Velominati Super Prestige

Velominati Super Prestige: Gent Wevelgem 2014

IMG_0415 2

The Kemmelberg is a brute. In my opinion, its the hardest of the cobbled climbs in the Spring Classics; it has a high speed tarmac approach that saps the guns of their snap. The transition from tarmac to cobbles is awful, the stones are very badly laid throughout and if you don’t hit it just right, you’ll come to a standstill. The cobbled part of the climb is long enough to make you consider a plea-bargain with any deity willing to listen before it ends with a brutal 23% ramp with good cobbles. The length, the camber, the gradient, and the way the stones are laid combine in a way that makes you feel every centimeter of the climb.

Gent Wevelgem is considered a sprinters classic, but it’s a shock considering how many climbs are along the route. I can’t imagine the Italian curses that must have escaped Cipollini’s mouth along his bumpy way to winning the race. No wonder he chucked the odd bidon at a motorbike.

I miss the old setup of the Cobbled Classics, with the Ronde on Sunday, Gent on Wednesday, and Roubaix on Sunday, but on the plus side, now we get to drool over the racing for three weeks instead of just one. So, check the start list, review the VSP Scoring Guidelines and get your picks in by the time the countdown clock goes to zero at midnight PDT on Sunday the 30th. If you think we mapped one of your picks wrong, use the dispute system and we’ll review it. Also remember to be precise enough in your description so we know which rider you mean; in other words, if you enter “Martin”, we will use our discretion (read: wild guess) to decide if you mean Tony or Dan – and that choice will not be negotiable once the the countdown clock goes to zero, so be sure to give yourself enough time.

Don’t forget we’ve got three major prizes for the season-long VSP:

  1. First place overall wins a Veloforma Strada iR Velominati Edition frame in addition to the customary VSP winner’s VVorkshop Apron
  2. Second place overall wins a set of hand built CR Wheelworks Arenberg wheelset in a custom Velominati paint scheme laced to orange Chris King hubs. (CR Wheelworks is Café Roubaix’s new wheel goods brand.)
  3. Third place overall wins a full Velominati V-Kit with accompanying custom orange Bont Vaypor+ road shoes.

Good luck, and don’t lose your Rule #43 spirit.

[vsp_results id=”29351″/]

[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/VSP Prizes/”/]

Related Posts

Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s World Championship Road Race 2017

Sep 21 2017

Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s World Championship Road Race 2017

Sep 21 2017

323 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Gent Wevelgem 2014”

  1. VSP PICKS:

    1. Pincher Sagan
    2. Fab Candelabra
    3. Greg Van Aver Mate
    4. Alexis Kristoff
    5. Stan Stannard

  5. VSP PICKS:

    1. Mark Cavendish
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Greg Van Avermaet
    4. Edvald Boasson Hagen
    5. Simon Yates

  6. VSP PICKS:

    1. Tom Boonen
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Ian Stannard
    4. Fabian Cancellara
    5. Greg Van Avermaet

  9. VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter SAGAN
    2. Borut BOZIC
    3. Fabian CANCELLARA
    4. Greg VAN AVERMAET
    5. Sep VANMARCKE

  10. VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter Sagan
    2. Tom Boonen
    3. Fabian Cancellara
    4. Greg van Avermaet
    5. Geraint Thomas

  12. Respect. Tommeke.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. BOONEN Tom
    2. Cancellara Fabian
    3. SAGAN Peter
    4. STYBAR Zdenek
    5. BOASSON HAGEN Edvald

  13. VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter Sagan
    2. Tom Boonen
    3. Mark Cavendish
    4. Edvald Hagen
    5. Bernhard Eisel

  14. VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter Sagan
    2. Tom Boonen
    3. Mark Cavendish
    4. Edvald Boasson Hagen
    5. Bernhard Eisel

  15. My that frame looks pretty….

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Cavendish
    2. Ciolek
    3. Sagan
    4. Cancellara
    5. Boasson Hagen

  17. VSP PICKS:

    1. Fabian Cancellara
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Zdenek Stybar
    4. Tom Boonen
    5. Sep Vanmarcke

  21. VSP PICKS:

    1. Cancellara
    2. sagan
    3. degankolb
    4. cavendish
    5. boonen

  22. VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter SAGAN
    2. Bryan COQUARD
    3. Tyler FARRAR
    4. Fabo CANCELLARA
    5. Gerald CIOLEK

  23. VSP PICKS:

    1. Edvard Boason Hagen
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Tom Boonen
    4. Fabian Cancellara
    5. Zener Stybar

  25. VSP PICKS:

    1. Boonen, Tom
    2. Sagan, Peter
    3. Cancellara, Fabian
    4. Hushovd, Thor
    5. Boasson Hagen, Edvald

  28. So when is that killer V-Cap going to be made available for purchase in the shop?

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Cancellara
    2. Boonen
    3. Boason Hagen
    4. Hushovd
    5. sagan

  29. So when is that killer V-Cap going to be made available for purchase in the shop?

  30. The Kemmelberg. Last week I went there on a hunch, since I had never climbed anything nor had I been over any real cobbled anything (except city centres that is) and decided that that specific sunday would be a good day to try my hand at both. When I got there, the only cyclist I spotted was a mountainbiker, which I thought was odd given that Gent-Wevelgem was just the week after that. Now there had been a slight spot of hail making for one frozen foot and very slippery stones. If I stood up and pressed down on my pedals, my back wheel would slip. If I sat down and pulled on my handlebars, I tipped over backwards (remember, I stood still on a ridiculous incline in my 42*28 granny gear). I cursed my way to the top, where the WW1 monument absolutely crushed any remorse I had for myself. Still humbled by the monument, I pussied my way down the terrifying descent.

    How the pro’s just fly up this hill and thunder down is just mind-boggling. I was quite proud of making it to the top in the first place. When it’s dry I’ll try again.

  31. ‘nother spin of the chocolate wheel…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Spartacus
    2. Sagan
    3. Cavendish
    4. Boonen
    5. Simon Yates (go OGE)

  32. VSP PICKS:

    1. VAN AVERMAET Greg
    2. SAGAN Peter
    3. ROELANDTS Jurgen
    4. VANMARCKE Sep
    5. ROJAS José Joaquin

  33. cyclingfever missed listing 97 altogether.

    91 AMADOR BIKKAZAKOVA Andrey
    92 DOWSETT Alex
    93 ERVITI Imanol
    94 GUTIERREZ PALACIOS José Ivan
    95 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose
    96 MALORI Adriano
    98 SÃœTTERLIN Jasha

    97 ROJAS José Joaquin, Movistar Team included on procyclingstats.

  35. Threw the dice, read the tea leaves, and bled a chicken over the start list and came up with this.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Boonan
    2. Sparticus
    3. Sagan
    4. Rojas, Jose
    5. Boom, Lars

  36. VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter Sagan
    2. Tom Boonen
    3. Edvald Boasson Hagen
    4. Greg Van Avermaet
    5. Fabian Cancellara

  37. Is Boonen racing? CyclingFever lists him but Procyclingstats doesn’t.

    Will BMC manage to get their chain to stay on the bike long enough for Van Avermaet to finish his sprint? If you saw the http://cyclocosm.com/2014/03/how-the-race-was-won-milan-sanremo-2014/ it’s pretty clear Van Avermaet was in a great position, and then something happened to his chain… There’s a bit of a pattern of that happening on BMC.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Degenkolb
    3. Kristoff
    4. Boonen
    5. Van Avermaet

  39. @RVester Aint it grand? Such a fantastic place. I like for the reasons you and Frank mention. I also like it because it’s forested and feels like when you get to the top there’s shit to do and check out up there. And the descent, the descent is the best of all the cobbled climbs.

  43. VSP PICKS:

    1. Tom Boonen
    2. Edvald Boasson Hagen
    3. Fabian Cancellara
    4. Peter Sagan
    5. Thor Hushovd

  44. VSP PICKS:

    1. Edvald Boasson Hagen
    2. Boonen
    3. Degenkolb
    4. Cavendish
    5. modolo

  47. @Marko

    @Marko

    @The Grande Fondue I hadn’t picked up on the Van Marcke Schleckanical. That sucked but makes my pic of him for this week all the better.

    Mmm.

    Though he remains on a BMC.

    Cuddles dropped out of 2nd at the 2013 Giro because of a transmission problem, and Tejay van Garderer lost the stage on Alpe d’ Huez after his chain got jammed.

    I like BMC bikes, and I own one. But that’s an interesting set of bad luck.

  48. VSP PICKS:

    1. Fabian Cancellara
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Tom Boonen
    4. Mark Cavendish
    5. Alexander Kristoff

  49. VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter Sagan
    2. Tom Boonen
    3. Ian Stannard
    4. Luca Paolini
    5. Tim Declercq

  50. VSP PICKS:

    1. Fabian Cancellara
    2. Tom Boonen
    3. Peter Sagan
    4. Ian Stannard
    5. Alex Kristoff

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.