Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2012

Vittorio Adorni crosses the snow-covered Stelvio pass

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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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

King Clydesdale says:

May 1 2012 at 4:11 am

@scaler911

My pick for TOC would be Horner, especially with Levi out.

VSP PICKS:

1. Cunego, D
2. Schleck, F
3. Scarponi, M
4. Kreuziger, R
5. Uran, R
seemunkee says:

May 1 2012 at 5:17 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Scarponi
2. Basso
3. Schleck the elder
4. Kreuziger
5. Cunego
Buck Rogers says:

May 1 2012 at 5:55 am

@Marcus

@gaswepass

@scaler911
anaesthetists - the half awake administering to the half asleep. Be honest - how many Velominati posts have you made whilst in the OR?

You cannot really blame them, they are on the wrong side of the drapes. Nothing interesting over there, all the fun's on the cutting side!
huffalotpuffalot says:

May 1 2012 at 5:56 am

@scaler911

I'm going to throw this out there: Nibbles is doing TOC planning on shooting for the TdF? Anyone here think he has a chance? I know Cuddles isn't peaking yet, but he didn't seem to have that drive when I watched his Prologue TT at the ToR. And Clenbutador isn't going to be there, obviously. Will Cuddles rise? It seems pretty open to me this year. Discuss amongst yourselves.

The only thing that makes me think Cuddles can do the double is that this will be his last chance. I certainly think he is on the way down whilst others are rising like rockets. The next five years of the classics and grand tours are lining up to be a true renaissance of the sport. I see a lot more long breaks coming back into the sport....or maybe I am just dreaming.
huffalotpuffalot says:

May 1 2012 at 5:59 am

@All I dont know if any of your guys watched it but the Tour of Turkey was bloody awesome this year. The mountain stage was a killer and Gabrovski absolutely fking nailed it. Awesome grit your teeth and hang on stuff. If you have not seen the tour then watch the stage 3 mountain stage at least.
huffalotpuffalot says:

May 1 2012 at 5:59 am

@huffalotpuffalot

Oh and the commentary is top notch as well, worth it just for that.
marko says:

May 1 2012 at 6:00 am

@brett

@minion

@brett

I don't understand the notion that the Giro is the premier Grand Tour. I mean, any tour that Basso can win has got be second rate. Look at the picks, hardy a world-class field. And the Tour last year was some of the best GT racing we've seen for years. When was the last time the Giro held us captive for 3 weeks?

GTFO. I care more about the Giro than the tour. The Giro's the girl you go home with, rather than the stripper you leave at the bar which is what the tour is.By the way, congratulations on this NOT being 3 fricken pages of nothing but picks with no text, which is boring as shit. There should be a rule that you have to be actively involved in at least one, if not two, arguments on this thread to have your picks count.

Il Giro looks good on the outside, but when you get her home, things aren't what they seemed from the light of the neon bar. She has that Italian thatch going on and you just can't get past it. You try and deal with it, but the excitement is stifled time and again. Every two bit nobody stands a chance with her, and you have to mix it with these lightweights to get a look in, and when you do no-one seems to care or remember in a few more weeks.Le Tour is well-dressed, preened and sounds great when she speaks. She attracts all the big players because she has not only the looks, the reputation but also the substance to back it up. And if she knocks you back the first time, you will keep coming back, again and again until she is yours, or at least gives you enough of a chance that if her number one choice should be revealed to be cheating on her, then you step right in. No matter how skinny you are.

which (after seeing how you operate with the fairer sex on the KT) makes your reasoning and your actions contradictory. I'da pegged you for a Tour of Poland man myself.
Buck Rogers says:

May 1 2012 at 6:01 am

@Bianchi Denti

@scaler911

@RedRanger

@ChrisO
Good catch.

So who is actually gonna be there to help Schleck sr? Seems to be a week team to me. But what the hell do I know.

Good point.

Bruyneel.

and his "white lunch bags", unless Astana stole them all?
huffalotpuffalot says:

May 1 2012 at 6:08 am

I would actually like Grimpelder to win but I just dont think he has the team for it considering he will be a marked man but I will be happy to be proved wrong. Basso the Bastardo just looks like its going to be his, although i would be equally happy to be proved wrong there as well. Maybe MaScarponi can do something nice here and put a spanner in the mix for the others. Whatever the results I am looking forward to a great race and hopefully the chance for some real balls out solo attacks.

VSP PICKS:

1. Bastardo
2. A lod of old Poni
3. Freddy Kreuziger
4. Grimpelder
5. Hesjedalicious
Nosyt says:

May 1 2012 at 6:09 am

All aboard the Astana bandwagon...

And as much as I want to believe that Hesjedal has a top 5 in him, I'm not buying what JV is selling. As much as it pains this Canuck to not pick that Canuck, I need a shop apron and I don't think Weight of a Nation is going to help deliver it.

VSP PICKS:

1. Kreuziger
2. Cunego
3. Scarponi
4. Schleck
5. Rujano