first rest day - prize pool

so the first rest day is here and the peleton has started to sort itself out. some of the favourites are no longer favourites (valverde), some of the dark horses have reared their heads (cobo, ricco) and some of the guys in the top ten are a surprise to everyone (vandevelde).

it is good to see cadel in yellow, but don't be counting any chickens just yet.

also, those tipsters that have had some bad luck on gc, don't count yourselves out. oscar pererio lost 20+ minutes in the pyrenees in 2006 so when he and voigt got away on a later flat stage, no-one chased him. he gained 30 minutes that day and went on to win overall (rather belated thanks to floyd). you just have to be lucky to tip those guys. in other words, if you are behind (like me) don't tip the favourites, tip the crazy outsider who will go for stage glory.

so, what am i playing for? you may ask.
money overall. not lots of it as we only have 18 tipsters this year.
however, we do have some extra bonus prizes thanks to our marketing director, lorraine.
this is breakdown of prizes this year -

general classification (yellow jersey)
1st - $36.00 + 1 pair euro optics sunnies ($90.00 value) + 1 ride magazine subscription ($43.95)
2nd - $12.60
3rd - $7.20

sprinters (green jersey)
1st - $27.00 + 1 ride magazine subscription ($43.95 value)
2nd - $10.80
3rd - $6.00

mountains (polka dot jersey)
1st - $27.00 + 1 bicycling australia subscription ($55.00 value)
2nd - $10.80
3rd - $6.00

stage winners
$36.60 (split between all winners, if there are 6 stages picked then each stage is worth $6.10, that amount is then split between the teams that picked that winner)
in other words, we don't know ho much each stage is worth till the end of the tour.

total prize pool of $413

thanks to euro optics, ride magazine and bicycling australia for donating these extra prizes.