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
@Steampunk
Frank is biding his time, keeping his powder dry, keeping the big guns in their holsters until the mountains rear their ugly heads and then . . . watch out, he will cut loose with a ferocity and independence that will stun the world and leave his challengers needing binoculars to see his skinny ass disappear up the road. Or maybe not. Maybe he'll sit in the bunch and try to counter the attacks of others who have the gumption to ride aggressively. We shall see . . .
@frank
Yeah, it's a great site, I followed the USPCC on it last year when I couldn't attend a stage. Too bad the TourTracker is only used for the big US stage races. I suspect it's got something to do with NBC Sports broadcasting rights.
@wiscot
There's a bit of a character issue for me here. On the one hand, he got dropped into the Giro at the last minute and might be forgiven for "having nothing to lose," but I wonder if there's a danger that that lack of pressure becomes a bit of an albatross and he buys into it too much himself"”much to his own detriment. He's lost a minute to main GC candidates over the past two stages, and it's not like he'll be able to recover it in the final TT. I'm sensing a degree of nonchalance, which was the Schlecks' undoing at last year's Tour"”too much head swivelling and not enough killer instinct.
@The Oracle
I think I saw on twitter this morning that the next stages at both the Giro & TOC have a 180 degree hairpin within the last kilo...just mental.
@Erik
I saw a photo of Ferrari the other day and the caption read something like "every good young sprinter makes one reckless move intheir career". It was expressed in a forgiving tone and got me thinking. There's masses of examples of sprinters switching lines or deviating / closing on the barriers. Seems to me that the armchair fan (like me) is pretty quick to comdemn without regard for 'heat of battle' and only when there's a crash involving a favoured rider. When everyone stays upright its a great sprint. If Cav gets taken out its nigh on assault. This year's Gent Wevelgem sprint is a good example. Lots of dodgy shit but no complaints.
I don't think Ferrari's move was a good one by any means. But watch it again. Cav wasn't exactly going straight - he's moving left just as Ferrari goes right. I actually can't see why Ferrari didn't go left himself. Which really just supports the notion that everything happens super fast and shit happens (every single sprint!). He's learned his lesson. I've moved on. He's looks the goods, got some good ego about him. And THE best name for a sprinter. I for one am looking forward to seeing some more...
So there!
@Steampunk
Too much Casually Deliberate?
@Erik
Mr Ferrari should have been watching the race in an armchair at home rather than winning a stage....
This is going to be an interesting weekend of racing. The next four stages are all mountainous to some degree. By Monday's rest day, the riders will have done 12 stages straight! I can't remember the last time that happened in a grand tour. Usually it's 6-7 stages between rest days. If someone still has the strength to go for it on Sunday, they could really blow the race apart.
@harminator
I'm not condemning him. And Cav is certainly not without sin (e.g. taking out Haussler). I think the difference is Ferrari, even after the heat of the sprint, was kind of a dick.
This comment brought in support of the keep the comments section full of discussion. Discuss: Is Ferrari a dick?
@Erik
Personally I'm going to say yes. I think he should have apologized. He should also apologize for violating rule 50. I mean to say, there's stubble and then there's that Catweasle-looking scraggly "beard" thing he sports. Scruffy bastard. Rik van Looy never raced looking like that; smooth face, smooth guns.