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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@Ron
Cav tweeted he was just pissed at cocking up the sprint after being set up perfectly, congratulated Guardini for being quicker.
I remember reading somewhere a few years ago about Cav wondering what will happen when he’s not the fastest sprinter any more, I can’t recall if he had discussed it with Boonen or not but his name certainly came up in the conversation, it is going to be interesting to see what happens when Cav does lose his winning charms.
By the way, can we have a round of applause for the tubby little fucker for riding the third week? In the WC jersey, he would have been entirely justified to rack off home and prepare for the tour, after months (at least) of Cipo calling him fat and telling him he should ride the mountains to get into condition, it’s a majestic FU to Cipo for starters for doing it in the Giro, and I bet the Tifosi are stoked he’s still riding the bergs in the third week. It’ll only get better if he makes it through the whole tour and spanks everyone (who left the Giro) there as well. To paraphrase some english twit of a commentator from the DH world cup, how does he sit down with balls that big.
(Rouleur site) Anyone purchasing Herbie Sykes’ book Maglia Rosa: Triumph and tragedy at the Giro d’Italia from Rouleur before midnight Tuesday (May 29) will go into a draw to win a maglia rosa signed by the Giro winner.
@minion
Ecactly what I was thinking.
He’s gone up several levels in my estimation.
He’s showing us that he’s a tough little fucker.
@minion
I bet that he will reallt try to become a Classics rider, a la Boonen in about three years. Still win the odd sprint but will transition into a long distance one day classics guy. Not sure if he will be able to but I would not put it past him.
Boy, the Passo Manghen is dropping riders like flies so far
Go into a draw to win a maglia rosa signed by the Giro winner. Anyone purchasing Herbie Sykes’ book Maglia Rosa: Triumph and tragedy at the Giro d’Italia from Rouleur before midnight Tuesday (May 29)
@Tartan1749
Super surprised to see Intxausti already dropped. Thought he would be sticking around for a top finish. Mman, between todays next 70 k’s and tomorrow, the race is WIDE open. So wild to see guys cracking and just falling away.
Just saw an overhead shot of Gadret, looking strong. Of course he is all by himself without a teammate in sight.
Now I’m beating a dead horse but, oh well.
@erik
Hope he fucking flats!
Basso looks cool today with 30km to go…
Ryder looks good too.
ROMAN back from the dead! Let’s see if he can catch the leaders here. Doubt e can make any inroads back into the GC but that is riding with style!
Casar is riding damn strong today.
Roman is “On a mission from God” today! Wonder if his wheels will fall off at the finish?
Holy SHIT! Is anyone going to break? Pozzo looking vunerable!
Ryder attackes! this just gets better and better!
Frank has jinxed Basso. Ryder is riding the race of his life right now. Scar face shows he really is a GC rider
Fuck me! Basso cracking!!!
new rule or an amendment to one. Il Giro needs to be watched in Italian.
Mass carnage on the road today! Everyone is blowing except Weight of the Nation. Unbelievable!
Fuck me Roman’s not on holiday
AAAAAWWWWSSSOME!
OK, I spent the last few minutes bouncing like an idiot!!!
THAT is how you make a stage of a grand tour! I hope that the tdf organizers are taking note. And man, it’s not over yet as there is still tomorrow!!! Good Lord, can you imagine facing tomorrow after today’s stage???
Ryder just killed it! Tomorrow is a day for following wheels. So happy, even though the guy’s a Canadian.
Did anyone else see when Kreuzinger nearly fell off is bike after raising his hands in victory? Awesome.
And everyone was foaming at the mouth when they came over the line. Of course, Hesjedal was also smiling.
Nice. Tomorrow should be incredible!
Ryder! Killed it!
Updated standings, Skip takes the lead.
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@Buck Rogers
Hysterical. I’m laughing so hard at my desk other people are starting to wonder about me. Italians screaming and me laughing.
I love me a bike race that has all the pros falling off at the finish.
@frank
Humm, all my pick slots show the top of Phil Anderson’s head in them without any actual writing of my picks? Maybe i killed my computer,and the site, by screaming into it for the last 30 minutes?
@Buck Rogers
Use the dispute function.
@Erik
Yeah, i’m the type that doesn’t hold a grudge or anything. How unbelievably fucking incredible was today’s stage??? Man, just overwhelmed. I am exhausted right now, need me a transfusion before i can get the energy to follow tomorrows stage!
@RedRanger
Ha! I dispute that i picked Phil Anderson’s head for all my top five placings!
Scarpone has this look about him, like he is older than he is. reminds me of the riders in earlier days of the sport. He was most definitely done at the end.
@Buck Rogers
I just trying to prevent sir frank from raging.
I actually thought that DOmenEEEco Pozzivivo looked pretty fresh at the end. Most were falling off, grabbing the fence, getting held up. Heck, Ryder even had his shoes off and was on the ground! (is that the tennis scene from Royal Tennenbaums where Luke Wilson takes his shoes off and retires?)
But the Littlest Prince looked alright. Hmm, a sign for tomorrow?
@frank
I can see my good standing in the Giro plummeting as quickly as Rodriguez’s chances of holding onto the Maglia Rosa.
Y’know: for a guy who’s carrying the weight of a (pretty big) nation on his back, Hesjedal is climbing well for his weight.
@Steampunk
Ha! I’m so interested in what tomorrow will bring. What if The Hesjehog dug so deep today that he totally pops tomorrow and loses several minutes?
Then again, he might blow everyone out the back again. The race for pink is still on! So awesome.
From what I can tell, if Rodriguez finishes 4th or higher tomorrow, he’ll win the points jersey (assuming Cav doesn’t score). If Purito wants to win overall, he’s gotta bust his balls to distance Ryder as the Wolfman will take time in the final TT over him.
Man, I am so pissed at Ferrari and Pozzato right now. They have, IMHO, likely cost Cav the red jersey due to their stupidity/carelessness.
Basso will start another real show at the Tour de France. This is a great trial by fire.
Tour de France LIQUIGAS\CANNONDALE has business: BASSO, NIBALI, OSS, SAGAN
@versio
I wonder how accurate that start list is. it has both andy and frank starting but no jakob.
@RedRanger
see? only Spartacus is certain at this point
@RedRanger
While no cycling news website, it does give us some promise.
@RedRanger
Preliminary shuffle of the start deck.
@wiscot
Yup, fourth or higher and J Rod gets the piints jersey. Are there any intermediate points tht Cav could pick up tomorrow before the climb starts a la Thor style?
Dammit. My only hope is that Basso pumps Scar pony like a fluffy little chihuahua and gets onto the podium after the TT: I was waiting for Ryder to crack after spending too much energy but it hasn’t happened and chapeau to him.
I really hope the riders who rode the Giro tear the shit out of it at the tour. School those other pussies who sat it out and ‘prepared’. Liquigas looks the mutts nuts, BMC had better have some tricks up their sleeves. THe Schlecklets have to step up or get a pay cut I reckon, and if they end up on different teams and had to race against each other, that would be hilarious.
@minion
Believe in Basso. Or drink to his honor and merit anyway.
Relevant:
@minion
They would still be glued together I reckon, so totally hilarious. Am I wrong in thinking that Frank would probably be able to handle it, but not Andy? Frank seems like Andy’s handler almost.
Who would have thought that the weight of Bruyneel’s team would rest on Zaugg. I say make him TdF captain.