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

Mike_P says:

Sep 10 2013 at 8:43 am

My picks stay. I picked 'em, so I'll go down with 'em.

@San Tonio sorry to say that Dan Martin was forced to abandon after stage 7 due to a blow to his head in a crash

I'd actually quite like to see Horner win now. After all, Cyclingnews always need a good PED story to run through the winter! I reckon he and Raphael Nadal share the same knee doctor.
San Tonio says:

Sep 10 2013 at 9:42 am

@Mike_P I know that Martin crashed out but its not worth the points to swap out the fifth place rider. As for Chris Horner I'm holding out hope that he is just one of those rare athletes that is just as good later in their careers as when they where younger.

@Deakus From zero to hero out of the blue.....I hope this is a final blast from him pre-retirement but really? Surely if it was possible at his age Jensy would be doing this?

One look at Horner's palmares and I wouldn't say that he was a zero before the Vuelta. He's had good results for many years now maybe not in a Grand Tour but still impressive work.
ped says:

Sep 10 2013 at 10:29 am

VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

1. J Rodriguez
2. V Nibali
3. R Uran Uran
4. C Betancur
5. A Valverde
donnie bugno says:

Sep 10 2013 at 10:58 am

VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

1. Uran
2. Nibali
3. Valverde
4. J. Rod
5. Henao
Mike_P says:

Sep 10 2013 at 12:42 pm

@San Tonio you are a far smarter VSP man than me.
strathlubnaig says:

Sep 10 2013 at 12:50 pm

VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

1. Nibali
2. Henao
3. Rodriguez
4. Betancur
5. Valverde
strathlubnaig says:

Sep 10 2013 at 12:51 pm

I am pulling Kreuziger and going with Valverde
Buck Rogers says:

Sep 10 2013 at 12:53 pm

@Mike_P

@San Tonio you are a far smarter VSP man than me.

Yeah, but Mike_P, you've got the moral high ground.
Tobin says:

Sep 10 2013 at 2:04 pm

I am with San Tonio...Horner in...

VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

1. Vince Nibbles
2. Chris Horner
3. Piti
4. J-Rod
5. Basso
the Engine says:

Sep 10 2013 at 3:30 pm

@strathlubnaig

I am pulling Kreuziger and going with Valverde

And keeping two and a half hours down Betancur - now there's confidence

VSP PICKS (2nd Rest Day Swaps):

1. Purito
2. Nibbles
3. Urang Utan
4. My Little Scarponi
5. Betancur