Sorry for the wait, but there is actually a fair amount of work to get things set up. Thanks to all who offered to help; in the end it would probably take more time to pass over the info than to do it myself.
First, some bad news... five teams were eliminated from the competition. Four teams went over the spending limit, and a fifth team only had nine riders. Because we did things quickly, we didn't leave time to reconcile problem teams (which is why I tried to post a lot of warnings about double-checking); consequently, it's too late to resubmit. To those five, I wish we'd had more time, and hope you'll come back for next year's competitions.
Onto the fun stuff. Some numbers from the 125 entries...
- Most popular: Mark Cavendish (chosen by 63 teams), Andy Schleck (61), Alberto Contador (60), Tyler Farrar (41), Lance Armstrong (39).
- Curiously unpopular: Andreas Kloden (1), Christian VandeVelde (7), Linus Gerdemann (3), Michael Rogers (4).
- Smart money: Fabian Cancellara (17), Thor Hushovd (18), Bradley Wiggins (29!), and of course Lance.
- D'oh! Damiano Cunego (1), Danilo DiLuca (2), Denis Menchov (10, including me), Robert Gesink (13).
Next, the early leaderboard. Remember, this means almost nothing, as it only reflects stage points, which pale in comparison to the number of points awarded after the final stage. Still, it doesn't hurt to be listed here.
- Team Spandex Time Suck, 580 points
- SF-Rando, 576
- Little Giants de Tour, 575
- Bikenik, 571
- Garuda32, 560
- Toursauce, 514
- Les Chasses Patate, 480
- Equipe Biere Lao, 475
- Hoary Marmots, 470
- Is it cyclocross season yet?, 460
For the full list, Go HERE. Lastly, the stars of the VDS peloton:
- Mark Cavendish, 237 pts
- Fabian Cancellara, 197
- Thomas Voeckler, 80
- Alberto Contador, 76
- Thor Hushovd/Tyler Farrar, 70