“The what Tour?” The question sounds less like a question and a bit more like an accusation. We’re sitting in Gianni’s home on Maui and I’ve just answered a query as to what I’m doing with a computer on my lap when the weather is too nice to justify such a thing.
Even a man as familiar with cycling as Gianni can be forgiven for not knowing the race by it’s new name, the Eneco Tour. The race used to be the Tour of the Netherlands and like the Amstel Gold Race, has enjoyed considerably more success than did the Eindhoven Team Time Trial which boasted a field of least one team each year it was held.
Originally the Tour of the Netherlands, the race now features a parcours through the Netherlands as well as Belgium. As far as preparation races go, it serves as a sort of bizarro preparation for the Vuelta, in the sense that racing in the lowlands would be good way to get ready for a mountainous Grand Tour. Never mind all that, we’re back racing in the VSP and we’re in Dutch-speaking country and I love it. I hope you enjoy lots of helpful translations of Dutch phrases you don’t care about (and probably didn’t hear) from yours truly, because that’s what you’ll be getting for a full week. And I hope you like the color orange.
With that we kick off into the last minor-stage VSP of 2011 for the Eneco Tour. Being a week-long stage race, the points on offer are 7 for first, 5 for second, 4 for third, 3 for fourth, 2 for fifth, with the usual allotment of bonus points for getting the rider right but the place wrong. Also, there are no rest days, so no rest day swaps, but we will have our usual approach for riders who drop out. And, all you Rule #5 apologists out there will be happy to know that we now officially have abolished the 10-minute rule. Piti Principle applies as always. Also review the guide, being careful to note that the rules have changes a bit this year, and we may not have completely updated the guide yet, so if there’s a question, ask.
Best of luck to all.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@Dr C
That's right.
Chris and Zoncolan tie at 16 points, with the rest nipping at their heels. I'm a little surprised Phinney didn't go faster in such a short TT.
[vsp_results id="9198"]
[/vsp_results]
(Sorry we missed the results yesterday. I was busy flogging myself.)
@frank
I think the weather (wind/rain) had a bit to do with the odd finishing order. From what I understand, some riders were on a wet track while others got a mostly dry tarmac.
@Tartan1749
that explains why I am not on 27 points then.....Jellyfish Vanendert would have nailed the TT otherwise, of that I have no doubt
nice work Chris, for an Englander anyway
@frank
Damn, I've been defrocked, third on the road to a Kiwi and an Aussie. GO PHIL!
Go Jesse!
Oh my, I can't seem to get my VSP right. Why, why why doesn't Phil Gil do something else? Why is he lingering in second. This cannot be acceptable to him. Gah, save my VSP, Phil! Sure, maybe you are thinking of the World's, but come on.... you need a stage race win to round things out. Please.
While you guys are trying to get your VSP act together I'll just go get some love from Big George down at the Tour of Utah.
The missus and I went down for the TT last night and I ran into my old friend Max Testa. If you recall I had the opportunity to have my Lactate Threshold tested by Max early in the season. It was pretty cool to be able to walk up to the BMC paddock at the ToU last night and be greeted like an old friend. I told Max of my training based off of his numbers and the payoff at the Idaho State Championships last week and he was pretty stoked.
Shortly after I was wandering around and stumbled into a VIP area and was asked to leave. I was like "I'm a Velominatus bitches!" (OK, not really - but that's what I thought. I said hang on a moment and went and got Max's All Access pass and they were like "Well OK then". Here are some more photos I took last night and today submitted for your approval...
I got some more shots but that's enough I reckon.
I was disappointed that nobody said anything about the Velominati T-shirt last night or the V-Jersey today until right as we were walking to the car to leave a guy from New Zealand rides up to me and says "I love the Rules"! Then he says "Oh oh, my sunglasses are inside my helmet straps!" I severely chastised him and sent him on his way.
So far the first few weeks of being 50 have been pretty awesome as far as cycling related stuff goes.
Watching a solo rider bridge up to a break 2 mins up the road makes me disproportionately happy. Thanks Bernie Eisel!
@Cyclops
Nice work! And love from Hincapie, who has tweeted about the Rules in the past.