Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Roubaix (Keeper Tip Hotline)

We are quickly arriving at what is, for any Velominatus, the end of the most awesomest week of the year.  There have been emails and comments flying around within the community so we thought it would be fun to publicize our plan for honoring the Hardmen of the Cobbles this coming Sunday.

So, with that, we launch the first Keeper Tip Hotline.  For those of you who are inclined to leave a comment, please do so and tell us what your plans are and who you are tipping for the podium.  Top five places are scored; whoever has the highest cumulative score will get an Obey the Rules prize.  Scoring simply runs in reverse order; 5 points for first, 1 point for 5th.

Update (13 April 2010): This competition has been renamed the Velominati Super Prestige.  More information on this competition and current results can be found on the Velominati Super Prestige Page.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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  • @Rob
    Of course none of us are as good as George, or any Pro, or most amateur guys in the cities we live in. An obvious and moot point.

    Aren't we allowed to bash pros, or celebrities, or politicians? It's fair game I reckon. But it seems that Americans don't like their own being picked on.

    In general, I think George is probably an ok guy, but he's done himself no favours by all those years hanging out with the king of assholes, and in recent times his whinging about bad luck or other people conspiring against him.

    He needs to let his legs do the talking, but those legs might not have too much left to say.

  • @brett
    That is why it amuses me so, us Americans don't have too many old school pros to love, George is the last man standing, so when Brett points out what a whinger he is, it make-a me laugh.

    He needs to let his legs do the talking, but those legs might not have too much left to say.

    That's right, we will know more soon. It will be interesting.

  • America needs a hardman. Lemond was close. He's even from mine and frank's home state, not exactly a Mecca for cycling. But we all know what a tool he turned out to be. I'm stoked to see Farrar on the podium today.

  • @brett

    I do not pay to much attention to nationalities of riders - I just respect big Georges years of hard man shit - you have a point about the whinging but if that is the worst it just goes to show that most of our heros are not brain trust candidates (a US exception might be Andy Hampsten), they really only do 2 things well, train and race. So in his case perhaps a little more grey stuff would have meant he might have been on the podium at P-R already. That is why I did not put him in #1 on my predictions.

    So I guess I sounded a little sanctimonious (sorry) and yes of course lets bash them when they deserve it.

    Marko, well said about LeM he has not done himself or others no stinking favors and my personal feeling is that if he went under a microscope we would find some chemical whoopsies that he would not like us to know about....

  • @Marko
    Farrar on the podium? Huh? By 'podium' do you mean 'tarmac'?

    Hincapie should've won today. He was right there when Spartacus went, but there was a cow in the paddock next to them who moo'ed just then, and he looked over, then Boonen farted, and it got in his nostrils, and then none of the other guys would give him a Snickers, coz he missed his feed because the guy was wearing a t-shirt, and...

  • Let's see...Marko calls 1st correctly and Rob nails 2nd and 3rd. Well done lads.
    Fabian slays all, Tommeke gets caught napping and Georgie, not so much.

    That race could have done with a lot of rain.

  • Rats...I missed the predictions. Watching the race, in licensed premises, after a ride out on some local punishing pavé was a pure joy though.
    Cancellara is close to godliness right now. We thought maybe he went a little early but then he just dieseled off into the distance...splendid.
    Nice to see our own Roger H hang on for 4th after all the work he put in for big Thor.

  • Brett I saw that cow thing happening and it was strange I found myself screaming at the TV "George you freakin idiot pay attention to the race"!!

    I think the brain is a fragile organ and all those cobbles messed up some riders ability to think - like Boonen - hello, do all that work at the front and then go sit in the back??? He deserved to lose.

    Thanks Johno but in the end without rain and with Fabian still on perfect stroke/peak form Marko is the man.

  • @brett

    Yea, perhaps I deserve that a little. He had the form going in but not the hardman skills. We'll watch him in the future.

    I was happy to see Thor in there mixing it up for second. And old Tommeke, where was that guys team support? Stijn? No effin way. QuickStep in not a classics team this year aside from Tom. Poor fella was trying to rally the group to catch Fabian. They knew better though. I nominate Spartacus for flahute status.

  • By the by, I was digging the Milram Focus cross bikes. Looked like SKIL/SHIMANO was riding them too.

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