Velominati Super Prestige: Giro D’Italia 2013
Twiggo is dreaming of a Giro-Tour double. He has sent out mixed messages about his Tour ambitions. Will he use the Giro as the ultimate Tour preparation or will be burn all his matches in May and hope he can find another pack for July? He has abandoned his successful 2012 Tour run-up strategy of winning every stage race he entered the previous spring. Now it’s the seclusion of Mount Doom of Tenerife, his coach and his watt meter his only competition. Team Sky is supporting Wig with a very strong squad, including superman, Kanstantsin Siutsou and with Cav no longer a teammate, it’s all the knights of the round table for Sir Twig.
Will the curse of the god-awful Astana kit continue to haunt non-Kazahk riders? Can Vincenzo’s Italian mojo overpower its powerful pale blue and yellow aura? Roman Kreuziger was finally able to win a big race once he shed that kit and pulled on one of Bjarne’s Saxo jerseys. Maybe it was more Bjarne and less jersey that made the difference.
Ryder gets no respect as the defending champion. His little dance at the end of Liége-Bastogne-Liége showed he is fit and ready for a fight. He can time trial, he can climb. Personally I have to back the local boy. And I always hate the overpowered, overwhelming favorite (read Team Sky here) in any race, unless that racer is Fabian Cancellara. No one can say Fabs has won a race this year surrounded with a team as strong as Sky’s. The Shack is just the Shack or a shack. Once Cancellara leaves for the Swiss “I AM” team, it’s lights out in the shack. Frandy, don’t forget to turn out ’em out when you leave.
If Cavendish wins the first day’s sprinter’s stage he will be in pink. He may be out of it after stage two, a team time trial.
But this is the Giro: crazy, unexpected, beautiful things can happen. The spinning wheels of fortuna are less predictable in Italy as they are in France in July. The betting window is now open. The complete start list is not yet available, an incomplete one is here and shall be updated soon. So sleep on your picks, wait for all the teams to make it official, unless you want to go with the obvious all Sky podium. The race begins Saturday so don’t Delgado away a Grand Tour opportunity.
[vsp_results id=”23343″/]
VSP PICKS:
1. Hesjedal
2. Wiggins
3. Nibali
4. Gesink
5. Henao
VSP PICKS:
1. Wiggins
2. Nibali
3. Intxausti
4. Hesjedal
5. Gesink
@frank
and talking of demented…Gesink, really?
VSP PICKS:
1. Wiggins
2. Nibbles
3. Hesjedal
4. Scarponi
5. Sanchez
Sadly Nibali to beat Wiggo. Hesjedal to be best of the rest. Scarponi leads at some point, but looses time on the TTs. Henao is sky’s well placed back-up… Or thats my guess…
VSP PICKS:
1. Nibali
2. Sir Wiggo
3. Hesjedal
4. Scarponi
5. Henao
VSP PICKS:
1. Vincenzo Nibali
2. Bradley Wiggins
3. Ryder Hesjedal
4. Cadel Evans
5. Michele Scarponi
VSP PICKS:
1. Hesjedal
2. Nibali
3. Wiggins
4. Henao
5. Scarponi
Is there a prize for the hardest-to-map picks? I thought my top 3 were pretty bad, but some are positively artful
@Al__S
Yes, in the form of it not being mapped at all and you getting zero points.
VSP PICKS:
1. Nibali
2. Scarponi
3. Wiggins
4. Ryder
5. Polini
Lots can happen in 3 weeks……the ability to move riders on the rest days will be closely monitored. Now that the picks are submitted and it’s Friday, let the carbo loading begin. But first, a drink…..
VSP PICKS:
1. Nibbs
2. Wiggo
3. Red Ryder
4. R. Gesinko
5. Sharponi
VSP PICKS:
1. Nibali
2. Wiggins
3. Hesjedal
4. Sammy Sanchez
5. Henao
The fuck do I know, I’m just rabbiting Velonews’ picks. There ought to be some sort of Jersey/badge of ignorance for punters who do that. (gimme gimme gimme!)
VSP PICKS:
1. Wiggles
2. Ryder
3. Nibbles
4. Cuddles Cadel
5. Van Garderen
VSP PICKS:
1. Nibali
2. Wiggins
3. Scarponi
4. Hesjedal
5. Samuel Sanchez
Decisions, decisions that 10 point hit for a second rest day swap is huge. How am I supposed to get anything done before say 10am over the next 3 weeks.
VSP PICKS:
1. R. HESJEDAL
2. B. WIGGINS
3. V. NIBALI
4. S. SANCHEZ
5. E. CAPECCHI
I don’t think Wiggins will pull off the win because the Giro isn’t 3 weeks against his power meter.
VSP PICKS:
1. Hesjedal
2. Nibali
3. Wiggins
4. Scarponi
5. Sanchez
Looking forward to this!
VSP PICKS:
1. Nibali
2. Wiggins
3. Hesjedal
4. Gesink
5. Henao
VSP PICKS:
1. Nibali
2. Wiggins
3. Hesjedal
4. Scarponi
5. Henao
VSP PICKS:
1. Ryder
2. Wiggo
3. Nibali
4. Scarponi
5. Gesink
TBR
VSP PICKS:
1. Wiggins
2. Nibali
3. Hesjedal
4. Uran
5. Scarponi
I got this one. I like watching Nibali race, I hope he makes it happen. Does Wiggins not pull it off without all the help, the split team?
VSP PICKS:
1. Sicilian Sensation Nibali
2. Wiggins
3. Ryder H.
4. Viviani
5. Uran Uran
VSP PICKS:
1. Hesjedal
2. Wiggo
3. Nibali
4. Betancur
5. Scarponi
Wiggo or Nibbles, Nibbles or Wiggo, Wiggo or Ryder, Ryder or Nibbles. Dammit, I can’t decide. What ever I do, I’ll probably hate myself for it later.
VSP PICKS:
1. Nibbles
2. Wiggo
3. Ryder
4. Scarponi
5. Cuddles
VSP PICKS:
1. Wiggo
2. Nibbles
3. Gesink
4. Montoya
5. Hesjedal
Well, I’m a Canuck. Shrug.
VSP PICKS:
1. Hesjedal
2. Nibali
3. Wiggins
4. Scarponi
5. Betancur
If right, I will wish I had wagered money. Except Hesjedal.
I am predicting Cobo to rise from the ashes. Would have also gone Contador and Valverde. Or Porte. It will be a year for the black sheep and upsets. Except Ryder.
VSP PICKS:
1. Hesjedal
2. Cobo
3. Evans
4. Nibali
5. Sanchez
VSP PICKS:
1. Wiggins
2. Nibali
3. Hesjedal
4. Scarponi
5. Domenico Pozzovivo
It will be the year of the black sheep and phoenix (Evans and Cobo). Wiggo will implode.
VSP PICKS:
1. Sicilian Sensation Nibali
2. Ryder H.
3. Wiggins
4. Viviani
5. Uran Uran
VSP PICKS:
1. Vincenzo Nibali
2. Ryder Hesjedal
3. Bradley Wiggins
4. Michele Scarponi
5. Sergio Henao
VSP PICKS:
1. Wiggo
2. Ryder
3. Nibali
4. Gesink
5. Sanchez
@Pedale.Forchetta
Me thinks Frank was consulted at the bike fit.
VSP PICKS:
1. Wiggins
2. Nibali
3. Hesjedal
4. Sanchez
5. Gesink
@PT
I live in hope that Saint Cadel moves one more step towards the right hand of Merkxx. I want him to do well in the Giro, but we’ll, we’ll, we’ll…..we’ll see.
i think he is trying to re-establish himself and get his team functioning beyond the abysmal level of the last years.
Never write him off.
To most of the field The Giro is the biggest race of the year. There is no way the Italians are going to let a non-Italian win two in a row. Just watch Wiggo and Ryder get worked over in the mountains. Watch them get worked over before the TT’s. Teams aren’t able to control the Vuelta and Giro like TdF. I can’t wait!
Whew…that is not easy. Fuck Beaker. I want Sky’s season to continue to suck DBs. How can Garzelli still be racing? And Scarponi allowed to race? Where is that Russian ex-Giro winner, where is he hiding? Gesink? Really Frank, fair enough, but my picking Peter Stetina is mo’ bettah.
I found a channel, BeIn Sports, if I throw money at it, tivo will record it at 3 am and I can waste a lot of May watching the Giro. Score!
I’ve Delgado’d myself. Son of a bitch. It’s not easy living 12 time zones away. Oh well, Ryder may lose and Beaker will win and I would get squat for points. My season was doomed already.
@Gianni yeah I’ve already put the hand up for the late night baby care as I figure I’ll be up watching the Giro anyway!
@Mikael Liddy
Hey, been away a bit but I wanted to say congratulations! Life will never be the same, but in the best possible way!
@Gianni
Jeez, Gianni, you Delgado’d? Say it ain’t so!
Beaker, yes, he sure as hell does look like him, huh?
Why isn’t De Gendt riding? What a day he had last year, what an overall race. A lot of the teams are stacked with riders I’ve either never heard of or have heard of but know nothing about. Going to be an exciting few weeks.
And yes, count me in on the “how the hell am I going to get anything done from 8-11 EST for the next few weeks” group.
Holy crap. Even in slo-mo that sprint was fast. Happy to see the wee Manxman get the win. Mind you, he had to do it on his own. Where was his train? Was it caught in the crash? Good placing for Blythe too. Mind you, until thee last 10kms, that was pretty boring!
Nice finish there, was really pullin’ for Minnie Finnie to create the upset but Cav was about as likely to lose to him as my chickens are to my puppy if I let her in the coop.
Remember, these are provisional results, so they don’t count towards the overal VSP GC until the race is finished in three weeks time. I am floored that anyone has any points, though – who put any of these riders in their top V for the GC?
@wiscot He had to come from pretty far back, wasn’t even in the helicopter shot from above. Like him or loath him he’s simply the fastest guy out there. Chapeau Cav.
@Gianni
I think its a new trend that whoever puts up the VSP is destined to Delgado it; this is the first one I managed to enter since, oh, well before you were born.
Happy Star Wars Day, everyone. May the Force be with you all.
@frank
@frank
That would be Gervais and Ron.
Shitty shitty mcshitster….I put up my vsp at the getgo to prevent the Delgado i also saw everyone posting about basso not riding but had put my picks in so early I forgot I picked him!
the only consolation is I finally subscribed to Eurosport and watched cavs ludicrously strong finish…not only is he fast…that was one hell of an early start to his sprint!!
@frank
The Force is strong in this one…
Cav is f.awesome! Can I get a bonus point for predicting he would take the opening stage – god knows I need all the help I can get?!! Just hope my overall picks are as accurate…though I very much doubt it.
@pakrat
His bike fit still looks wonky this year…you would thing a Giro winner would get a custom geometry.
@RManneck what’s wrong with it?
Stayed up late to watch the highlights after a 2100m ride mostly in the pain cave. Dozed my way thru the 4 days of Dunkirk but was wide awake for the Giro, love those grand tours. Defo worth the wait to see Cav dig deep to win and hilarious to see the bar bashing antics of the 1st loser.