Velominati Super Prestige: La Vuelta a España 2013

The Long Sock Brigade hits the Angliru

Seriously. Is it almost September? This was not the agreement, this was supposed to be an endless summer. And all you A-Holes down there in the Antipodes are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, enjoying longer days and shorter nights. I don’t need to tell you where you can take that, but it’s dark and it smells. I have no patience for the changing of seasons when it means I’m going to be benching Number One and busting out the headlight.

I’m not going to lie to you; the Vuelta is my least-favorite race of the year. Part of it is the parcours-it’s hard enough to get excited about flat sprint stages in the Tour, but these stages in central Spain that go down a straight freeway for hours are just too much for my brain to find interesting. Hey look! There’s another shrub! Wasn’t he a President at one point? There will be some redeeming points of the race, I’m sure, and the shit-steep climbs they dot along the route are certain to be highlights of the season. But after you do the math, this is the grand tour with the weakest field, the worst route, and-most damning-the strongest signal that Summer is coming to an end on the half of the world that matters.

I can’t be bothered to sort out the route and what stages are going to matter, but I’ll tell you this: for the last few years, the winner of the Vuelta VSP has won the VSP GC. A few years back, @Marcus complained that he only lost the VSP because @Nate used the second Rest Day Swaps to his advantage to take the win, but after heavily increasing the penalties, he kept losing. Typical of a man who posts photos of his todger on a Cycling site. (@Nate, your win was clean according to the VCI.) Speaking of which, at worst the Vuelta will distract from Pat McQuaid and his bid for losing the UCI Presidency.

He has a strong lead in the 2013 Anti-V competition, however.

Check the start list, get your picks in, and don’t Delgado this baby; it could be your ticket to the shop apron. Bon chance.

[vsp_results id=”26944″/]

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

Two Ball Billy says:

Aug 23 2013 at 5:02 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Sammy Sanchez
2. Nibali
3. J. Rodriguez
4. Uran
5. Horner
bunji says:

Aug 23 2013 at 5:28 am

.

VSP PICKS:

1. Rodriguez
2. Uran
3. Valverde
4. Henao
5. Betancur
Adrian says:

Aug 23 2013 at 6:33 am

VSP PICKS:

1. nibali
2. kreuziger
3. Henao
4. Valverde
5. J Rodriguez
chrishent says:

Aug 23 2013 at 6:35 am

@Bianchi Denti

@napolinige

I was going to point out that all the 'Hey Now!' 'Crowded house' related nicknames for Henao are in flagrant violation of Rule #89, but I can't remember where I read the correct pronunciation except that it was in an interview with Quintana and he'd know. Perhaps someone else read the same article.

Sure did. It was on Cycling Inquisition. It's pronounced Eh-nah-Oh, not "Hey Now". Maybe Klaus reads Velominati?
http://www.cyclinginquisition.com/2013/04/who-is-nairo-quintana.html

@Bianchi Denti Well, it drives us spanish speakers crazy when we hear of this Serjeeow Hey Now character. It all started when he "came out of nowhere" (As all Colombian riders seem to do) and won the prologue at the Tour of Utah in 2011. Slowly, english commentators have learned to pronounce his name correctly.

PS: I'm pretty sure the whole name mispronunciation thing goes both ways. Colombian commentators probably butcher other non-spanish names on a regular basis
eenies says:

Aug 23 2013 at 7:09 am

VSP PICKS:

1. J Rod
2. Uran
3. Moreno
4. Henao
5. Valverde
eenies says:

Aug 23 2013 at 7:29 am

Oops, more than 1 Moreno.

VSP PICKS:

1. J Rod
2. Uran Uran
3. Daniel Moreno
4. Henao
5. Valverde
Kyle says:

Aug 23 2013 at 8:17 am

VSP PICKS:

1. V Nibali
2. S Heano
3. J Rodriquez
4. C Betancur
5. Dan Martin
San Tonio says:

Aug 23 2013 at 8:51 am

As Frank points out this is most peoples least favorite Grand Tour but possibly the most important for the overall VSP.

I can personally attest that picking the top 4 riders in correct order in the 2012 Vuelta VSP catapulted me to the top last year.

This year it represents my last best chance for a repeat performance.

Good Luck to everyone.

VSP PICKS:

1. Valverde
2. Henao
3. J-Rod
4. Nibali
5. Dan Martin
VeloVita says:

Aug 23 2013 at 10:22 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Valverde
2. Henao
3. J-Rod
4. Betancur
5. Nibali
graham d.m. says:

Aug 23 2013 at 10:26 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Nibali
2. Betancur
3. Purrito
4. Valverde
5. Majka