In a 14-stage cycle race, there were a 100 competitors, among them “Crazy” Charles.
In all 14 stages, “Crazy” Charles finished in the same position: 93rd. However, at the end of the race, “Crazy” Charles was declared a runner-up in the competition: his accumulated time was less than that of all the other competitors except one, the champion.
Bearing in mind the fact that none of the 100 competitors withdrew from the race, how was it possible for “Crazy” Charles to finish second if he never even made it into the top 90 competitors?
Answer
“Crazy” Charles was a runner-up in the race because in each of the 14 stages he beat 7 different competitors, and he beat them all by more time than the accumulated time that they beat him by in all the other stages of the tour. Since 7*14=98, there was only one cyclist that he never beat and that was the champion.
