Update #14: Object Takes the Lead by the Slimmest of Margins
I think many cycling fans would join me in saying that the week of the Ronde-Itzulia-Roubaix sandwich is arguably the most enjoyable of the year. In this game, however, it was not quite as lucrative for many teams as other weeks we have had. There is certainly some shakeup, however, and the top of the standings is about as close as I can ever remember it being at any significant point into the season.
This Week's Top Scorers
Rank Team Points this week
1 Jon_Ezeitza 535
2 armchairclimber 480
3 Sestriere 434
4 Rakim 416
5 Eyeballs Out 406
Jon Ezeitza takes the week, being the only team over 500 points. This is largely thanks to a pair of riders that cost 777 points - Max Schachmann (6 teams, 197 points this week) and Fabio Jakobsen (3 teams, 140 points). Some nice contributions from the likes of Lawless, Lambrecht and Philipsen round it out. This was a good week to have the right combo of rare riders. armchairclimber posts a very respectable second, with Schachmann and Pogacar (7 teams, 136 points) and a few others. Sestriere rounds it out again with Schachmann, and one of the happy few (4 teams) with Nils Pollitt (170 this week).
This Week's High Movers
Rank Team Up/down
1 armchairclimber (+33)
2 merengues (+21)
3 Sestriere (+20)
4 Eyeballs Out (+18)
5 vladimir (+15)
The runner-up in the other rankings, armchairclimber goes one better here, and as importantly, moves up 33 spots in the overall! Sestriere repeats third place, while merengues gets a podium spot here thanks to the ever-present Schachmann once again.
Green Jersey Competition
Rank Team Total
1 Googolplex 144
2 Popchu 118
3 armchairclimber 115
4 Nicosix 105
5 TheArt 104
Googolplex maintains a healthy lead here; armchairclimber leaps into the top 5 on the strength of a weekly win and two second places so far, making it a feast-or-famine year so far for their team. Nicosix picks up a mere 2 points for 15th place this week, but it's enough to leapfrog TheArt in these standings.
Top 10 Overall
Rank Up/down Team Points
1 (+1) Object 4207
2 (-1) Googolplex 4205
3 (+1) TheArt 3986
4 (-1) Popchu 3971
5 (+1) Joelsim 3953
6 (+3) fauniera 3936
7 (-) Tigerion 3930
8 (+11) Carlo_Algatrensig 3923
9 (-1) Kryvo 3907
10 (+5) tobydawq 3898
10 (+7) Nicosix 3898
This is damn close. Object, last week's second place, outscores Googolplex by 17 points on the week to move into a slim 2-point lead. Lower down, TheArt moves back into 3rd, but below the top two it's bunched together very tightly indeed. Aside from the 11 teams here (with a tie for tenth place), the 12th and 13th teams are only 1 and 3 points back respectively, meaning teams 3-13 are separated by 91 points. There's still alot of the season to go, of course, but in the week-to-week, a podium spot seems attainable for anyone in the top 13. Carlo Algatrensig, tobydawq and Nicosix move into the top 10/11, while ruvu75 and Lortnoc fall just out.
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