Stage 11   »   Vichy  ›  Nevers

Today was another bunchsprint, with a surprising winner: Søren Wærenskjold, who profited from a bold move when the peloton lost a bit of speed. Kooij (GHS/BDC) and Philipsen (VFL) came just short of beating him on the line. GHST scores the most points and takes over third place from Cyclohexane.

Standings after stage 11:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	5016	+191
2nd	(=)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	4696	+235
3rd	(+1)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	4602	+295
4th	(-1)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	4530	+148
5th	(+1)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	4280	+198
6th	(-1)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	4256	+119
7th	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	3549	+288
8th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	3297	+114
9th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	2752	+83

Tomorrow looks like another bunchsprint, but some hills along the way may invite attackers to give it a try.

GROUP 1
3 - Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
2 - Dave Brubeck - Take Five
1 - Foo Fighters - Walk

GROUP 2
3 - Renato Zero - Triangolo
2 - Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
1 - Toto - Hold the Line

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.

Quote from: xpb on July 14, 2026, 08:21:54 PMTom Waits Step Right Up https://youtu.be/JAx2vMRXskQ?is=imDfHNU6D8BS-kNl

Unfortunately nominations were already full and we're already voting on the first round.


The good news on this particular nomination is that it was already in the list and is currently being voted on.

See:

Quote from: Glüc on July 12, 2026, 05:24:32 PMRound 1 of the Talossan Music Top 20 - 2026!

[...]
Per group: Give your top three songs 3, 2, and 1 points, respectively. You must give points to exactly three songs per group.

GROUP 1
3Teeth - Slum Planet
Ásgeir - Sugar Clouds
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
Foo Fighters - Walk
Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire
MGMT - Pieces of What
Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
Talk Talk - Such a Shame
TheFatRat - Unity
Tom Waits - In The Neighborhood

GROUP 2
Brinsley Schwarz - (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding
Celtic Worship - Come Thou Fount
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Johnny Horton - The Battle of New Orleans
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
MGMT - Boogie Down
Renato Zero - Triangolo
Stromae - Papaoutai
Tom Waits - Step Right Up
Toto - Hold the Line

(Only 15 hours left to vote)

Tom Waits Step Right Up https://youtu.be/JAx2vMRXskQ?is=imDfHNU6D8BS-kNl

Humans as Ornaments, Scared of Nothing

https://youtu.be/IHzUEnPb0tI?is=Sa-jlcHMvhzBxZN6

Quote from: Glüc on July 14, 2026, 04:28:25 PM

Quote from: King Txec on July 13, 2026, 09:14:37 AM1 - Tom Waits Hold the Line

Did you mean Toto or Step Right Up?

Typo - I meant the Tom Waits song.

-Txec R

And here is my attempt at applying the Neill approach to the New Zealand flag:


I posted both on the r/Vexillology channel and they currently have a negative rating...