Stage 18  »  Voiron  ›  Orcières-Merlette

We already got today's results! The first of three mountain stages goes to the breakaway, and specifically to Richard Carapaz (BDC/CHX/CJO), who battled for summit points with Valentin Paret-Peintre (CHX/GHS) for most of the stage, but unlike the Frenchman, who had to settle for fourth, he still had plenty of energy on the final climb to distance him and four other fellow attackers.

These included EVC's Matteo Jorgenson, ultimately third, and Tobias Halland Johannessen (GHS/VFL), who finished fifth. The GC contenders had to settle for eighth onwards, with Evenepoel (CFA/CJO/REX/VFL) 9th and Pidcock (REX/EVC) 10th being the other two top 10 TCAT riders. It was indeed Evenepoel's team who paced for much of the finish, unlike the usual Pogacar-UAE show; but it was not the day for Pogacar's team to attack, with teammate McNulty abandoning due to a potential illness, and other teammate Yates (MMM) struggling as well; rival Evenepoel will no doubt try to exploit these manpower issues in the next two stages.

TCAT-wise, the win goes to Cyclohexane, who retakes third place in the standings, ahead of Cjovani and GHST.

Standings after stage 18:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	8284	+352
2nd	(=)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	7917	+316
3rd	(+1)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	7806	+683
4th	(-1)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	7657	+502
5th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	7191	+324
6th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	6761	+446
7th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	6164	+426
8th	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5767	+396
9th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	5589	+516

Azul, I was preparing the database for the election and I noticed that 62RZ15 essentially repeals two arguably desirable provisions (no provincial constitution without a referendum, no provincial laws contradicting OrgLaw/national statute) while leaving untouched the one that I assume its final WHEREAS purported to fix (no same person can be Cunstavál in one province and premier in another).

Am I misunderstanding this?

Azul all, with His Majesty signifying Royal Assent to the Data Protection Act, I have now proceeded to present the Electoral Commission with a proposed set of rules to govern the upcoming General Election.

You can find the proposed rules at this link. The (nontrivial) changes with respect to the former rules are commented, marked in blue and underlined, and mostly stem from the passage of 62RZ28.

The Commission will now review the rules for compliance, suggest amendments (if any) and proceed to certification by July 31st.




Sir Lüc da Schir, UrB
Secretary of State

Stage 16 (ITT)  »  Évian-les-Bains  ›  Thonon-les-Bains

Well, scratch most of what I said! Fuller update later but:

- Evenepoel wins ITT as predicted, over Pogacar and a surprisingly strong Skjelmose
- Cjovani gets stagewin due to Evenepoel, Pogacar, Arensman (7th) and Armirail (8th)
- Lipowitz crashed halfway through and broke his collarbone, much like Vingegaard just did on Sunday
- Lipowitz was the one rider held by REX, CHX and GHS but not by MMM: first impression is that this swings TCAT back open for sure (in the Mençeis's favour)
- If positive surprise is Skjelmose, negative surprise is Ayuso, who probably is out of contention for the final podium (Del Toro vs Seixas is gonna be the fight for 3rd now)


Standings after stage 16:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	7630	+499
2nd	(=)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	7304	+595
3rd	(=)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	6970	+393
4th	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	6876	+381
5th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	6475	+406
6th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	6123	+279
7th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	5607	+641
8th	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5131	+240
9th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	4823	+663

The time allotted for voting on the Clark has expired.

The Cosă and Senäts have passed the following bills, which are sent to His Majesty @King Txec for Royal Assent:

62RZ26 – Democracy Act and Amendment
Agreed to by the Cosă 174-0 (28 abstained), by the Senäts 8-0

62RZ27 – We Have a New-ish King Amendment
Agreed to by the Cosă 181-1 (20 abstained), by the Senäts 8-0

62RZ28 – Data Protection Act
Agreed to by the Cosă 202-0, by the Senäts 8-0

62RZ30 – Citizen Oath Redux Act
Agreed to by the Cosă 158-29 (15 abstained), by the Senäts 7-0 (1 abstained)

62RZ31 – Citizenship Oath Deadline and E.7 Untangling Act
Agreed to by the Cosă 202-0, by the Senäts 8-0


The Cosă and Senäts both rejected the following bills and resolutions:

62RZ29 – Citizenship Oath Reform Act
Rejected by the Cosă 33-149 (20 abstained), by the Senäts 0-7 (1 abstained)

62RZ32 – Sense of the Ziu: Contributing to Me Too
Rejected by the Cosă 33-129 (40 abstained), by the Senäts 0-6 (2 abstained)


The Cosă and Senäts have disagreed on the following bill:

62RZ33 – The Caretaker Clarification Act
Agreed to by the Cosă 107-95, rejected by the Senäts 4-4


The Cosă passed a Vote of Confidence in the incumbent Government 106-95 (1 abstained).

All Senators and Members of the Cosă voted.




Sir Lüc da Schir, UrB
Secretary of State

GROUP 5
3. Falco - Der Kommissar
2. Blur - The Universal
1. Cocteau Twins - Fifty-fifty Clown

GROUP 6
3. Alan Parsons Project - Sirius/Eye In The Sky
2. Muse - Knights of Cydonia
1. Blue Öyster Cult - Burnin' For You

Lightning quick restday 2 analysis: Els Talossaes Rexhitais seem like the far and away favourites at this point, especially with Vingegaard retiring, not necessarily for BDC/EVC/VFL being definitely out of the running, but rather because it will make all their GC riders skip up a place: REX now hold the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th highest ranked riders, in addition to Pidcock in 9th, which would bring an insurmountable amount of End of Tour points - and the 4th placed rider is CFA's Seixas at the moment, who is not held by any of REX's direct competitors.

By comparison, the Mençeis hold 1st, 3rd, 7th and 14th, Cyclohexane holds 1st, 3rd, 5th and 12th, and GHST holds 1st, 3rd, 5th and 18th. I think these three teams will contest the final podium positions, but the contest for second is between CHX and MMM, with GHST the underdog.

Today we resume with the only individual time trial, which unlike the one in Giro will not be pancake flat. The smell test says this goes to either REX, who once again looks like it has high chances with Evenepoel/Ayuso/Lipowitz, or Fieschă, who holds Evenepoel/Pogacar/Seixas. If Team Visma lets Vingegaard's former teammates loose, Affini (BDC/GHS) and Armirail  (CJO) could make their teams competitive, with Cjovani also holding Arensman to boot. Not many more time trial specialists among TCAT teams, to be fair, with good hilly-TT riders such as Vauquelin and McNulty left out of all rosters.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on July 19, 2026, 04:44:31 PMOh my God! He's OUT?!? Wasn't he like the number two in the race?

Yeah, and it happened so fast. Literally slipped on his own in a right hander while he had four teammates pulling in front. A heartbreaking moment for sure.

Azul. Pursuant to Lex.B.13.2, on June 10th and July 7th I informed all relevant officeholders of their responsibility to appoint three members to the Electoral Commission for the 63rd Cosă General Election. As of July 14th I received all necessary nominations, and I have now successfully established with each nominee their willingness to serve, as required by law.

I am therefore pleased to announce that the Electoral Commission for the next General Elections is comprised of:

- Myself in my office of Secretary of State, as de jure non-voting member and chair;
- Judge Sir @Istefan Perþonest, appointed by the Uppermost Court;
- Senator @Béneditsch Ardpresteir, appointed by the Mençei;
- Senator @þerxh Sant-Enogat, appointed by the King on advice of the Seneschal.

I will proceed to transmit to the Commission a set of proposed rules for certification as soon as Royal Assent is signified on a number of bills that may cause some rules to require amending.



Sir Lüc da Schir, UrB
Secretary of State

Stage 14  »  Mulhouse  ›  Le Markstein

A playbook we already saw quite a few times: a large breakaway forms, but the peloton carefully manages it, reels them in at the right time, and it's just a matter of waiting for Pogacar to attack and win. Specifically this time the attack featured Valentin Paret-Peintre (CHX/GHS) and Richard Carapaz (BDC/CHX/CJO), both hunting for summit points, with the Ecuadorian and Tobias Johannessen (GHS/VFL) being the last two to fall.

Another stagewin for Pogacar, then, in front of two trios: Del Toro outsprinting Seixas for second, with Vingegaard pretty much settling for fourth, and Evenepoel, Ayuso and Lipowitz a short distance behind. Former attackers Carapaz and Johannessen rounded out the top ten.

TCAT-wise, the stagewin goes to Cyclohexane, who gets their 20th all-time win (on par with VFL). Still no changes in the overall standings, though. In the general classification, the most notable development is Tom Pidcock (EVC/REX) falling five places to ninth.

Standings after stage 14:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	6254	+669
2nd	(=)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	5889	+747
3rd	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	5828	+789
4th	(=)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	5814	+856
5th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	5539	+679
6th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	5407	+601
7th	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	4545	+610
8th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	4196	+697
9th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	3527	+598

Today, the final stage of week 2, with a medium mountain approach but a long final climb. Seems like another day for the GC favourites.

I would also be happy to join. Incidentally, you don't need to wait for full citizenship to organise this; Chatroom activities are open to prospectives and Landing Pier visitors too.

Quote from: Tierçéu Rôibeardescù on July 17, 2026, 02:51:35 PMhi luc, under the new model of membership requirements your submitting of your this thesis qualifies you for membership in the Society, should you wish it.

I would be happy to join. I had my qualms with the way the Royal Society was being used as a cheap honours farm for a little while, but I think it's headed in a better direction these days.

Incidentally, my current research interests veered off in a different direction (computer engineering applied to natural risk assessment), which I think would make for a more interesting talk than approximation algorithms, if people were interested.

GROUP 3
3. Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill
2. Doobie Brothers - Long Train Runnin'
1. Ásgeir - Nýfallið regn

GROUP 4
3. Deep Purple - Child in Time
2. Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill
1. New Order - Blue Monday

Stage 12  »  Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours  ›  Chalon-sur-Saône

Belated update; Thursday had another sprint that went to non-TCAT Tim Merlier for a third stage win. Olav Kooij (BDC/GHS) took second ahead of Jasper Philipsen (VFL), who was initially penalised and relegated, and later reinstated. GHST gets a third stagewin, the second in a row.

Standings after stage 12:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	5256	+252
2nd	(=)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	4958	+272
3rd	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4937	+335
4th	(=)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	4763	+237
5th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4743	+321
6th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4481	+211
7th	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3837	+290
8th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3407	+114
9th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2847	+95

Stage 10  »  Aurillac  ›  Le Lioran

A tough stage peppered with categorised climbs saw a large breakaway never being allowed to get too far, with Tadej Pogacar's (BDC/CFA/CHX/CJO/GHS/MMM) team deciding this too was a day for general classification riders to win (specifically, him). Perhaps surprisingly, upon the breakaway being caught, it was Richard Carapaz (BDC/CHX/CJO) who immediately attacked to try and go for a long shot win, but he too was reeled back in by the Slovenian en route to another stage win.

Second was Evenepoel (CFA/CJO/REX/VFL), in front of Seixas (CFA) and Lipowitz (CHX/GHS/REX), with Ayuso (EVC/REX), Skjelmose (MMM) and Vingegaard (BDC/EVC/VFL) completing the chasing group. Bad day for Del Toro (CHX/EVC/GHS/MMM/REX/VFL) then, who finished eighth but paid up to one minute to Evenepoel and the others, therefore slipping four places in GC. Rounding off the top 10, Pidcock (EVC/REX) finished 9th despite a crash while descending in the final stages, and erstwhile attacker Carapaz had to settle for 11th.

Fourth consecutive stagewin for REX, a feat only matched by Velocostă (during France 2025), GHST (Spain 2024) and Banqeu de Cézembre (Italy 2024). And the odds for a fifth and maybe sixth win in a row look great, as a sprint is assured today and likely tomorrow, REX being the only team that can count on effectively three sprinters.

Standings after stage 10:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	4825	+762
2nd	(=)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	4461	+677
3rd	(+1)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	4382	+699
4th	(-1)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4307	+596
5th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4137	+504
6th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4082	+528
7th	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3261	+519
8th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3183	+679
9th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2669	+579

As mentioned, today sees the sprinters getting involved again. Very difficult to see REX not winning this one as well if Bittner, Pedersen and Godon all keep finishing in or near the top ten. If that doesn't happen, the non-Pedersen/Bittner teams might get a shot if their sprinter wins; Kooij (BDC/GHS) and Kanter (CHX) would seem the strongest candidates, but non-TCAT Merlier seems difficult to beat at the moment.

Well, congrats Dan! Seems like France could not accept an Italian rooting for them, and promptly folded.

Quick question: should this bill pass, do its portions amending El Lexhatx go into effect immediately, or not?

I'm almost certain the answer is no - or rather, I'm almost certain there's no legal mechanism that would allow them to - but I'm asking specifically because I **might** have spent some time successfully implementing the Cosă candidate confirmation thing in the Database, only to realise it won't get used until the next election, well into the spring of 2027.

GROUP 1
3. Foo Fighters - Walk
2. Talk Talk - Such a Shame
1. Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
HM: Dave Brubeck - Take Five

GROUP 2
3. Renato Zero - Triangolo
2. Toto - Hold the Line
1. Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
HM: Stromae - Papaoutai

The unlucky ones

BDC (actually one position higher currently): Where to start. The only team going for both Pogacar and Vingegaard, which usually is a good call, but is extraordinarily expensive this time around, and would require everything else going right. Sadly hardly anything is, with Carapaz out of GC, Uijtdebroeks having to withdraw with an illness, and Kooij doing too little as already mentioned. None of their four 4 credit unclassed riders delivering any miracles so far either, which isn't really going to make the difference on its own anyway.

CJO: Features the other abandon so far, sprinter Arnaud de Lie - speaking of which, it's a miracle we haven't had more riders quit given the unbearable heat. In Cjovani's case, though, this has made them toothless in a week where 3/9 stages went to a bunch sprint. It didn't help of course that both Carapaz and Arensman are out of GC top 10 contention already. It's a team that had potential, but most riders haven't shown it yet, including for instance usually exciting stagehunter Ben Healy.

The outsiders/midpack contenders

VFL: The second of three teams without Pogacar, it nevertheless holds the current 2nd, 3rd and 4th riders in GC, which would justify the gamble. Though the other riders have to start doing better for them to have a chance, with Philipsen so far winless and outscored by three cheaper or equal sprinters, van der Poel fresh off a stage win but a long way from 100 ppc still, and the other three unclassed riders mum. In particular, Abrahamsen hasn't featured at all so far, but hopefully we'll see the Norwegian get some breakaway action soon.

EVC: The final team without Pogacar, it does have a trio of GC riders in the top 5, plus the already mentioned Pedersen, but Jorgenson being low in the Vingegaard helper pecking order is not helping his points tally - an expensive miss given he is 10 credits. Pidcock had an okay first week with a third place yesterday, and is still just outside the top 10 in GC, meaning he has a shot at 100 ppc, unlike, IMO, van der Poel. As with VFL, Abrahamsen might come alive later, but Bittner, a sprinter wildcard pick, will probably not be worth it with the few sprint opportunities left.

CFA (actually one position lower currently): A very interesting team on account of holding Paul Seixas, young French talent at his first TCAT edition. Fieschă at the moment is hampered by their unclasseds and climbers not doing much so far - both are understandable, given climbers haven't had many chances and picking unclasseds is usually a lottery. I wouldn't read too much into Bauhaus scoring little so far - this edition was never going to be about costly sprinters scoring 2000 points - but the credits saved here really need to be worth it elsewhere. Final position will heavily depend on whether the expensive Seixas, an unique pick, can do even better than his current 6th place in GC, and whether at the very least Rubio and Paret-Peintre will get a few top tens in the mountains.