The Velominati Super Prestige is a season-long competition wherein readers will be submitting their predictions for the top five finishers of each qualifying race. In order to qualify, your picks via the VSP Picks form above the posts section of the VSP Event article pertaining to the race in question by the time the countdown clock goes to zero at midnight on the day of the race start. These articles are clearly marked and are generally posted at least 72 hours in advance of each event. The current leader of the competition has the honor of posting on the site bearing the VSP Leader’s badge; winners of select races (the monuments and Grand Tours) similarly gain the honor of posting with a dedicated badge for the remainder of the year. Prizes may be given for key events; these prizes will be announced on the associated VSP Event. Points will be tallied as the season progresses and the winner will be announced after Paris-Tours. Prizes to be determined.
Readers who wish to enter shall enter their predictions for the top five placings of each race by the time the countdown clock goes to zero at midnight PDT on the day of the race. Regular Points Points will be scored in reverse order of finishing order: 7 points for first place, 5 points for second, 4 for third, 3 for fourth, and 2 for fifth. Readers will also earn 1 bonus point for every other rider named in the top five, regardless of the rider’s placing, but riders are not scored twice. Tie Breaking In the event of a tie, the first reader to submit their predictions will be named the winner.
Readers who wish to enter shall enter their predictions for the top five placings on General Classification of each Grand Tour by the time the countdown clock goes to zero at midnight PDT on the day of the first stage or prologue. Points Points will be scored as follows based on the final G.C of the race: 20 points for first place, 15 for second, 10 for third, 7 for fourth, and 5 for fifth; plus 3 points per rider in the top five regardless of the rider’s placing, but riders are not scored twice. Changing of the Picks* Contestants are allowed to make line up changes on one of the rest days of the Grand Tours but not both. These changes will come with a point penalty. You will be allotted one (1) rest day to make swaps in grand tours; you may pick either the first or second rest day. The penalties for swapping will be lower for the first rest day than the second. This will allow you to swap out a rider(s) who gets caught in some first week nervousness with a 5 point penalty for each swap. Or make some go for broke/doomed to fail break-away swap on the second rest day for a 10 point penalty for each swap. That’s it. You make one swap or five on either rest day for the corresponding 5 or 10 point penalty per swap. Additionally, if one of your riders crashes out, DNF’s, or DNS’s, you may swap them out on a rest day with corresponding penalties if you haven’t already used up your one rest day swap. Tie Breaking In the event of a tie, the first reader to submit their predictions will be named the winner. Minor Stages We will be posting VSP’s for minor stages as well. Scoring is similar to one-day racing, except no bonus points are in play for getting the rider in the wrong placing.
Readers who wish to enter shall enter their predictions for the top five placings on General Classification of each Minor Stage Race (less than three weeks) by the time the countdown clock goes to zero at midnight PDT on the day of the first stage or prologue. Regular Points Points will be scored in reverse order of finishing order: 10 points for first place, 8 for second, 7 for third, 5 for fourth, and 3 for fifth; plus two bonus points per rider in the top five regardless of the rider’s placing, but riders are not scored twice. Tie Breaking In the event of a tie, the first reader to submit their predictions will be named the winner.
The following badges will be worn by current leaders of the competition and sub-competitions:
| Overall Super Prestige Leader: | ||
| Milano Sanremo: | ||
| VVomen’s Ronde van Vlaanderen: | ||
| Men’s Ronde van Vlaanderen: | ||
| Paris-Roubaix: | ||
| Leige-Bastogne-Liege: | ||
| Giro d’Italia Leader: | ||
| Giro Rosa Leader: | ||
| Tour de France Leader: | ||
| Vuelta a Espana Leader: | ||
| Giro di Lombardia: | ||
| Overal Super Prestige Lanterne Rouge: |
Start | End | Event | Race Website |
| 18.03.2017 | 18.03.2017 | Milano-Sanremo | www.milanosanremo.it |
| 26.03.2017 | 26.03.2017 | Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields | www.gent-wevelgem.be |
| 02.04.2017 | 02.04.2017 | Ronde van Vlaanderen – Tour des Flandres | www.flandersclassics.be |
| 09.04.2017 | 09.04.2017 | Paris-Roubaix | www.letour.fr |
| 16.04.2017 | 16.04.2017 | Amstel Gold Race | www.amstelgoldrace.nl |
| 19.04.2017 | 19.04.2017 | La Flèche Wallonne | www.letour.fr |
| 23.04.2017 | 23.04.2017 | Liège-Bastogne-Liège | www.letour.fr |
| 05.05.2017 | 28.05.2017 | Giro d’Italia | www.giroditalia.it |
| 04.06.2017 | 11.06.2017 | Critérium du Dauphiné | www.letour.fr |
| 10.06.2017 | 18.06.2017 | Tour de Suisse | www.tds.ch |
| 01.07.2017 | 23.07.2017 | Tour de France | www.letour.fr |
| 29.07.2017 | 29.07.2017 | Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian | www.klasikoa.net |
| 19.08.2017 | 10.09.2017 | La Vuelta ciclista a España | lavuelta.com |
| 08.09.2017 | 08.09.2017 | Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec | www.gpcqm.ca |
| 10.09.2017 | 10.09.2017 | Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal | www.gpcqm.ca |
| 20.09.2017 | 20.09.2017 | Mens World Championship Time Trial | |
| 24.09.2017 | 24.09.2017 | Mens World Championship Road Race | |
| 07.10.2017 | 07.10.2017 | Il Lombardia | www.illombardia.it |
Start | End | Event | Race Website |
| 26.03.2017 | 26.03.2017 | Gent-Wevelgem In Flanders Fields | www.gent-wevelgem.be |
| 02.04.2017 | 02.04.2017 | Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour des Flandres | www.flandersclassics.be |
| 16.04.2017 | 16.04.2017 | Amstel Gold Race | info@amstelgoldrace.nl |
| 19.04.2017 | 19.04.2017 | La Flèche Wallonne Féminine | www.letour.fr |
| 23.04.2017 | 23.04.2017 | Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes | www.letour.fr et www.pesantliege.be |
| 30.06.2017 | 09.07.2017 | Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile | |
| 20.07.2017 | 20.07.2017 | La Course by Le Tour de France | www.letour.fr |
| 29.07.2017 | 29.07.2017 | Prudential RideLondon Classique | www.ridelondon.co.uk/events/classique |
| 17.08.2017 | 20.08.2017 | Ladies Tour of Norway | www.ladiestour.no |
| 26.08.2017 | 26.08.2017 | GP de Plouay – Lorient Agglomération | www.grandprix-plouay.com |
| 29.08.2017 | 03.09.2017 | Boels Rental Ladies Tour | www.hollandladiestour.nl |
| 10.09.2017 | 10.09.2017 | Madrid Challenge by la Vuelta | lavuelta.com/Madridchallenge |
| 19.09.2017 | 19.09.2017 | Womens World Championship Time Trial | |
| 23.09.2017 | 23.09.2017 | Womens World Championship Road Race |
[vsp_gc year=”2017″/]
[vsp_gc year=”2016″/]
[vsp_gc year=”2015″/]
[vsp_gc year=”2014″/]
[vsp_gc year=”2013″/]
[vsp_gc year=”2012″/]
[vsp_gc year=”2011″/]
2010 VSP G.C.
*The Changing of the Picks rules are designed to promote fair play and keep the competition fun and open throughout the three-week race. Abuse of these rules will be managed through the “Piti Principle”: if we we feel you are attempting to exploit loopholes or otherwise take advantage of the Changing of the Picks rules, we will penalize you by deducting points from your total score. Much like the UCI doping suspensions, the amount of points deducted will be based on how egregious the abuse was.
View Comments
No Strade Bianchi? That's one HARD race and coming up soon (10 days, BABY!!!).
I normally don't do this, pushing my own site. Sorry for this
But on http://www.cobblestone.be you can play a season long sort of super prestige game. With the possibility of a subleague for the velominati. Unfortunately, there are no prizes to win, only eternal fame for your nicely shaved legs.
As a newbie, where do we post our call for MSR??
which races will be included in this years VSP?
Could we do VSP for the Tour of California? It's a great field and looks to be a really solid race this year.
@benjamin
At this stage, ToC the Tour Down Under figuring into the VSP for the simple reason although they are great races with a great field, they just aren't really hardman enough to be a bad-ass VSP. We've got standards, you know. Especially in comparison to a race like the Giro, it just can't hold a candle. Nothing against these races or fields. But any stage race that can be won by a sprinter or the Eggtimer is a race that isn't a VSP.
But, we'll definitely consider it for next season if this turns out to be a great edition.
I am more than a little confused as to how VSP scoring goes. I only ask because before the Giro I was in the top 15 down by a few and now I am way back. Are points accrued after every stage for your top 5 picks?
@RedRanger
I'm sort of confused as well... I've had my points go from 30 (yesterday, 2nd behind Velomihottie in the Giro VSP) to something like 17. I'm not sure what is going on there?
@RedRanger, @mcsqueak
The scoring explanation should be updated on this page; we'll try to get to that pretty soon, but excellent questions. I'm also totally open to feedback on how the display your current score in the VSP Picks form, so any feedback is welcomed. But here's the explanation:
Your picks are due 5am on the day of the first day of the race. After that, the results are updated on a daily basis, and your current total goes into the calculations for both the GT's standings as well as those of the VSP GC standings. You will see these fluctuate as the Giro's standings shift.
When you change your picks on the rest day, you will accrue penalty points per change at the pick level. That means that if you have a penalty for changing a rider on one or both the rest days, you will see the value of your score for that pick, minus the penalty.
Say, for example, you just moved Nibbles into third on the second rest day; you will have a 4 point penalty for Nibbles along with 5 points for having him in third; that puts you at 5 - 4 = 1 point.
Results have also swung around when we've accidentally entered the wrong results. That's regrettable and we try to avoid it, but mistakes do happen.
I didn't mean to go Ron on you. I think I realized that the above VSP standings are based on the running Giro standings.