Velominati Super Prestige: Gent-Wevelgem

Riders hoof it up the Kemmelberg

Rain. Cobbles. Bergs. Professional cyclists reduced to mortals who clammer up steep, slick cobbled grades on shoes not made for walking. Gent-Wevelgem is the teaser for the month of April, when the hardmen come to play on the stones of Belgium and Northern France. Personally, I liked it better when it was sandwiched between the two greatest one-day races of the year, De Ronde and Roubaix. On the other hand, Gent has been the Classic’s bridesmaid for long enough and deserves its own weekend, even if that still makes it a warm-up race to be won by someone who’s not enough weeks away from peaking.

The Flemish word for “hill” is “berg”, and to ask any cyclist who doesn’t live there, they’ll tell you Flanders is rife with them. The truth is that most of Flanders is quite flat, save for a ridge which calls itself home to some of the most fearsome cobbled climbs in the world. Among these is de Kemmelberg, which features as the primary obstacle for Gent Wevelgem. Steep and cobbled, on a dry day it serves as the decisive climb on the finishing circuit of three laps; on a rainy day it will reap havoc on the field.

With that, we kick off the second edition of the 2011 Velominati Super Prestige for Gent-Wevelgem. Like La Primavera, Gent is enough of a wild-card that this is a tough race to call. It rarely ends in a bunch gallop, but it’s not difficult enough to eliminate sprinters from the finale. The riders targeting Flanders or Roubaix will not quite be peaking yet, but the race isn’t so difficult that a rider two weeks from peaking can’t win. Our advice? Go with the gut, and try to pick people who are actually starting.

The winner of this VSP edition will earn an “Obey the Rules” bumper sticker and all reader’s points qualify towards the final prize of the free personalized Velominati Shop Apron. This year we’ve enhanced the entry mechanism; if you are inclined to enter, simply post your predictions for the top five placings in the designated area above the posts section, bearing in mind that entry/modification of picks closes at 5am Pacific time on the day of the race. Check the Super-Prestige main page for rules and scoring information.

Good luck.

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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View Comments

Collin says:

Mar 25 2011 at 8:47 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. Ballan
2. Chavanel
3. Flecha
4. Voeckler
5. Farrar
SterlingMatt says:

Mar 25 2011 at 9:54 pm

Thought I'd go way outside the box in an effort to get into the front echelon...

VSP PICKS:

1. Thor Husovd
2. Leif Hoste
3. Juan Antonio Flecha
4. Sergei Ivanov
5. Yoann Ofredo
ben says:

Mar 25 2011 at 10:07 pm

Late to the party again, so lets go nuts.

VSP PICKS:

1. haussler
2. de gendt
3. voeckler
4. leukemans
5. eeckhout
Brett says:

Mar 25 2011 at 10:30 pm

punish the pedals:
@Scuba Steve
C'mon you would be foolish to not have atleast 1 aussie in your selections! Is there nothing we cant win at the moment?

The cricket.

Might be a sign, the Kiwis could be fired up. And if you thought my Aussie Top 5 for M-SR was ridiculous, well... Rouly goes solo, Hendo picks up the gallop from the remnants.

VSP PICKS:

1. Rouly the Rouleur
2. Hendo
3. EBH
4. Free Air
5. Badger, Jr.
Marcus says:

Mar 25 2011 at 11:06 pm

So many options - the only certainty is that Australian dominance will continue

VSP PICKS:

1. Haussler
2. Boonen
3. Van Avermaet
4. McEwen
5. Goss
CJ says:

Mar 25 2011 at 11:23 pm

@Marcus
Haussler ain't starting bro.
Points out the guy with 0 points...

VSP PICKS:

1. Gilbert
2. Tommeke
3. Roulston
4. Hoste
5. Stuey
Minion says:

Mar 25 2011 at 11:26 pm

Brett:

punish the pedals:
@Scuba Steve
C'mon you would be foolish to not have atleast 1 aussie in your selections! Is there nothing we cant win at the moment?

The cricket.
Might be a sign, the Kiwis could be fired up. And if you thought my Aussie Top 5 for M-SR was ridiculous, well... Rouly goes solo, Hendo picks up the gallop from the remnants.
VSP PICKS:
1. Rouly the Rouleur
2. Hendo
3. EBH
4. Free Air
5. Badger, Jr.

Bump. I have absolutely no idea who's on form and who's not and can almost guarantee that the winner will be a million miles away from whoever I pick. So I'm going completely on instinct and personal preference and nothing on anything resembling fact or common sense.

Is Freire racing? Thought he was out injured.

VSP PICKS:

1. Ballan
2. Flecha
3. Haussler
4. Pettachi
5. some belgian
Minion says:

Mar 26 2011 at 12:02 am

Edit picks. Haussler for Hendy, and lets not forget unfortunately Barry Humphries is also a Kiwi. Sorry lads.

VSP PICKS:

1. Ballan
2. Flecha
3. Hendy
4. Pettachi
5. some belgian
olliewm says:

Mar 26 2011 at 12:10 am

Harder to pick than a broken nose...

VSP PICKS:

1. Thor
2. Flecha
3. Boonen
4. Gilbert
5. Chavanel
Marcus says:

Mar 26 2011 at 12:36 am

THANKS CJ - AUSSIE REIGN OVER

VSP PICKS:

1. Nuyens
2. Boonen
3. Van Avermaet
4. McEwen
5. Goss