Velominati Super Prestige

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2016

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare for the Giro, 2016, starting in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands and finishing in Torino, Italy. Here is a provisional start list. The riders make the race so it should be fantastic racing, a race up the whole of the country, for three weeks, what’s not to love? The Giro usually has a crazy stage and we are unsure what this year’s edition holds in that category, maybe more racing at night, or on dirt, bring it on. The Shark, Landa, Malmerde, Uran Uran, even Red Ryder, and more, each have a decent shot at the over all.

We all know the drill, this race starts on Friday so keep your delgado monkey on a tight leash. Consult your personal oracles; there are bike frames, carbon wheels, V-kit and more for the winners of the season-long overall VSP. Further details can be found on the VSP page. Bon chance.

[vsp_results id=”42800″/]

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459 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2016”

  1. @wiscot

    I hear you all, but alas, we live in an age of carefully planned blocks of training and racing. A rider’s whole season is carefully strategized and unfortunately this means riding some races to win, some for training and some for a bit of both. If you are a contender and have had a bad day or a sprinter whose stage opportunities are gone, I do see the rationale for quitting. I’m not saying I agree with it, but I understand it – especially if there are other goals for the season.

    A-Merckx man, since when did common sense and logic have anything to do with this?

  2. @dinosaurJR

    You going to let anyone tell you how to do your job?

     

    It’s all about Worlds and/or Olympics for these guys – what’s the point in dragging themselves over all those mountains and tiring themselves out unnecessarily with little to no chance of further stage wins when they can ease off and fight battles they can win later in the season? They’re just going to get eliminated anyway, most likely…Worlds in particular will be a race for the pure sprinter for the first time since Copenhagen so good luck to them, I reckon.

  3. @Teocalli

    Cipo did actually win the Maglia Ciclomino, as it was back then, three times in the 90s. It was the Tour and Vuelta he didn’t ever finish.

  4. @Oli

    Yeah I know but I was acting in the best traditions of journalism in not letting facts get in the way of a good story line………

    He was certainly economic with his efforts in the latter part of his career (if I remember correctly).

  6. I can’t agree with the proposed Rule, though.  It’s completely unenforceable.  I would be way too easy to fake an injury or illness.  And, as @Oli said, they would probably (certainly) be eliminated in the mountains.  “Sorry mates, just had a jour sans and couldn’t make the time cut-off.  Guess I’ll pack my bags and go home.”

  7. Quote of the day from Bob deLuxe: [On becoming more of a climber] “The thing is, I’m pretty convinced you can’t change your body. Either it comes with the years or I will continue like this. I consider myself a good bike rider and despite my weight I don’t climb badly.”

    In other words, I’m not too fat to climb, or, a new mantra for Velominati.

  8. @MangoDave

    I can’t agree with the proposed Rule, though. It’s completely unenforceable. I would be way too easy to fake an injury or illness. And, as @Oli said, they would probably (certainly) be eliminated in the mountains. “Sorry mates, just had a jour sans and couldn’t make the time cut-off. Guess I’ll pack my bags and go home.”

    Logic and rational thought have no place here.

    If their stage wins are forfeit they’ll make it over the Cols, or their teammates will drag them over for the point.

    The level of injury required for an exemption will require x-Ray’s showing visible separationor limbs dangling off and illnesses would be of a nature that require isolation. In short riding a grand tour would be preferable to faking ones way out of it.

  9. @Oli

    @dinosaurJR

    You going to let anyone tell you how to do your job?

    It’s all about Worlds and/or Olympics for these guys – what’s the point in dragging themselves over all those mountains and tiring themselves out unnecessarily with little to no chance of further stage wins when they can ease off and fight battles they can win later in the season? They’re just going to get eliminated anyway, most likely…Worlds in particular will be a race for the pure sprinter for the first time since Copenhagen so good luck to them, I reckon.

    In my head not making the time cut and being eliminated is more honorable way of leaving the race (that wont upset the organisers or the host nation) than simply throwing in the towel. Double super especially whilst in possession of the sprinters jersey.

    As others have said this is partially short sighted race planning, partly the way the sport has developed.

    It still gets on my tits though.

     

  10. @chris

    @MangoDave

    I can’t agree with the proposed Rule, though. It’s completely unenforceable. I would be way too easy to fake an injury or illness. And, as @Oli said, they would probably (certainly) be eliminated in the mountains. “Sorry mates, just had a jour sans and couldn’t make the time cut-off. Guess I’ll pack my bags and go home.”

    Logic and rational thought have no place here.

    If their stage wins are forfeit they’ll make it over the Cols, or their teammates will drag them over for the point.

    The level of injury required for an exemption will require x-Ray’s showing visible separationor limbs dangling off and illnesses would be of a nature that require isolation. In short riding a grand tour would be preferable to faking ones way out of it.

    Got it!  Very persuasive.

  11. @Oli

    @dinosaurJR

    You going to let anyone tell you how to do your job?

    It’s all about Worlds and/or Olympics for these guys – what’s the point in dragging themselves over all those mountains and tiring themselves out unnecessarily with little to no chance of further stage wins when they can ease off and fight battles they can win later in the season? They’re just going to get eliminated anyway, most likely…Worlds in particular will be a race for the pure sprinter for the first time since Copenhagen so good luck to them, I reckon.

    Oh come on, Oli!!!  You know that your statement makes way too much sense but misses the Heart of the Matter by a fucking mile!  We’re not here to discuss logic and they science and sense of pro racing, we;’re here for the mythos of it all.

    (jeesh, if Oli isn’t correcting horrible grammar then he is being too logical–maybe he’s our version of Spock on the V site???)

    @chris

    @MangoDave

    I can’t agree with the proposed Rule, though. It’s completely unenforceable. I would be way too easy to fake an injury or illness. And, as @Oli said, they would probably (certainly) be eliminated in the mountains. “Sorry mates, just had a jour sans and couldn’t make the time cut-off. Guess I’ll pack my bags and go home.”

    Logic and rational thought have no place here.

    If their stage wins are forfeit they’ll make it over the Cols, or their teammates will drag them over for the point.

    The level of injury required for an exemption will require x-Ray’s showing visible separationor limbs dangling off and illnesses would be of a nature that require isolation. In short riding a grand tour would be preferable to faking ones way out of

    Right there with you, Mate!

     

  12. @chris

    @Buck Rogers

    @dinosaurJR

    @sthilzy

    Same thought train as you! Enter race to finish race, unless injury takes you out. Refer to Rule #70

    Good knowledge of The Rules there. Injury, crowd barrier, well meaning but over zealous spectators, poorly piloted motor vehicles, acts of God, acts of Dog, etc.

    Acts of Frahnk?

    But Rule #70 does not really cover this. The sprinters are there to win sprints. So, one could argue that they are honouring Rule #70 b/c they are only there to win stages and if the race does not have sprint stages left, why continue to ride.

    Now I do not believe this, I think that they should honour the race by continuing until the end, but I am sure that is the thought process.

    This could be wrapped up in the same rule that outlaws rest day swaps:

    Rule #95 // Any rider, whether real or virtual, picked to ride a Grand Tour shall be expected to finish barring serious injury or other medical condition.

    Failure to complete a Grand Tour in lesser circumstances shall result in any stage wins being struck from the record books and automatic ineligibility for the next edition of the Grand Tour in question. Teams, real or virtual, allowing a rider to retire during a Grand Tour shall receive no World Tour or VSP points for that Grand Tour.

    Messrs Thomas, ten Dam and Hoogerland will be the final arbiters of whether an injury or illness qualifies for exemption

    Absolutely. If any of us is selected to ride a Grand Tour we should totally be ashamed to pull out after contesting a few sprints in the first week.

  13. @Teocalli

    [pedantic]Upon further research I’ve found that Cipollini last won the Giro’s points jersey in 2002, so towards the end of his Grand Tour career.[/pedantic]

  15. Hate to ruin some folks’ day but Hesjedal isn’t going to make a 3rd week comeback.

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

    1. nibali
    2. Valverde
    3. Zakarin
    4. Chaves
    5. Majka

  17. You guys are on it!

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Esteban Chaves
    2. Nibali
    3. Pozzovivo
    4. Uran
    5. Fuglsang

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

    1. Nibali, Vincenzo
    2. Chaves, Esteban
    3. Majka, Rafal
    4. Uran, Rigoberto
    5. Kruijswijk, Steven

  19. Fellow velominati, can I please seek some clarification on the rules around rest day swaps: I was under the impression that swapping out DNF/DNS riders carries no penalty, yet I got slapped with 20 points for swapping out Landa and Dumolin. Am I in the wrong?

  20. Kruiswijk for Dumoulin.

    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.

    and one this site unless you are Dutch you are always wrong.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. KRUIJSWIJK
    2. Mikel Landa Meana
    3. Vincenzo Nibali
    4. Rigoberto Uran
    5. Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio

  22. @piwakawaka

    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.

    and one this site unless you are Dutch you are always wrong.

    Ah! That must be it, reading ‘with corresponding penalties’ as ‘without corresponding penalties’ would explain it. I can’t even use the ‘I’m not Dutch’ excuse.

  23. Mmmm

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Nibali
    2. Chaves
    3. Dumoulin
    4. Hesjedal
    5. Uran

  24. I’ll try to salvage something by subtracting a Landa and adding a Chaves.

    Is Uran the biggest disappointment of the Giro? Quickstep must be thankful that Cannondale

    took him off their hands.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Nibali
    2. Chaves
    3. Valverde
    4. Uran
    5. Kruiswijk

  25. @Oli

    @piwakawaka

    You know Landa’s been out for days, right?

    yep, picked him and Tom one and two from the start, willing to spend 10 penalties with the chance of 10 points but to swap Landa costs another 10 penalties for a possible net 5 points so have to leave him.

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

    1. Nibali
    2. Kruijswijk
    3. Valverde
    4. Dumoulin
    5. Chaves

  29. @BarTapeMummy

    Fellow velominati, can I please seek some clarification on the rules around rest day swaps: I was under the impression that swapping out DNF/DNS riders carries no penalty, yet I got slapped with 20 points for swapping out Landa and Dumolin. Am I in the wrong?

    yeah, they used to allow a 24hr window after a rider pulled out to swap them at no penalty. Think it nearly broke @Frank trying to keep up with all the changes.

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

    1. Nibali
    2. Kruizwick
    3. Valverde
    4. Uran
    5. Majka z

  32. Chaves for Uran.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Nibbles
    2. Estaban Chaves
    3. Valverde
    4. Landa
    5. Tom Dumoulin

  33. Kruijswijk for Landa.

    Kruijswijk’s stroke yesterday was magnificent. Looked like he was spinning down to the shop for a bag of lollies not crushing the wattmeter.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Nibble Nobbys Nuts
    2. Kruijswijk
    3. Malmerde
    4. Majka the biker
    5. Chaffin’ Chaves

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

    1. Steven Kruijswijk
    2. Vincenzo Nibali
    3. Alejandro Valverde
    4. Davide Formolo
    5. Daniel Martinez

  36. Although I had previously posted initial entry results, they weren’t saved in the fields at the bottom of the page, so I have a sneaking suspicion I might be about to get slapped with a 50-point penalty…

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Steven Kruijswijk
    2. Nibali
    3. Majka
    4. Chaves
    5. Landa

  37. ok. so landa and doumulin are out, kruijswijk and chavez in.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. nibali
    2. valverde
    3. majka
    4. kruijswijk
    5. chavez

  38. Never going to recover from all those abandons. Come on Valverde, sort it out!

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Valverde
    2. Kruijswijk
    3. Nibali
    4. Dumoulin
    5. Uran

  39. well…this is my first VSP, not sure if the switch and losing points is better than no switch and not getting points.  Guess we will see.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. nibali
    2. KRUIJSWIJK
    3. chaves
    4. majka
    5. valverde

  40. n00b q’s: I Delgado’d at the start of this thing and see that I can now swap in riders… but at a 10 point penalty. Can someone confirm that if I were to do so, even if I did well with my picks, I’d still be looking at a loss of points on the over all VSP? Better to just sit out now, yeah?

     

  41. @Harminator

    @Harminator

    Kruijswijk for Landa.

    Kruijswijk’s stroke yesterday was magnificent. Looked like he was spinning down to the shop for a bag of lollies not crushing the wattmeter.

    I think the last time we saw someone looking that rock-solid going uphill was Wiggo in Tour of California 2 years ago. Looked like he was paralysed from the waist up.

  42. Swapping Landa for Chaves and Dumoulin for Kruijswijk. Which I am sure will bring me to a negative total score but we will ask Dutch professors to explain how that works in a TED talk.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Nibali
    2. Chaves
    3. Valverde
    4. Kruijswijk
    5. Majka

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

    1. Nibali
    2. Esteban Chaves
    3. Majka
    4. Valverde
    5. Uran

  45. So I can’t make any swaps because a swap was apparently recorded on the first rest day. Bummer, coz I didn’t actually swap any riders, nor the order, and I’m happy with my picks apart from the absent Landa, and would have swapped him for Kruijswijk.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Mikel Landa
    2. Vincenzo Nibali
    3. Alejandro Valverde
    4. Rafal Majka
    5. Domenico Pozzovivo

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

    1. Steven Kruijswijk
    2. Vincenzo Nibali
    3. Alejandro Valverde
    4. Rafal Majka
    5. Domenico Pozzovivo

  47. @stooge

    So I can’t make any swaps because a swap was apparently recorded on the first rest day. Bummer, coz I didn’t actually swap any riders, nor the order, and I’m happy with my picks apart from the absent Landa, and would have swapped him for Kruijswijk.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Mikel Landa
    2. Vincenzo Nibali
    3. Alejandro Valverde
    4. Rafal Majka
    5. Domenico Pozzovivo

    Scratch that. Oops, there it is. The front page said I wasn’t eligible, but when I scrolled down it was open.

  48. Swapping Mr K for Landa – would have been interesting to see how Mikel L went if he was well…Sky and Plan B!

     

    VSP Picks(2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Steven Kruijswijk
    2. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte
    3. Vincenzo Nibali
    4. Rafal Majka
    5. Ilnur Zakarin

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Mikel Landa Meana
    2. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte
    3. Vincenzo Nibali
    4. Rafal Majka
    5. Ilnur Zakarin

  49. @stooge

    @stooge

    So I can’t make any swaps because a swap was apparently recorded on the first rest day. Bummer, coz I didn’t actually swap any riders, nor the order, and I’m happy with my picks apart from the absent Landa, and would have swapped him for Kruijswijk.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Mikel Landa
    2. Vincenzo Nibali
    3. Alejandro Valverde
    4. Rafal Majka
    5. Domenico Pozzovivo

    Scratch that. Oops, there it is. The front page said I wasn’t eligible, but when I scrolled down it was open.

    Yeah, you have to also make sure you are signed in. If not, it’ll give you the message “not eligible to make swap”.

    VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

    1. Vincenzo Nibali
    2. Mikel Landa
    3. Alejandro Valverde
    4. Ilnur Zakarin
    5. Rigoberto Uran

  50. Ahh, good to see Gazprom riding so strongly! I’m sure they’ve made Putin happy. There was an NY Times story two weeks ago on a doctor who was behind the Olympic performance boosting. Two of the dudes colleagues…have turned up dead. Yikes.

    Going to be very, very interesting to see how Krooziewick handles this final week.

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