I'm sure there will be more statistics posted, but one very notable thing is this was both a very close and a very high scoring edition (despite several expensive dropouts) with the top 4 teams posting the 2nd to 5th all time highest scores.

We've never had more than two teams above 10K and only 1 team ever scoring more than 11K and now suddenly we have three teams above 11K and a high scoring 10K team as well.

The final points are awarded based on the standings of the riders in classifications. Most points are awarded based on the general classification (yellow jersey), which was of course won by Pogacar, followed by Evenepoel and Del Toro. Then there are points based two side classification: the points classification (green jersey) won by Pedersen, and King of the Mountains classification (polkadot jersey) won by Carapaz. Finally there are assist points based on the team classification. The latter of these is particularly favourable for the Menceis, who picked only riders from the two strongest teams. A very succesful strategy as it turns out and the second time this strategy has lead to a winning result (after Spain 2023).

FINAL STANDINGS:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+2)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	11557	+2020
2nd	(-1)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	11454	+1675
3rd	(-1)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	11395	+1790
4th	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	10534	+1520
5th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	9932	+1295
6th	(+1)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	9185	+1820
7th	(+1)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	9015	+1730
8th	(-2)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	8755	+1105
9th	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	8265	+210

Congratulations to the Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis for winning leg 2 of the 2026 TCAT season!!!

Quote from: Sir Lüc on July 26, 2026, 04:20:23 AMHeh, if Zappa was still alive, he'd be welcome at any Alpini parade to witness how winos don't march, and definitely don't harrass anyone either.

You can't fool me, northern Italy is beer country :D

Stage 21 (Final)   »   Paris  ›  Paris

The introduction of climbing Montmartre last year has made the final stage even more exciting. The winner of the tour may have already been decided, but winning the final stage is a massive achievement in its own right. The stage seemed almost designed for Mathieu van der Poel (REX/VFL), but it is a careful balance as a longer climb might favour stronger climbers while a longer stretch the finish might allow the peloton to back and result in a bunch sprints, so the stage promised a battle between climbers, puncheurs and sprinters. And we very much got what was promised.

On the second climb of Montmartre Pogacar (CFA/CJO/BDC/GHS/MMM/CHX) attacked with only Van der Poel being able to follow immediately. Evenepoel (CFA/CJO/REX/VFL) and Pedersen (REX/VFL/MMM) managed to close the gap resulting in a group of four. However the gap was small and the peloton, led by teammates of Kooij (GHS/BDC) chased the quartet down resulting in a reduced peloton with all the favourites starting the third ascent. This time it was Van der Poel who attacked with only Pogacar being able to follow. A chase group formed but was quickly swallowed by the peloton again led by teammates of Kooij, but this time also including Pedersen who also had hopes for the sprint. Van der Poel and Pogacar had a gap of less than 20 seconds and the finish was still far away, so there was no time for hesitation with a peloton steaming ahead behind them. Pogacar never hid behind Van der Poel but was not able to keep up and got dropped in the final stretch. With the finish in sight Van der Poel was only meters ahead of the peloton, already in full sprint. The sprint was won by Van der Poels teammate Philipsen (VFL), but at the finish Philipsen was not cheering for himself, but for Van der Poel, who had held on and finished just barely ahead, winning the stage.

Philipsen got second place ahead of Pedersen in third, Kanter (CHX) in fourth, and Kooij in fifth. Els Talossaes Rexhital won the stage due to Van der Poels efforts and climb to first place before end of tour points are considered. But will it be enough???

Standings after stage 21 (NOT including end of tour points!!!):
These are not the final standings

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(+1)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	9779	+522
2nd	(-1)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	9605	+278
3rd	(=)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	9537	+372
4th	(=)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	9014	+252
5th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	8637	+521
6th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	7650	+268
7th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	7365	+99
8th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	7285	+114
9th	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	7085	+210

GROUP 9
3 - Marty Robbins - Big Iron
2 - Depeche Model - Enjoy the Silence
1 - Queen - Killer Queen

GROUP 10
3 - Ludwig von Beethoven - Mondscheinsonate, 3rd movement
2 - Derek & the Dominos - Layla
1 - Eiffel 65 - Blue (da ba dee)

Good afternoon Talossa! In our last campaign post, I mentioned that the URL would soon be getting into more of our positive program for the 63rd Cosă term. Don't get me wrong -- we're not done with our recap of the outgoing Government's weaknesses, but we think it makes sense to get a little optimism mixed in there too. After all, it's all well and good to point out why one party has explicitly failed to earn your vote, but that doesn't mean other parties don't have to give you something to vote for, too.

With that in mind, it seems like the most obvious place to start with our intentions for the next term is with our main legislative program:


Since we've already laid out the Democracy Agenda in more detail -- you can read the full text here -- I'm going to keep this one a bit shorter and highlight some of the best bits.

Cosă Size: This is something we've already had one major success on. The URL was able to pass the Pseudo-Real Cosă Act to shrink the size of the Cosă to 20. Talossa is a representative democracy, and is clearly set up as such. But when the legislature is larger than the country's own population, that system starts to break down a bit. A legislature more appropriately sized to the country is a good example of one of our party's principles: "Free Reformists believe that political systems must suit the population as opposed to the reverse."

Electoral Reform: We're making advances on this front too! The Democracy Act and Amendment, passed on this last Clark, is largely cobbled together from various proposals the Union has put forth (even its primary sponsor admitted as much). This puts a more concretely-defined closed-list proportional representation system in place for future elections, presuming it passes its referendum. In addition, the bill clarifies that party electoral lists are always to be respected when assigning seats (even for mid-term vacancies) and requires that people cannot appear on a party list or hold seats without their own consent. An electoral method that allows voters to directly select who sits in the Cosă by approving of party lists is a huge win for improving the balance of power between party bosses and citizens.

However, the work on this front is not done. Improving the Organic Law is a continuous process (and we think it's worth revisiting the idea of encoding a detailed electoral process in Organic Law), but improving the state of Talossan democracy is massively important. We've had discussion on a more open-list system in this term, and from what we've seen there is broader support for this than we may have initially expected. The URL will continue to lead the way on promoting reforms to increase the power of the electorate.

Upper House Reform: Talossa's government is of course appointed under a parliamentary system. As the chamber to which the Government is responsible, the Cosă is by necessity the more prominent house of the legislature. This does not mean that the Senäts cannot hold an appropriate place in the Talossan legislative process; it means that right now, the place it holds is not appropriate. The Senäts ought to function as a reasonable brake on the power of the Cosă, not a roadblock, and for that reason we will continue to support moving to the "house of review" model.

If you agree that the Democracy Agenda is the right path for Talossa, then your vote for the Union in August will make it happen. If you really want to get into the details and help shape the Agenda going forward, our doors are always open!

Well that was a spectacular finish!

GROUP 9
3 - Depeche Model - Enjoy the Silence
2 - Queen - Killer Queen
1 - Migajas - Solitario


GROUP 10
3 - Ásgeir - Going Home
2 - Laleh - Some Die Young
1 - Chris Holsten - Slå hjerte, slå

This applicant has not posted to Wittenberg within the required time, and their application is discontinued.

Quote from: Sir Lüc on July 26, 2026, 04:14:31 AM

QuoteThe King or Cunstavál shall not proclaim any provincial constitution which has not been approved by a referendum in which at least either a majority of all citizens of the province or a two-thirds majority of votes actually cast is in favor of the constitution.

To me that reads like a safeguard, not an exploitable loophole - an Organic guarantee that any new provincial constitution must go through a provincial referendum. If that was repealed, unless some other bit of the OrgLaw says otherwise, it'd be fair game for provincial governments, assemblies, Cunstaváis, or any combination of the above, to pass a replacement constitution sua sponte without any requirement for a referendum.

The provincial constitutions have their own requirements for how they may be amended and the thresholds for doing so.

Quote from: Sir Lüc on July 26, 2026, 04:14:31 AMLastly, just noting, as a footnote, that you didn't address why repealing the other provision, "no provincial laws may contradict OrgLaw/national statute", was desirable or necessary.

The Organic Law already provides that any law of a province is invalid to the extent it contradicts a national law.  It's the next section of that article.