Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2012
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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Taylor’s bridge back up to the bunch was a beautifull bit of riding, by the way. And no panic, just sorted his mess out and got on with it. Fantastic stuff, bright future for this one. Can’t wait to see him win Roubaix.
Woah, that pink & black BMC frame sure looks sharp! And never though red & pink would look good together, but MiniPhinney’s kit was pretty nice looking too.
What about Geraint Thomas as a GC hope? Doing too much other work? Seems to me like he’s a strong all-’rounder but most of us overlooked him the VSP picks. And yeah, what about Sagan. I know he’s young, but seems like he can do a bit of everything as well. I guess he’ll be riding mainly to support Basso though.
@RedRanger
I don’t know if he has GC hopes, he just strikes me as a rider who could be a contender in a couple of years time. He’s got the talent, and with more time, who knows?
@frank
Truth be told, I think there’s been a lot of ink spilt on Sky’s “dilemma” when we don’t even know how it will go down. So Cav doesn’t have the whole HTC train at his disposal; he’s still going to win more than his fair share of sprints (name one team that had a better than average train last year that wasn’t HTC””that’s why they were so dominant: best train and best sprinter). Similarly, Wiggins might need a bit of help in the high mountains, but surely they can spare two or three guys for that. If he’s on the podium in July, it will be because he TT’d the fuck out of the rest of the GC aspirants anyway.
True: it’s rare to fit a top sprinter and top GC candidate into the same team with good success, but I don’t really see much competition for Cav out there when he’s on form (it will be interesting to see what kind of squad the Aussies bring and whether Goss takes aim at green) and once things go vertical, few teams have a whole outfit dedicated to the mountains. Sky has a nice array of strong, useful bits, which may find their way into the train and to provide some climbing help…
Too: is it just me, or are there fewer compellingly strong teams this year than last year or the year before? Leopard looks crippled; Garmin looks weaker; the Italians don’t inspire much; BMC didn’t give Evans a ton of help; etc. Should make for a better three weeks of viewing, perhaps.
@Steampunk
I still don’t get why people think the TTs will matter that much more. In 2007 we had 100 km of TTs as well, which ended with Contador vs. Rasmussen and Evans behind. The climbers will need to attack more, which I think is a good thing.
Not sure these Oakley’s are Rule Compliant:
@Netraam
That’s three pretty good TTers at the top of the GC. Laugh if you must, but Rasmussen put in a stunningly good TT in 2007 before getting bounced. To put it in perspective, Phinney put 59 seconds into Frank Schleck yesterday over 8.7km; stretch that out over 100km and you have a 10-minute margin. The Schlecklets don’t climb that much better than Wiggins or Evans. But you’re right: les grimpeurs will need to attack in the mountains and that should make for good racing.
@Steampunk
In the first time trial of 2007, Vino originally won. Evans was 1:14 slower, Contador 2:18 and Rasmussen 2:55. Though that is a good time trial, it also means that Contador wasn’t as good back then as he is now. To put it into perspective: Garate (Also not a really good time triallist) finished 15th, 3:12 down.
That time trial only mattered to the GC men.
Also something: what are you calculating with? The Schlecks are notoriously bad at prologues but relatively much better on long time trials. 6 minutes at most, 3 minutes if Andy finds his 2010 legs. He took 2 minutes in 1 stage last year, now he’s supposed to do the same thing on multiple stages.
The vid with his mom is great also for Och. How cool is it that he was there for Davis and now Taylor. I’m really happy for that dude. Awesome career and not bad for a blue collar guy from Wisconsin.
@Steampunk
Thank Merckx this stuff isn’t governed by linear mathematics! Cycling would SUCK!
@marko
Och has been there at every step of American Cycling. We might need to do a special tribute for him; the guy is a cornerstone of what we’ve achieved.
I’m nursing a major man crush on Taylor at the moment, with how he fought to get back on after his crash today; stupid mistake, but he didn’t panic and just went into hardcore TT mode and cut the gap in half before a teammate came back. Showed a really cool head. Tough guy, good, solid family around him. Fucking stocked at the prospect. The vid also reveals how he targeted this and worked to it with full commitment. This wasn’t an accident. He planned it, executed the plan.
AWESOME.
@Pedale.Forchetta
Pretty sure there were murmurs of discontent between Nibbles & Sagan at one of the middle eastern tours earlier this year, plus I’m not sure how much of the decision to send him to the Tour instead of the Giro was his choice.
@Steampunk
Regarding Sky, Cav and priorities: their lead out train wasn’t in full effect yesterday, just Thomas, although the team had put plenty of work in beforehand. In fact it was a very scrappy (and exciting) finish as it looked for a while like Cav was boxed into the bunch coming into the final kilometres. Perhaps the Giro is about fine tuning this approach given that they don’t apparently have a genuine GC contender with them (GO Rigoberto!)
@Jonny
Cav doesn’t need a leadout. He’s shown that time and again.
Anyway, he’s still got Wreckshaw, just in different colours. Rabo have been getting in good position but without a super fast finish. Cav can join the orange train and jump when Renshaw jumps. He’s easily a length faster.
@harminator
He’ll have to battle for that wheel. Wreckshaw is now the leadout of The(o) Bos(s), who took down Daryl Impey in the tour of Turkey a couple years ago.
Hi, I’m the Velominati Theo Bos fan club. Theo Bos chzeck my Palmares. That crash, while it looked bad, it was Bos trying to avoid being ridden into the barriers, and not as malicious as it could seem.
Have just seen the stats of everyones picks and now have a huge case of monophobia. Come on Pinotti!
@minion
I know, but he sometimes uses that reputation.
After being online for nearly 25 years, you’d think I’d know better than to post my email address. Did you know you can get high-quality cycling clothes from Somalia?
Phinney down, stays down on the road. I hope he’s OK. Crashed in the sprint, after Cavendish was floored by Ferrari.
Gossy at last! Great lead out for him. Shocking move from Ferrari. Goss had it won to my biased mind
Shocking luck for Phinney.
They should suspend a rider for shit like Ferrari pulled. If he did that in a club race he would cop a holiday
That guy who bunny hopped Cav…wow! And the one who scooted right around his head. Amazing handling!
Looks like a selfish Ferrari has ruined it for Phinney. Good ride by Goss.
What ever happened to hold your line?
@Marcus
Damn straight. He’s fucked a lot of people up there.
Someone needs to go and key that Ferrari!
Good lord. Farrar takes out the red and the pink jersey with one boneheaded move. Cav was just putting it into overdrive.
Shit luck for Phinney. Cav walked away from it; Phinney stayed down for a while–looks pretty bad. Hope it’s nothing serious and that he’s back in the peloton tomorrow.
It was Favilli with the brilliant bunny hop
Whoops, and by Farrar, I obviously meant Ferrari.
Now I’ve calmed down a little. If he isn’t sanctioned officially, a member of the Velominati must be despatched to the team hotel wearing perfectly fitting Sacred Garments, helmet and eyewear. They must take with them an envelope addressed to Seniore Ferrari, sealed with wax with the V Cog impressed into it. It must be handed over in person and no conversation entered into. Inside would be a small card bearing two simple inscriptions: on one side it would state “Rule 59” in the Obey the Rules font; on the other “You fucktard”. The courier will have vanished into thin air by the time the recipient has digested the message and looks up to seek further wisdom.
Or he’ll probably be lining up for the next stage…
Watching it on a small window at work I couldn’t quite see what he did, but did Cav get run over twice? Hope Phinney is OK.
@Sauterelle
Just supply them with your checking account routing number, right?
That deserves a punch right in the nose. Blatant asshatery right there. Sorry Tyler, I think you’re cool but that was a straight dick move.
That Ferrari was being handled by a rookie cyclist today. What an insanely unpredictable & dangerous move. Um, he had tons of room of the left as well, why cross all the way to the right?
As they were closing in on the line I saw all the jockeying & crazy moves and thought I saw Cav sit up thinking, “Too much craziness, crashing isn’t worth it today, a lot more stages ahead here and in France and London…” And then he got smashed into and run over & had to walk across. I’d be very, very angry if I was him.
Not good for Phinney. Amazing how much can change in a split second with a crazy, dangerous move.
Boy, that was some Cat V club race bullshit move by Ferrari right there. He better get fined big. Any news on Phinny?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r84n6SMDKQQ
I don’t speak Italian, but the common taters seem pissed during the review.
Here’s some good footage (Russian, I think) of the finish today. Cav was well placed for at least a top 3 finish. Ferrari should be ejected. No doubt about it. There has to be serious consequences for shit like that that can ruin months of prep or even a career. Relegating him to last is meaningless; Ferrari likely won’t finish in the top 50 overall.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/07/team-sky-mark-cavendish-giro-ditalia
Oops. I thought that was farrar. I blame my iPhone screen as not speaking Italian. My apologies Tyler. Farrari deserves a punch in the nose.
So I’m reading that Ferrari has been relegated to 192nd place for the results of today’s stage and was given the same time as everyone else. Wow, that’s harsh and will really make him think about what he’s done.
BMC just tweeted that Phinney is heading to the Verona hospital for further evaluation and the web linnk in the tweet said that Ferrari was relegated to last place.
Stage 3: BMC Racing Team’s @taylorphinney headed to Verona hospital for further examination. http://bit.ly/Jjviur
http://www.bmcracingteam.com/grand-tours/giro-ditalia/news/datum/2012/05/07/bmc-racing-teams-phinney-survives-finish-line-crash/
@scaler911
If that’s autocorrect, I’m putting it on the list. If its intentional, you are a genius. Either way, its awesome.
@Jonny
You got some sarcasm on the screen.
What the hell was Ferrari thinking??!! I hope Cav and Phinney are alright – not seen anything definite on Phinney yet. Can the Keepers get a montage added to Rule #59 as well as Cav’s earlier misdemeanour?
@Jonny
The parcel should also contain a minipump with autoflagellation instructions.
@scaler911
Wow. That is absolutely insane sprinting. He should be tossed. Relegation is not even close to enough punishment.
Something tells me if he stays in the race he will be getting flicked on a daily basis …
@frank
I’ll clean that up when I’ve calmed down some more. Cav’s making a good point on his Twitter post that he’s been sent home from races where he was blamed for causing a crash. And Geraint Thomas also makes a good point that in other none contact sports, if you demolish a member of another team in an obviously reckless manner then you’d be removed from the immediate game and not be allowed to participate in others for a while.
Ham-handed finish — Foolari jerk!
@Mikel Pearce
Maybe he’ll crash into someone like Vladi Karpets elbow.
@wiscot
In that footage you can see quite well the guy (I think it was Elia Favilli according to CyclingNews) who bunny hopped Cav. That’s some bike handling! The whole incident is quite ugly, though.
@Marko
One can ony hope! BMC and the sprinter’s teams will be pissed. I’d stay away from Hincapie and the Sky boys if I was Ferrari. Renshaw commented on Twitter that he was sent home for less (and he’s right).
@scaler911
I didn’t at first, until his Nigerian brother (who’s a prince!!!) told me he desperately needed my help.