THE CYCLERY 2008 TOUR DE FRANCE POOL

Welcome to the seventh annual The Cyclery Tour de France Pool. The Pool grew from humble beginnings with just 17 participants to the monster spreadsheet of today, but it has lost none of the friendly lack of seriousness and cutting wit that attracted participants in the first place.

To participate in this year's Pool, pay $10 (either in person at the Cyclery or via PayPal at tdf2008@magma.ca -- note there is a $1 fee for PayPal) and send the information below to kriswestwood@gmail.com:

• Your name
• Your email address
• The names of nine (9) riders
• The names of three (3) alternate riders (in case one or more of your nine picks don't start)
• The name of a team
• Your guess of the total number of finishers (hint: it should be 180 or less)

Cost is just $10, which goes to the Seenite Sports young rider bursary (more info on the bursary can be found here).

There will be a fabulous list of prizes, to be announced shortly.

During the Tour, you can find daily updates and the latest standings on the Tour de France Pool blog.

Want to know who to pick? Want tips on tactics? Well, you're out of luck -- you have to figure it out yourself, that's the whole point. But you might want to visit the official Tour site, or CyclingNews, or one of any number of bike racing websites.

Good luck, and may you always pick the best ...

The 2008 Tour de France Pool rules:

• ENTRIES:
  • You must pick the following:
    • Nine riders
    • A team
    • Your guess of the total number of finishers
  • You may make as many entries as you want, providing you pay the entry fee each time
• ENTRY DEADLINES:
  • You may enter at any time before the final day of the Tour, but once the Tour has started you may not pick a rider who has earned any Pool points
  • If you enter before the Tour starts and one of your riders fails to start, you may pick a replacement providing he has not earned any Pool points to date
  • Your entry is only official once your $10 entry fee has been received
  • Each participant must pay the $10 entry fee
• POINTS:
  • Participants will be awarded points based on the performance of their riders and team in each stage and in the final overall standings (see points scales below).
• PRIZES:
  • To be announced, but fantabulous.
• BASTILLE DAY RULE:
  • a French rider’s points scores will be doubled on July 14.
• FINAL STANDINGS:
  • The winner of the Pool is the participant who scores the most points.
  • In the event of a tie, best GC rider decides, followed by number of stage wins, number of second places etc.
  • In the event that two participants pick identical riders and teams, the tie breaker will be the participant whose guesses closest to the total number of finishers. If there is still a tie, the participants will share whatever prize they have won.
  • In the event of the Tour being canceled due to a drug scandal, all entry fees will be returned minus a 5% administrative fee, which will be funneled into a beer fund.
  • In the event of a dispute, the Tour Pool administration’s rulings are as God's law, and damned be all who take them lightly.
  • Scoring for the Pool is administered by Kris Westwood and his pool of trustworthy assistants (aka the Hamsters).
  • Daily updates will be available on the Tour Pool blog
  • Tour Pool results will be considered “official” one week to the hour after the finish of the final stage, and distribution of prizes and kudos will begin. Any subsequent disqualifications will not affect the Pool result
• PAYMENT OF ENTRY FEES:
  • You can pay in cash at the Cyclery (please address yourself to Vince Caceres)
  • You can also pay your pool entry through Paypal, but there’s one catch: it’ll cost you one dollar more. Paypal does not do this service for free and after it’s gone through their hands and have taken their cut, an 11$ entry ends up being 10$.
    So, if you go this route, here’s what you do:
    1. Log into www.paypal.com
    2. Make a payment of $11CAN to this address: tdf2008@magma.ca
    3. In the comments box please tell me your name! If we get an email from, say, lancecheats@hotmail.com we have no idea who this is. Please include your entry with the payment email.
    That’s it, you’re done. Time to sit back and enjoy the tour.
    If you have any questions email Richard Thomas at that address.
• HANDICAP SYSTEM
  • There will be no handicaps this year.
• THE CYCLERY 2007 TOUR DE FRANCE POOL POINTS SCALES
  • Stage points:
    Winner: 15 points
    2nd = 12
    3rd = 10
    4th = 8
    5th = 6
    6th = 5
    7th = 4
    8th = 3
    9th = 2
    10th = 1
    Best team = 3
    Mountains = 2
    Young rider = 1
    Most aggressive = 1
    Abandon = -5
    Positive drug test = -25
    Arrest for drugs or abandoning to avoid arrest = -50
    Team subjected to blood test or police raid = 5
    Team member ejected as a result of above = -10 (per member)
    Classification leaders (per day):
    Overall (yellow jersey) = 7 points
    Points (green jersey) = 5
    Mountains (polka dots) = 5
    Team = 7
    Young rider = 5
  • At the end of the Tour, points will be awarded according to the following scales:
    Final overall GC:
    Winner = 25 points
    2nd = 24
    3rd = 23 etc.
    … 25th and all other finishers = 1
    Team classification winner = 25
    Team classification 2nd = 15
    Team classification 3rd = 10
    Team classification 4th = 6
    Team classification 5th = 3
    Team classification 6th = 1
    Points classification winner = 20
    Points classification 2nd = 10
    Points classification 3rd = 5
    Points classification 4th = 2
    Mountains classification winner = 20
    Mountains classification 2nd = 10
    Mountains classification 3rd = 5
    Mountains classification 4th = 2
    Young rider winner = 15
    Young rider 2nd = 7
    Young rider 3rd = 3
    Special awards:
    Any team that finishes with all 9 riders = 20
    Biggest gap to second place on a stage = 20
    Lanterne rouge (last placed finisher) = 15
    Winning 3 or more stages = 10
    
• Tour Pool past winners:

  2001 (17 entrants)
  1. Peter Metuzals
  2. Stephen Proulx
  3. Dave Shirley
  4. Greg Varney
  5. Julian Hine
  6. Bill and Annie
  7. Mike & Lisa
  8. Jaime Bryan
  9. Ian Dalling
  10. Rupert St Consortium
  Lanterne Rouge: Kiwi Mike

  2002 (43 entrants)
  1 Metuzals Peter
  2 Hadfield Tim
  3 Letourneau Annie & Hurley Bill
  4 Field Kevin
  5 Hinan Paco
  6 Kerr Rob
  7 Smith Duane
  8 Di Cyclismo Stefano
  9 Cathcart David
  10 Davey Lisa/Dalling Ian
  Lanterne Rouge: Marco Penna

  2003 (50 entrants)
  1. Stephano DiCyclismo
  2. Lisa Larochelle
  3. Metuzals Peter
  4. Drew McCutcheon
  5. Mhairi Gilmore
  6. Duane Smith
  7. Steve Proulx
  8. Field Kevin
  9. SuperFan
  10. Kiwi Mike
  Lanterne Rouge: Wilby McKnight

  2004 (78 entrants)
  1 Sheri Jay
  2 Mike Larochelle
  3 Storm Russell
  4 Julian Hine
  5 Mhairi Gilmore
  6 Boat Boyz: Tried and True
  7 Team BARNET CYCLING CLUB
  8 Markus Chiang
  9 Donneli
  10 Tim Hadfield
  Lanterne Rouge: Superfan

  2005 (91 entrants)
  1. Gunter Hauschildt
  2. Blaine Penny
  3. Chris Holzauer
  4. Team Damdom
  5. Matt Toulouse
  6. Remi Berube
  7. Alex Lai
  8. Christopher & Katherine
  9. Marc Boudreau
  10. Lisa McMurray and Alex Kolodziej
  Lanterne Rouge: Donneli

  2006 (87 entrants)
  1 Chris Holzauer
  2 Julie Deschenes-Furry
  3 Vicki Thomas
  4 Tyler Lawlor
  5 Meylina Kandoy
  6 Grimpeur George
  7 Paul Crowley "Team Blood Wash"
  8 Peter Metuzals
  9 "Mr. Stevens Picks"
  10 Nat Faulkner
  Lanterne Rouge: Phil Brun del Re "The Lucky Lucky Nine"

  2007 (98 entrants)
  Alex Lai
  2 Paul Scafel
  3 The Hamburglars
  4 Meylina Kandoy
  5 Chris Holzauer
  6 Blaine Penny
  7 Peter Metuzals
  8 Sheri Jay
  9 Orange Scheisse
  10 Ian Dalling
  Lanterne Rouge: Team Off the Back