Velominati Super Prestige: La Fléche Wallonne

Freddy Maertens on the Mur de Huy

La Fléche would perhaps be my least favorite classic, were it not for Gent-Wevelgem’s ill-timed bike-throw in their race for last place. It isn’t anything to do with the quality of these races themselves, but more to do with the company they travel in. Gent used to be sandwiched between de Ronde and Roubaix, just as La Fléche is between Amstel and Liege; it just happens that these are some of the greatest races in the world, and the bridesmaid never looks as good as the bride.

It’s a shame, too, because the Mur de Huy is an absolute brute and ranks as one of the most fearsome and recognizable climbs in the world. Almost a kilometer and a half in length with pitches of 20% and 25%, the climb is hit several times on the finishing circuit. Diabolically, the finish is placed at the top of the hill.

The finish favors a powerful climber who can time an uphill sprint to perfection. Think Nicole Cooke or Danilo Di Luca. Cuddles misfired on this finish several times before getting it right last year and giving the “Thumbs Up” sign. You could almost a weakening Clentador thinking as he was getting passed, “I’m not climbing well enough for my weight yet. Need to get me some Spanish Beef.” Experience always counts, but it’s critical here.

So on with the 2011 Velominati Super Prestige and the La Fléche Wallonne. As usual, the winner of this VSP edition will earn an “Obey the Rules” bumper sticker and all reader’s points qualify towards the final prize of the free personalized Velominati Shop Apron. If you are inclined to enter, simply post your predictions for the top five placings in the designated area above the posts section, bearing in mind that entry/modification of picks closes at 5am Pacific time on the day of the race. Check the Super-Prestige main page for rules and scoring information.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

heath says:

Apr 20 2011 at 9:36 am

...so much for my wild card.
mcsqueak says:

Apr 20 2011 at 9:50 am

Hmmm.. My 4th pick, Machete, was a reference to the film by Robert Rodriguez, and thus the rider J. RodrÃguez. I wonder if I should have gotten a point for that since he was in the finishing group?

Not that it really matters, I'm in 40th place or something horrible like that!
Mikeweb says:

Apr 20 2011 at 10:03 am

Eh, since I got a mistaken point for Andy, I would wind up with 2 anyway. Back of the pack fill.
frank says:

Apr 20 2011 at 10:43 am

@all
Disputed picks corrected; RedRanger, I had no clue WFT you were on at with the "Master" thing. Oh, and the double-quotes was what was messing up the posting bit and causing them to keep reposting. I'll work on that.

@Mcsqueak, I admire your creativity, but keep in mind that we go through and map 5 x n picks where n is the number of contestants, so we don't spend a lot of time thinking about what you could be meaning. That's why we built the "dispute" interface.

@others, there were some mis-mappings between the two Rodriguezesseses and the Sanchezesesesees so dispute away on those as well.

Great race, great finish. I've never seen someone go off like that and stay away. I was half waiting for him to blow, but at a certain point I thought, "man, he'll have to put it in reverse if he's going to lose this lead, even if he does blow."

Class.
frank says:

Apr 20 2011 at 10:48 am

Wow, quite a shakeup on the standings based on getting Veino in there. Ron bridged up to Scuba Steve, but G2 consisting of three riders is right behind.

I scored zero points, by the way. Bugger that.

I am sick with guilt that I picked Bertie, by the way. I'll never pick that twatwaffle again.
mcsqueak says:

Apr 20 2011 at 10:58 am

@frank

Yeah, I figured it was a stretch! I should have put a better identifier in to make it clear. But ca'mon, you don't have time play word games with 5x71 picks?
Ron says:

Apr 20 2011 at 10:58 am

Might be about time for some to ease up on the nickname game.

A lot of them are pretty damn amusing, but when a bunch of other cycling fanatics have no clue who the hell you are talking about I think you've fallen off the back.

Interested to see how things play out with the initial/actual finishing order.
Steampunk says:

Apr 20 2011 at 10:59 am

frank:
I am sick with guilt that I picked Bertie, by the way. I'll never pick that twatwaffle again.

You and me both. I may even institute a principled boycott at the Giro. But that was one hell of a kick (again!) from Gilbert. My daughter didn't go to bed with her crocodile last night, but came downstairs this morning"”some 20km from the end"”with croc in her arms. I knew it was all over at that point.
Ron says:

Apr 20 2011 at 11:03 am

Well, that reshuffling wasn't so bad. Looks like I got lucky and bridged up. A lot of racing left though...
Buck Rogers says:

Apr 20 2011 at 11:15 am

@Ron
Did ScubaSteve even play this round? Guy's doing well for missing out on one whole race, eh?