After a winter of long training rides that offered more in the way of numb extremities than it did in acute enjoyment, I have to say that the warming of the air and brightening of the skies have served to remind me that while I love riding in bad weather, I certainly don’t have anything against riding when its nice out.
But dont think for a minute that this quells my desire to watch the Pros battle the elements as well as each other and, quite frankly, after a Spring Classics campaign that gave us only fleeting tastes of Rule #9 Glory, I welcome the arrival of the 2012 Giro d’Italia which holds the distinction of being held in the worst weather and over the worst roads. Come July, I’ll get just as wound up as anyone about the biggest racing spectacle of the year, but in my heart, the Giro d’Italia is the best Grand Tour of the three.
All that said, I’m a little disappointed to see that the Giro starts in Denmark. Not that I have anything against Denmark – lovely place – it’s just that this choice takes us away from the classical Giro opening week involving a mountaintop finish or two and gives us a Tour de France-style opening week of flat stages and crosswinds. We’ll have to wait almost two weeks before we start seeing the riders cross the highest passes and hitting the uphill finishes, though the final week does appear to set us up for considerable fireworks as the second-last stage will see the riders cross the Mortirolo and finish atop the Stelvio.
What does this mean for the VSP? Quite a bit, actually. Bearing in mind the changes we’ve made to the Rest-Day picks from the years past, it means that as the race settles out, those who have made changes to their lineup on the first rest day will not have the opportunity to do so again on the second rest day. And, those who wait for the second day will see steep penalties tallying up against their totals. But on the line is a Symbol Pack, the chance to post for the rest of year with the Maglia Rosa VSP Badge and, of course, the grand prize of the personalized Shop Apron. Check the start list and with any divine beings that you might be able to influence, and then get your picks in by the time the countdown timer goes to zero at 5am Pacific on the 5th May.
For reference, please review the new Grand Tour scoring and penalty guidelines. Also note that since these new rules required new coding and this represents the first Grand Tour, there is always the chance that there are defects in the code. Watch your picks and your points as we move through the event and alert us of any anomalies. If your points seem wrong, use the dispute function to alert us of the matter; complaints in the posts feed to this effect will be ignored. Finally, don’t leave anything to the last minute so we have time to fix any problems before its too late. Good luck.
Scoring:
Readers who wish to enter shall enter their predictions for the top five placings on General Classification of each Grand Tour by 5am on the day of the first stage or prologue.
Points
Points will be scored as follows: 20 points for first place, 15 for second, 10 for third, 7 for fourth, and 5 for fifth; plus 3 points per rider in the top five regardless of the rider’s placing, but riders are not scored twice.
Changing of the Picks*
Contestants are allowed to make line up changes on one of the rest days of the Grand Tours but not both. These changes will come with a point penalty. You will be allotted one (1) rest day to make swaps in grand tours. You pick either the first or second rest day. The penalties for swapping will be lower for the first rest day than the second. This will allow you to swap out a rider(s) who gets caught in some first week nervousness with a 5 point penalty for each swap. Or make some go for broke/doomed to fail break-away swap on the second rest day for a 10 point penalty per swap. You make one swap or five on either rest day for the corresponding 5 or 10 point penalty per swap.
Additionally, if one of your riders crashes out, DNF’s, or DNS’s, you may swap them out on a rest day with corresponding penalties if you haven’t already used up your one rest day swap. The only exception to this is riders who are booted from a race for a positive test; if your rider is on the juice and gets chucked off the race, you get a free swap of that rider within 24 hours of the disqualification.
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View Comments
VSP PICKS:
1. Kreuzinger
2. Scarponi
3. Basso
4. Purito
5. Cunego
@frank
Why yes. Yes I have.
My point is that the prism we look at everything through colours our experience.
Of course, in the past few years, the Spaniards have had some suspected and proven dopers. It appears that through the Valverde saga, there was a complicity that ran to the highest levels primarily based along Nationalistic lines.
Similarly Astana and a cohort of riders from the Eastern Bloc countries have had some positive tests, both high and low profile.
So, the question is this;
Do we allow past experience to cheapen the entire sport by calling into question any result that doesn't come from what we may describe as a "Pedigree Rider"?
I would rather be open to the idea that the Iglinskis of the world are fucking hard workers who have finally got their opportunity and taken it by the balls.
That's the beauty of cycling to me. Everyone, if they work hard enough and has the requisite talent, has a chance. If I began to believe that every left field victory was subject to doping, I might as well start watching fucking Aussie Rules football.
@Netraam
Yep. Liquigas are saving Nibbles for le Tour. 1 week of doing his own thing at ToC must be better than riding your home tour and not trying. He's training properly.
What will be interesting is whether Basso rides le Tour in "support" (which could be risky for Nibbles, especially Basso fails at the Giro), or whether he just goes to the beach.
For me Scarponi wants to win this on the road but will again come second to J. Rod. Basso is still going to hang on but won't be good enough for 1st spot. Kreuziger will shine despite the team, and Elder will be too busy looking back over his shoulder to see where the younger is (yes I know he is not racing) to worry the front runners.
Rider was going in the picks, but just misses out in 6th spot.
VSP PICKS:
1. J. Rod
2. Scarponi
3. Basso
4. Kreuziger
5. Elder Schleck
@Oli
That is right, since they've been chucking Massif Central in there again its been much better, and the little digs they were taking in Brittany last year were awesome.
But there again, somehow even last years Tour, which was the best in ages, didn't have the same up/down rollercoaster ride as the Giro gives. I mean, Voekler in yellow for 10 days or whatever it was was testament to that - everyone was intimidated by the terrain and raced cautiously until Schleck too the hail mary which was when the race went from good to great.
Somehow, the Giro manages to have people vying for it all the way through - people are taking chances, look to have it in the bag, and then blow their doors off and someone else takes over. The riders are of a lower caliber, but they've got less to lose and don't get scared off as much.
All that aside - and as much as you're right that Prudhomme is doing better at designing a good Tour, France is bigger and has more vast areas of flat to cover than Italy. Between France, Italy, and Spain, Spain is the worst off in this matter, but Italy is best off - they have mountains everywhere, a narrow geography with little choice other than to go over mountains and bumpy terrain, and just the right mix of talent to keep things crazy.
But who cares? @Ron is fucking onto it. Bike racing, baby! I'll take it all!
@mouse
Ah yes, I think you and I have been down this road before. I prefer clean racing, but clean or not doesn't really cross my mind when I'm watching the race - I just get caught up in the excitement of a great bike race and can't get enough of it. In the end, I just want some good racing and something to get excited about.
Niether you nor I are in a position to say if they are clean, if its possible or not, or any of that - we're not in the system so we don't have the facts. What's important is that you love bike racing; enjoy it however makes you happiest is what I say.
Then just be open enough about it to get into discussions about it and have a laugh.
As for doping, I've got my view and it's that the sport seem(s/ed) cleaner than it has been in ages. The Spaniards, though, have through the nineties and 2000's consistently shown to be dopers and have the most lenient position against the matter nationally; just take not only Puerto, but the Contador case. Imagine that same scenario in Germany. That doesn't do a lot for a nation's credibility in my view. I suspect there might be a cultural thing there.
And for Astana, they're getting painted with the brush of suspicion possibly unfairly but not unreasonably. While I suspect they're on the sauce, I absolutely don't rule out the possibility that they just nailed it. If they are pure and did what they did, my hat goes off to them 100%. Fucking awesome.
But really.
Fuck it, I've always had a soft spot for Basso & I reckon he'll use the first week or so to ride in to form for the last week...change up time.
VSP PICKS:
1. Count Basso
2. Grimpelder
3. Scarface
4. Roman the Cross
5. Jose Rujano
VSP PICKS:
1. Basso
2. Cunego
3. Pozzato
4. Nibali
5. Scarponi
Enrico Gimondi would be a sure pick for 20 points, alas he's not on the start list, so I'll go with the following:
VSP PICKS:
1. Scarponi
2. Hesjedal
3. F. Schleck
4. Uran
5. Basso
VSP PICKS:
1. JRod
2. Scarponi
3. Kreuziger
4. Hesjedal
5. De Gendt