Velominati Super Prestige: Critérium du Dauphiné
The Tour de France looms on the horizon, and those riders planning to race are putting the final touches on their form – or going into last-minute panic mode, final exam cram-style. The Critérium Dauphiné has long been a favorite preparation race serving both purposes rather well.
It’s a favorite of the Tour’s GC contenders as it usually features stages that, if not identical to key stages from the Tour, will at least feature many of the same climbs; habitual Tour winners like Indurain, Armstrong, and Clentador have traditionally used this race as their preferred method of final preparation; riders seeking additional form will take the beating taken from a week of suffering and have just enough time to recover prior to the Tour. And, of course, riders who have aspirations in July may also find they are a few kilos heavy yet and may indulge in some ultra-lean Spanish beef in order to get to fighting weight.
It’s also a dangerous gamble: ride too hard at the Critérium and you could fire off the Guns of Navarone and enter the Tour in a state of fatigue, as Pharmy did in 2003. A delicate balance, this.
The challenge in predicting the results of a preparation race such as this is that the favorites for the Tour are (hopefully) peaking in one month, not during this event. But they’ll be good – maybe good enough to win. But probably not. Combine that with that the notion that a rider with little hope in July may be looking for glory and will be in peak form, leading to an unexpected result – a review of last year’s race with Jani Brajkovic is a great example of this case.
With that we kick off into the first minor-stage VSP for the Critérium Dauphiné. 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. 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.
Nice riding by Jurgen Van Den Broeck
What a cool stage today! Loved the scenery, great ride by JVDB, Vino and Cuddles hanging tough, JRod grabbing some time back, and even some attacking by my boy Voeckler!
Did anyone pick Voeckler? I didn’t even consider him, which seems idiotic now that I do think of it. Cyclops made some nice work of it, tying with Gianni.
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Oh yeah…. Lanterne rouge for me!
i’d like to remove tony martin from my VSP, please.
Woohoo!!!! New bike, top o’ the leader board, I’m very handsome, life is good.
@frank
I’ve got Tommy V in the 5 slot… where else?
excessive matching is a rule violation. it shows a complete lack of aesthetic restraint. i’m not sure which rule being ‘matchy-matchy’ violates””and if it isn’t one officially, it shall be soon enough.
i can’t tell who looks more ridiculous, the great monsieur voeckler, in today’s dauphiné stage
or, devolder, as evidence from stage 2 of luxembourg
Man, my picks are sucking it up this time around. Ah well!
@Karolinka
He drops off the planet from time to time.
Dang. Why, why, why didn’t I pick Vino? Oh yeah. Karpets. I figured if they are sending an all Russian crew to the TdF he better have some form.
@heath
Whatchu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?
Those are national champions’ kits, to be worn proudly, and damn right everything should match…. Right down to the pedals.
In fact I consider Stijn’s socks to be an abomination before Merckx.
@heath
Hmmm. Good question. The Voek’s socks match, and i think his shows do too, at least they have a matching coloured strip. Crazy Joe Devolder’s socks and shoes don’t match, but his helmet does. Neither’s gloves seem a perfect match… The wheels. Voek’s wheels matching is a bit off-putting so I’ll go with him as more ridiculous.
Why did I pick Gesink and Basso?
@Blah
“crazy Joe Devolder” +1
@heath
Maybe if you have a lot of flashy colors excessive matching my be a beach of the rules but if your bike, kit, and shoes are tastefully understated like mine it pretty much rules.
Please ignore the slight rules 33 violation – we just had our first day in the 80’s yesterday so the legs have been hiding for most of the spring.
@mcsqueak
It’s early yet, mate. There will be a shake up before it’s over. Just hoping JVDB holds on!
@sgt
i agree, as a country’s champion, he should stand out from the peloton in kit design. this makes the aesthetic concern of knowing when to say when, of not going overboard, even more important. he must look good, right? but, he mustn’t look silly.
by way of contrast, the italian champion kit both honors the prestige of being the country’s champion*, and is aesthetically under control enough by not having to garishly match every single detail of clothing to rim and fork blade text.
* while visconti’s sprinting behavior during the giro is not one of a champion, we’ll forgo such details of analysis.
clearly, there is matching going on, but it’s not overdose of matching. moderation is key.
@Blah
i agree. as one my favorite riders, it hurts more than my eyes to look at him in such a get-up.
@heath
You may want to rethink your choice of an example…
@Cyclops
precisely.
oh, and what’s on your socks? a no gas pump?
nice!
@Cyclops
Two different shoes?
@heath
Yup
@Brett
No they’re the same shoes (‘cept one’s a left and one’s a right). You’re just seeing to different parts of them.
@Cyclops
Nice bike. Is it new …?
@G’phant
A week old.
@Cyclops
Yeah, I know. Just winding you up. Though it IS a nice bike.
It’s not about the praising, it’s about not tarring riders without due cause.
@frank
Touche’!
And BWAAAAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAHAHAAAAA spambot!
Except, :-( . I liked a place I could write above a third grade reading level and not have to go back and edit down to 25 words or less if I wanted there to be even a chance someone would actually glance at it, much less read it (vis a vis Heinous Book of Face, the Land of the Quarter-Second Attention Span).
Other Velominati write long posts, don’t they? Ocassionally? I don’ wanna stop! (whine like a p*ssy @ssed pro who missed his last hit of steak)
Have a cookie.
No wait, I offered you one yesterday, don’t want you to lose lean.
Have a bottle of water.
oh yeah, the race…
Really nice ride by Van Den Broeck. But…
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH HOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
ALLEZ VINO !!!!!!!!!!!! Slavs Rule!
Didn’t pick him for overall coz figured he’s aiming for Tour, but sentimental fave.
As for my win pick, Cadelephant – whatever. But unless he’s improved lately, he has such a whiney voice I illogically blech in his general direction based soley on how much that annoys me.
(The truth is (sort of), I just opened the page so a bunch of other people’s picks showed, closed my eyes, and planted a finger on the screen. Closest name went in that slot. I mean really. Logic finds little comfort here.)
Why not?
Thanks. I was afraid maybe there was an earthquake or tsunami or Louisiana’s foot finally sank all the way or something and I’d missed it.
(This is actually something that happens to me, since I gave up watching/reading the news except for ocassional quickchecks on the Homeland (Palestine/Mid East + sub-Balkans). I usually find out the world is ending from the Heinous Book of Face, a few days after it’s happened.)
@heath
If it hasn’t been pointed out yet, it falls under Rule #15. The should both be wearing standard team shorts.
That’s what the jersey is for; it should be enough, yes?
@Cyclops
Magnificent machine, but your bibs are violating the Goldilocks Principle.
Hey Delphinati !!!
Exclusive Videos from the Dauphiné !
With some luck and effort and some V ( I rode 80km to shoot this..)))
…and in the spirit of community members contribution…
I have the pleasure to give you some video insights of this Criterium du Dauphiné 2011…
These videos have been shot this afternoon in a hurry “in race” 20 km before the Finish Line and at the hotel with Cervelo-Garmin, Saur Soja Sun, Omega-Pharma-Lotto and Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) … as the riders and team members were quite exhausted and the mechanics and DSs really on nerves i had little time and opportunities to shoot these videos ( with and old Iphone…)
Nevertheless, here are some exclusive footage for you Velominati…
the 3 échappés and the the entire peloton and team cars 15 km before the finish line
: All in 3 minutes : no sponsors caravan this year ! (~90 Mo video)
is it the new “meilleur grimpeur” with the Red Dots Jersey..
as far as i know -now- it’s not even official… the pink one is a (good) local kid…
Well, shit happens, innit? CorimAAAaaargh!
At the FDJ stand, Dura Ace c35 wheels and stuff
An FDJ Lapierre vigorously washed
A Cervelo more gently treated
Garmin_Cervelo at home
A Canyon being prepared
@all
Our friend Alpin has a front-row seat at the Dauphiné; check some videos above and also stand by for live updates from him as well as start-area photos tomorrow morning. Merci Alpin!
@Cyclops
LOOKs beautiful!
I really like my new badge too!
Alpin,
The last video the race.mov 6.6.11 it’s just perfect.
A very well told story.
@frank
@Pedale.Forchetta
Thanks
@all
If you encounter some problems with the _almost_live_ Dauphiné Videos…
they are all here :
Dauphine
+1 sgt
@frank
LG bibs are very nice but they do run long in the legs for some reason. I have a pair and they are roughly the same length as the pair Cyclops has. Perfect during the colder times when you have kneewarmers on, but a little long for the summer. Would it kill them to make ’em 2″ shorter?
Well obviously they’re longer – they have that red band added to their length. Can’t see how they could add the nice looking red bit without adding to the length ;-)
@Cyclops
Looks like you did a bang-up job putting your new LOOK together. What stem and bars are those?
I’m looking forward to a full review. Bel Mezzo!
Well, here’s the deal on my bibs – I must be built weird or something because I have three pair of bibs (V-Bibs included) that were I to go any smaller (allowing the legs to be “just right”) the bib straps would kill me. The V-Bibs are the worst – they really are as small as I can go and the legs are still pretty long.
@Marko
The bars and stem are Syntace. There should be a full review up tomorrow if Frank doesn’t hose me again. :)
Cuddles better lay down some V…. or he is gonna be caught out. Just got exciting on what was to be a boring stage.
Whew, he just made contact again. Thought my VSP season was over there for a second. :)
——————————————————————————–
DELPHINATI EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS / STAGE 3 VOIRON – LYON / PRO GEAR / PRO LOOK
——————————————————————————–
All the raw photos( JPEGs) will arrive here …
Dauphine Today!
I’ll post and comment on the Velominati website through the day…
have fun !
@Alpin
Thanks Alpin!
Awesome finish there. Despite him missing out I feel a lotta man love for Tommy Veklominati
Kelly sure is impressed by Degenkolb. Good race today.
And that Degenkolb looks to be a beast!