The Rules...

For those of you participating in the betting pool this year, here are the rules:

This pool is for bragging rights only, no money will change hands.  Although like last year, Team Boland Productions Inc. donated a gift card to the website Competitive Cyclist to last years winner.

So if you win, brag all you want.  And maybe spend a gift card (I have to consult the accountant to see if they will donate again this year).

Pick 5 riders you think could finish third.  Put them in order of who you would pick first in the "draft" and email them to me no later than June 27 (The tour starts on 29 June this year).

On June 28th, anyone who's sent me a list, I will put their names in a hat and draw the "draft order".  I will then pick the riders from your lists as they are available.  Example if Manny, Tom, and Mat is the draft order, and they all have Froome as their first choice, Contador as their 2nd, and Nibali as their third, then Manny gets Froome, Tom gets his Contador, and Mat gets Nibali.  Makes sense?

Once the picks are set, I will send out the list to all participants.  Then you just have to cheer on your guy until the end, and hope they finish third.

Finishing order - 

If your rider makes it to Paris then the finishing order follows the finishing order of the race. If your guy finishes third, you win!  Brag to all your friends, talk smack! 

If none of our riders finishes third, then the next closest ranking descending from 3rd (4th, 5th, 6th, etc.) becomes the top position.  Not necessarily the winner.  You can brag, some, but no smack talk. 

If your rider drops out of the race at any time, that becomes your finishing place.  If there are 10 of us participating in the pool, and your rider is the first to drop out of the race, your finishing position is 10th.

If your rider finishes 1st or 2nd, you are regulated to the bottom of the finishers, but still ahead of those who's riders have dropped out. 1st place below 2nd. Consider this when picking… 


There you have it.

Here's the list of how our participants finished:

1.  Toby - Vincenzo Nibali  3rd place - 0:06.19

2.  Mat - Tejay Van Garderen 5th place - 0:11.04

3.  Manny -  Cadel Evans  7th place - 0:15.41

4.  Blaine - Rein Taaramae  36th place -1:27.23

5.  Mike - Christopher Froome 2nd place (is 2nd to last place) - 0:03.21

6.  Dan - Bradley Wiggins   1st place (is last place)

7.  Tom - Frank Schleck  DNS - Stage 16

8.  Marc - Robert Gesink  DNS - Stage 12

As you can see, I screwed up pretty good and picked the eventual winner.  I had faith in the wrong guy to win.

Hopefully I'll do better this year.

Now the rules are in the blog.  We can always refer back to them.

Happy riding.