsa Pasta!

2006-05-09T21:44:00.000-05:00

Il Falco went smack 'em yack 'em and defended the maglia rosa. Nice ride, with Eric and Brian battling out for the top spot.

1. Lotsa Pasta 130
2. The Giro Zero 111
3. 1Up Mushrooms 35
4. Free Gyros 27
5. Pancetta Filatore 25
6. Team Rookie 14
7. Mona Lisa's Mile 5
8. Estinzione Del Jeff 4
9. Buca Di Luca 3
10. The Late Train 0
10. Thatsa Spicy Meatball 0

Draft Results

2006-05-05T22:26:00.000-05:00

Buca Di Luca
Basso
Van Huffel
Krauss
Ekimov
Trentin
Padrnos
Piepoli
Chavanel
Carrasco Gamiz

Estinzione Del Jeff
Danielson
Julich
Garate
Horrach
Serrano
Iker Flores
Calzati
Chaurreau
Duclos-Lassalle

Mona Lisa's Mile
Simoni
Pollack
Bruseghin
Bellotti
Unai Osa
Joachim
Bernaudeau
Sacchi
Gates

Team Rookie
Di Luca
Korff
Sella
Lefevre
Scarponi
Mazzanti
Flickinger
Sorensen
Albizuri Aransolo

Pancetta Filatore
Cunego
Rebellin
Cioni
Voigt
Rogers
Bramati
Pradera
Bertolini
Hiekmann

The Giro Zero
Savoldelli
Forster
Ullrich
Brandt
Beltran
Pellizotti
Scheirlinckx
Rubiera
Fornaciari

The Late Train
Petacchi
McCartney
Lombardi
Zampieri
Bertagnolli
Noe
Botcharov
De Walle
Caruso

Lotsa Pasta
Sastre
McGee
Merckx
Tiralongo
Moreni
Calcagni
Jufre
Gutierrez Cataluna
Andriotto

1Up Mushrooms
Rujano Guillen
Schumacher
Halgand
Eltink
Verbrugghe
Baranowski
Vogels
J.P. McCarty
Elmiger

Thatsa Spicy Meatball
McEwen
Graeme Brown
Belli
Ardila
Dean
Petrov
Mayoz
Hugo Pena
Baguet

Free Gyros
Bettini
Gonchar
Kessler
Parra
Laiseka
David Lopez
Casar
Da Cruz
Bertiogliati

and with the first pick of the 2006 Giro d'Italia Draft

2006-05-05T22:22:00.000-05:00

Draft Order - Determined randomly by random means in a system that was completely random.

1. Buca Di Luca (Lisa)
2. Estinzione Del Jeff (Jeff)
3. Mona Lisa's Mile (Amy)
4. Team Rookie (Taylor A.)
5. Pancetta Filatore (Ward)
6. The Giro Zero (Brian)
7. The Late Train (Taylor R.)
8. Lotsa Pasta (Eric)
9. 1Up Mushrooms (Michael)
10. Thatsa Spicy Meatball (David)
11. Free Gyros (Matt)

Default Draft Order List

2006-05-04T21:08:00.000-05:00

So here's the top 50 of the Default Draft List for your reading pleasure.

1 Ivan Basso (Ita)
2 Gilberto Simoni (Ita)
3 Danilo Di Luca (Ita)
4 Damiano Cunego (Ita)
5 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita)
6 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita)
7 Tom Danielson (USA)
8 José Rujano Guillen (Ven)
9 Robbie Mcewen (Aus)
10 Paolo Bettini (Ita)
11 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr)
12 Graeme Brown (Aus)
13 Stefan Schumacher (Ger)
14 Robert Förster (Ger)
15 André Korff (Ger)
16 Olaf Pollack (Ger)
17 Davide Rebellin (Ita)
18 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa)
19 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita)
20 Emanuele Sella (Ita)
21 Jan Ullrich (Ger)
22 Wim Van Huffel (Bel)
23 Dario David Cioni (Ita)
24 Patrice Halgand (Fra)
25 Wladimir Belli (Ita)
26 Matthias Kessler (Ger)
27 Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Col)
28 Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col)
29 Theo Eltink (Ned)
30 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita)
31 Steve Zampieri (Swi)
32 Christophe Brandt (Bel)
33 Laurent Lefevre (Fra)
34 Francesco Bellotti (Ita)
35 Joan Horrach Rippoll (Spa)
36 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus)
37 Guido Trentin (Ita)
38 Sven Krauss (Ger)
39 Marcos A. Serrano Rodriguez (Spa)
40 Unai Osa Eizaguirre (Spa)
41 Michele Scarponi (Ita)
42 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa)
43 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita)
44 Cristian Moreni (Ita)
45 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel)
46 Julian Dean (NZl)
47 Roberto Laiseka Jaio (Spa)
48 David Lopez Garcia (Spa)
49 Bradley Mcgee (Aus)
50 Evgeni Petrov (Rus)

So how will this draft thing work?

2006-05-03T12:17:00.000-05:00

Here is a good question, that reminds me that i haven't really explained how the draft works:
how do I know who other people have picked?

The answer is that you won't.

In fact, if you fill out your own list, you may not get anybody on it.
here's how it works you say you want
1. heras
2. zabel
3. landis
4. jaja
5. jose
and the rest you don't care about

Your team ends up getting the 6th pick in the draft, picked randomly by me once all the teams are in.

The team with the first pick also had heras on their list as first, they get him, you don't.

the team with the second picks had heras 1st and zabel 2nd, heras already got picked so they get zabel.

The team with the third picks had landis 1st and he is available so they get him

The team with the 4th pick had landis 1st, then jaja 2nd so they get jaja b/c landis already got picked

The team with the 5th pick had heras 1st, jaja 2nd but they're gone so he gets jose who was his 3rd pick.

Now you get 6th pick, the top 5 on your list are all signed on to other teams, so it goes to your 6th pick which you didn't choose, so it would be the top ranked guy on my ranking list who isn't selected yet. In this case it would be Petacchi.

So you see, you don't get to pick him like in a live draft, instead you just set your "preferences" in your list and you may or may not get them. Sometimes it works out pretty sweet, sometimes you don't get anybody you wanted. I've seen both, b/c this is the way we do Fantasy NBA.

Hope that helps...

Rule Changes for 2006

2006-05-03T12:06:00.000-05:00

The rules of the Fantasy Giro remain largely unchanged from last year's Fantasy Vuelta with one exception, teams will not feature substitutes, instead each team captain will be given a squad of 9 riders for the entire race. This will simplify getting the points out quicker because i won't have to check up on DNF's etc.

The deadline for submitting teams is Friday, May 5th, 2006 at NOON.

The draft will take place sometime in the evening of the 5th and results will be published before Stage 1 takes place.

Results for the first 3 stages may or may not be available until Monday night, May 8th.

In Stage 5's Team Time Trial, riders will earn the points gained by their squad, again to simply scoring.

That's all i've got for now. I should have a default pick list generated by tonight.

Brunyeel on Stage 17

2006-05-03T10:59:00.000-05:00

"So as a director I would prefer it to be less hard - I think the makers of this course have lost their minds a bit," he continued. "Paolo and Tom went and previewed a lot of the course recently, including Stage 17 - there's no road at the end: it's 5.5 km up a ski slope!" exclaimed Bruyneel.

"We'll be using 34x28/29 gearing - that's not cycling. We have struggled more with making sure we have the right components and equipment than at any other race in our team's history; even at the Tour de France we know that as long as you have a 39x25 you're good, but this race..."

Welcome to the Fantasy Giro 2006

2006-05-03T09:52:00.000-05:00

I will let David give more details, but I freshened the page up a little bit. You can now find a preview of the race and the start list over in the sidebar for easy viewing.

Get those rosters ready!

Hello

2006-03-06T21:43:00.000-06:00

Hello