Velominati Super Prestige

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2015

This is the most exciting thing that’s happened in Cycling since April. Yes, that’s a full two weeks with nothing exciting happening and its been killing me. I know its been killing you, too.

I love the Giro, the master alchemist of bad weather and big mountains that keeps the racing exciting from the first day through the last. You can generally count on enough climbing in the first week to see the leadership bounce around like one of those singing ping pong balls on Sesame Street. The race has its fair share of provenance as well, with many a legendary battle fought between legendary riders.

This year’s race is also remarkable for the fact that a GC rider is not only racing both the Giro and the Tour, but for Contador’s publicly stated objective of doing the Giro-Tour double, a feat not matched since Pantani crushed it back in 1998. That is an awesome goal, I just wish it was a goal set forth by a rider I could get enthusiastic about. A quick scan of the start list has me wondering who is made of the same stuff Bertie, and I’m coming up short. Uran Uran and Pozzovivo are the standouts; and I have serious doubts about Porte being able to come up with the goods, not to mention my boy Ryder who, despite having actually won the Giro, does not inspire confidence in his ability to repeat the feat. It is looking like energy bars may be Contador’s biggest rival for the title, like in last year’s Tour.

Now that I’ve given you three paragraphs of useless drivel that you’ve probably already skipped over, I feel comfortable getting down to Road Tacks. This is the Giro, people, lots of points at stake. And those points are going towards amazing prizes including a Jaeger frame and a Café Roubaix wheelset. There is plenty of time for you to Delgado the thing, too, so my advice is that you avoid doing that. Give yourself enough time to enter your picks so if something has gone amuck, you have time to hit “reload” or come back V minutes later to try again before the event closes. Remember, your procrastination in this matter will not result in the only Keeper with database skills diving into the backend to enter your picks for you. (And if you do encounter a problem, please be so kind as to take a screenshot and upload it as the descriptor “it didn’t work” doesn’t help us debug the problem.)

The scoring for the Grand Tours is a tad more involved than the one-day races, so look them over before making your prognostications. (One of the best things about the VSP is that I usually get to use the word “prognostication”, an opportunity one should always relish.)

So get your picks in before the countdown clock goes to zero, hit the go button, and good luck.

  • Café Roubaix's CR Wheelworks Arenbergs

[vsp_results id=”32941″/]

Related Posts

Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s World Championship Road Race 2017

Sep 21 2017

Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s World Championship Road Race 2017

Sep 21 2017

545 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2015”

  1. @piwakawaka

    Let’s not confuse Henderson’s tweet for admirable omertà breaking testimony. It’s one thing to tweet suspicion and innuendo (circumstantially supported though it may be) its an entirely different thing to provide direct testimony of wrong doing to the appropriate authorities.

  2. probably not his best ever lead-out, but if guy’s start thinking the peloton might call then out for using drugs it could be even more of a deterrent than a testing regime that can’t even pick up micro-dosing, and I take your point, but his tweet out of frustration would probably say far more than some carefully measured piece of testimony delivered to the UCI.

  3. It’s not like none of us have ever said anything that we probably wish we hadn’t, amirite?

  4. Looks like Richie ain’t winning anything. 1:57 down on Kiriyenka after just 17km.

  5. This has been a thoroughly unpredictable race thus far. Many ups and downs before the big ups and downs. Great stuff.

  6. Four Sky riders faster than Porte today. Someone said fuck the GC. We’re hunting stages.

  8. @Harminator

    Four Sky riders faster than Porte today. Someone said fuck the GC. We’re hunting stages.

    yup, have a feeling he’s gonna phone in the rest of it (if he even does it) and concentrate on being in shape to help Froomie.

  9. @Mikael Liddy

    @Harminator

    Four Sky riders faster than Porte today. Someone said fuck the GC. We’re hunting stages.

    yup, have a feeling he’s gonna phone in the rest of it (if he even does it) and concentrate on being in shape to help Froomie.

    he should support Konig now @ 5.35, certainly he can save some matches for July but it would be great training!!

  10. @TommyTubolare

    if you’d bothered clicking on the link I put in point 5, you’d see it’s a story on cyclingtips written from within the peloton (albeit by an anonymous rider). To quote the relevant passage:

    The whole Astana situation is something that’s been the talk of the peloton for a fair while now. I for one haven’t got a clue what the UCI were up to when they allowed Astana to keep their licence. The team and their situation pisses so many people off; they’re a joke really.

    And as for Fabio Aru, well, I’ll keep my mouth shut. I’ll learn from the mistake made by Greg Henderson, a man I have huge respect for. To people who say the omertà is still alive and that riders should just speak out if they know something: get a grip. In this day and age throwing around accusations without evidence is tough; you can’t say anything for fear of getting sued. But I know after Greg Henderson put “that” tweet out many people made the effort to shake his hand and praise him for saying what he did.

    In terms of whether or not Henderson should have spoken out about it, I think he’s absolutely within his rights to do so. Given the ability of the UCI to deal with Astana so far this year, I can understand why making a comment via official channels perhaps didn’t fill him with confidence about something being done…

  11. @Mikael Liddy

    @TommyTubolare

    if you’d bothered clicking on the link I put in point 5, you’d see it’s a story on cyclingtips written from within the peloton (albeit by an anonymous rider). To quote the relevant passage:

    The whole Astana situation is something that’s been the talk of the peloton for a fair while now. I for one haven’t got a clue what the UCI were up to when they allowed Astana to keep their licence. The team and their situation pisses so many people off; they’re a joke really.
    And as for Fabio Aru, well, I’ll keep my mouth shut. I’ll learn from the mistake made by Greg Henderson, a man I have huge respect for. To people who say the omertà is still alive and that riders should just speak out if they know something: get a grip. In this day and age throwing around accusations without evidence is tough; you can’t say anything for fear of getting sued. But I know after Greg Henderson put “that” tweet out many people made the effort to shake his hand and praise him for saying what he did.

    In terms of whether or not Henderson should have spoken out about it, I think he’s absolutely within his rights to do so. Given the ability of the UCI to deal with Astana so far this year, I can understand why making a comment via official channels perhaps didn’t fill him with confidence about something being done…

    I agree that something doesn’t smell right with Astana, but does the UCI want to shut down a team featuring Nibali and Aru – two of the most exciting prospects in the sport? If Astana had folded, where were Aru and Nibali going to go? All the other big teams had their rosters filled and couldn’t absorb these two and heir salaries. That means the Tour champ is sitting unemloyed. Makes the sport look silly. It would be like Barca folding and Messi looking for a team mid-season.

    Follow the money. Teams have enough trouble attracting sponsors. Killing Astana will be very detrimental to the pro game as a whole. Sponsors might think twice about getting in. I’m hoping things will get better under Cookson (they could hadly get much worse than they were in the McQuaid/Verbruggen years) but I’m not hopeful. In pro sports, money rules bove everything else. Porte gets slammed for an infraction that he hardly benefitted from, but a dodgy team get the green light to continue.

  13. @LeoTea

    Looks like Richie ain’t winning anything. 1:57 down on Kiriyenka after just 17km.

    Yeah, I bet he will be packing his bags tonight. Even before he crashed he never seemed to be attacking Bertie. Maybe he was saving himself for the last week. Oooops. It’s the last week, time for Ryder to make his move and justify me picking him for 2nd place.

  14. @wiscot

    @Mikael Liddy

    @TommyTubolare

    if you’d bothered clicking on the link I put in point 5, you’d see it’s a story on cyclingtips written from within the peloton (albeit by an anonymous rider). To quote the relevant passage:

    The whole Astana situation is something that’s been the talk of the peloton for a fair while now. I for one haven’t got a clue what the UCI were up to when they allowed Astana to keep their licence. The team and their situation pisses so many people off; they’re a joke really.
    And as for Fabio Aru, well, I’ll keep my mouth shut. I’ll learn from the mistake made by Greg Henderson, a man I have huge respect for. To people who say the omertà is still alive and that riders should just speak out if they know something: get a grip. In this day and age throwing around accusations without evidence is tough; you can’t say anything for fear of getting sued. But I know after Greg Henderson put “that” tweet out many people made the effort to shake his hand and praise him for saying what he did.

    In terms of whether or not Henderson should have spoken out about it, I think he’s absolutely within his rights to do so. Given the ability of the UCI to deal with Astana so far this year, I can understand why making a comment via official channels perhaps didn’t fill him with confidence about something being done…

    I agree that something doesn’t smell right with Astana, but does the UCI want to shut down a team featuring Nibali and Aru – two of the most exciting prospects in the sport? If Astana had folded, where were Aru and Nibali going to go? All the other big teams had their rosters filled and couldn’t absorb these two and heir salaries. That means the Tour champ is sitting unemloyed. Makes the sport look silly. It would be like Barca folding and Messi looking for a team mid-season.

    Follow the money. Teams have enough trouble attracting sponsors. Killing Astana will be very detrimental to the pro game as a whole. Sponsors might think twice about getting in. I’m hoping things will get better under Cookson (they could hadly get much worse than they were in the McQuaid/Verbruggen years) but I’m not hopeful. In pro sports, money rules bove everything else. Porte gets slammed for an infraction that he hardly benefitted from, but a dodgy team get the green light to continue.

    Hammering a century ride up mountains in under 4.5 hours… after a couple of weeks of daily racing. And keep it up all week. WOW.

  18. So disappointing to see Astana showing such strength today, two weeks into a GT. To have one up the road with another three riding strong in the maglia rosa group felt like going back 15 years. The  concerns I had about legitimacy back then now manifest themselves as just feeling cheated. I’ve got Aru for 2nd in the VSP but loathe myself for doing so. The UCI needs to take a long hard look at itself. The thread earlier and particularly the comments from @Mikael Liddy are disappointingly spot on regarding the money, but what the fuck happened to integrity? Probably not the best time for me to be posting as the recovery beverages have flowed well tonight, but it feels like we’ve gone back to the dark ages with this year’s  Giro and I for one am feeling seriously let down. Don’t even get me started on that COTHO Vinokourov. In fact, might I suggest that for all Gunderson’s transgressions, surely @frank, COTHO2 should be entered into the Lexicon for Vino. This isn’t how I had my second favourite GT of the year ( Vuelta #1 ) mapped out.

  21. Time to limit the losses…

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Contador
    2. Aru
    3. Amador
    4. Porte
    5. Pozzovivo

  26. No idea what just happened with my picks.

    Note to self – Must take more care before hitting submit twice.  D’oh

  28. VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Bertie
    2. Fabio Aru
    3. Rigoberto Uran
    4. Pozzovivo
    5. Kreuziger

  29. @Mikael Liddy

    Porte nearly 30 minutes down today, I predict a chest infection & a return to the sunnier climes of Monaco shortly…

    He’s gone home, but not with a chest infection. Sky’s press release says their medical team advised him not to continue. Porte mentions that the fall on Friday resulted in a lot of pain on Saturday and Sunday.

    Porte quits Giro

  30. VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Contador
    2. aru
    3. Caruso
    4. Konig
    5. Ryder
  31. 1. 
    2. 
    3. 
    4. 
    5. 

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Contador
    2. Uran
    3. Aru
    4. KREUZIGER
    5. CARUSO

  33. Sigh: putting Landa in for Porte in third nets me exactly zero points. For shits & giggles:

    1. Contador

    2. Aru (so glad he got over his stomach bug)

    3. Landa

    4. Trofimov

    5. König

    These are not entries. I guess I can take some solace in the fact that none of saw both Uran and Porte coming undone.

  36. VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Alberto Contador
    2. Rigoberto Uran
    3. Fabio Aru
    4. Leopold Konig
    5. Andrey Amador

  37. I lost Pozzovivo and Porte and didn’t back Contador or Aru, with Uran out of the running. I really didn’t choose well and had bad luck. Full re-select in action!!

  38. @Teocalli

    @Geraint

    Wow, Astana were really strong today.

    Sarcasm I trust……………

    Yep. 5 blokes into the last 10k, all at the front, with only Sky and Movistar having more than one rider left (as far as I could see). Then three leading it into the last 3k with the lead group down to a handful. Wasn’t everyone else thinking “hang on a sec…” ?

    The Giro is my favourite GT, but this year I’m just not really enjoying it. How they can let that team ride after all the recent history, and then penalise Porte & Clarke for swapping wheels is beyond me. Pure anti-V moments.

  39. 2 out of 5 out, that didn’t go so well. Now bow to the inevitable with the one switch I can afford.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Contador
    2. Uran
    3. Aru
    4. Pozzovivo
    5. Zakarin

  40. HATE having 2 Ass-tana guys in my top 5. Let’s hope Rigo finds some form and Bertie continues to put the smack down.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Bertie
    2. Uran
    3. Landa
    4. Aru
    5. Pozzovivo

  42. VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Alberto Contador
    2. Fabio Aru
    3. Mikel Landa
    4. Rigoberto Uran
    5. Roman Kreuziger

  43. VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Contador, Alberto
    2. Amador, Andrey
    3. Hesjedal, Ryder
    4. Konig, Leopold
    5. Aru, Fabio

  44. VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Alberto Contador
    2. Richie Porte
    3. Fabio Aru
    4. Rigoberto Uran
    5. Roman Kreuziger

  45. I made swaps then changed my mind. Changed back to my originals but still have point penalties. Any way to undo the swaps & stick with my original five?

  47. Big changes for me. I’ll take the penalties as my first picks were crap and I need something to stay engaged in the VSP

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Contador
    2. Aru
    3. Koenig
    4. Trofinov
    5. Amador

  48. @JonnyG

    Jonny. You’re over-thinking the finish. We’re all in the same boat and there won’t be a change in the top 5 (of the VSP). Who could’ve known that Pozzovivo would crash out, that Uran would be down 12:00+ min. Of course, then there is Porte. 35 min? Really? We all KNEW that was going to happen, but we ALL drank the kool-aid. It’s going to be a good final week, sit back and enjoy.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.