The inaugural Velominati Super Prestige continues with its the final Grand Tour of the season, la Vuelta a España, on Saturday, August 28. This will be the final opportunity for contestants to rake in a load of points; and with the list of injuries, and non-starts together with riders using the race as preparation for the World Championships in October, it will make it all the more challenging to pull together some good picks.
This particular Grand Tour is simultaneously the most boring and most exciting; various sections of Spain features desert with dead-straight roads where little is to be seen aside from a colorful peloton gliding along a road for 6 hours. On the other hand, the mountains are steep and brutal, and the weather this time of year can be atrocious, so the mountain stages tend to showcase fireworks like we don’t see elsewhere during the season.
Having run the VSP Giro and Tour editions where we tested the ruleset for picks, and I think by this time we’ve managed to set up a scoring system that seems fair and helps to close down the competition to afford newcomers the ability to catch up with some good picks. There is a full overview of the rules and standing at the VSP Schedule, Rules, & Results page, but here is the ten-second overview:
Every contestant is to choose their top five General Classification picks of the race. The final podium of la Vuelta is worth 15 points to the winner, 10 points for second, 5 points for third, 3 points for fourth, and 2 point for fifth. Given the effect crashes can have on a tour, there are guidelines around making changes to your lineup during the race: you’re allowed to change your lineup if any rider in your pick list drops out for any reason without any penalty; rest days will allow contestants to make changes to their lineup, however those changes will come at a point penalty. (Visit the VSP Schedule, Rules, & Results page for a complete breakdown of these points.)
Every day, the leader in the points standings will have the honor of wearing the Golden Jersey when posting on the site; the overall winner will wear the Golden Jersey for the remainder of the season and will also earn an “Obey the Rules” bumper sticker. All reader’s points qualify towards the final prize of the free Velominati Artisan’s Shroud. As always, if you are inclined to enter, simply post your predictions for the top five placings.
Continuing with our jersey picks from the Tour de France edition is the competition of naming the winner of the points and climber’s jersey winners. There will be no points awarded towards these two jerseys, but the leader of the competition will have the honor of commenting with associated jersey badge throughout the competition and the winner will earn the right to comment with that badge until next year’s race. The contestant who picks both the final points and climbers jersey winners correctly will win a Velominati Logo bumper sticker. Tie-breakers will go to the first contestant who posts their entire lineup (all 5 GC picks plus points and climbers jersey winners). Given that this sub-competition has no points, pick substitutions will only be granted under the DNF regulations of the VSP; no rest-day substitutions are allowed.
Sub-competitions will be conducted while the Vuelta is underway for specific stages. These stages will be chosen a few days prior to the stage being held and will be selected based on the current race conditions with the aim of choosing the most decisive and exciting stages of the race, so check back often to make sure you don’t miss out. Sub-competitions will be held in separate editions.
Good luck!
Rules and results are posted Velominati Super Prestige page.
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@frank
Think I understand. Is the logical extension of this to make a quick seatpost adjustment at all stops in order to produce a maximal Saddle Handlebar Height Differential (known as Your SHHD Factor?).
@frank I'd have to agree with Frank's "No. 6 Postulate." I found that when I switched to trying to ride up my local mountain with a 39/27 I really hated it because my cadence was about the same, it wasn't any easier, and I just went about 3-5kph slower, which prolonged the sucking. Now I generally do the same climb with a 39/21 and there might be a tad more suffering, the cadence drops very little, but I go faster and therefore the exercise in The V ends sooner (not that I'm trying to end my experience of The V any sooner, of course...).
@Marcus
While I appreciate your desire to get the proper SHHD, what you describe here is artificial SHHD, which is akin to doping. You must ride the noble steed as she is, and if you choose the righteous path to the 53/39 (or, 55/44, 53/42) then you must channel The V sufficiently to pull it off.
@KitCarson
Go on, I like where this is headed.
When leaning the bike against the cafe wall post-ride, please put the chain on the big ring and small sprocket.
Guess what, maths genius's, the difference in teeth between a 53/39 and a 50/36 is, wait for it, exactly the fucking same! Yeah, amazing huh? So the whole "aesthetically unpleasing" argument is bullshit. And guess what, having a 12-27 cassette looks no better than a 11-21 or 11-23 teamed with a compact, if you need to install one to get up any hills (which most of us non-pros do).
Frank, who the fuck runs a 55? Seriously?
And anyway, we've done this argument to death elsewhere on this site, and it's been unequivocally proven that there is no right or wrong, just more postulating. Shut the fuck up and ride your bike, in whatever gearing configuration that suits your personal needs. Kaayyy? Kaaayyy....
First time I climbed Ventoux (at end of 2000 l'etape du tour) I did it in a 53/39, 11-23. I had to get off and have a "rest" about 6 times. It was nothing short of stupid but I didn't know any better. Fitted a compact in 2004 and have never gone back. Usually ride an 11-23. Nice tight gear ratio and the 50x11 combination is big enough for my not-so-massive guns. Rules of thumb for mountainous terrain: more than 2750m of climbing, put a 12-25 on (or an 11-25, but I think this puts too many gaps at back end of the cassette), more than 3500m of climbing, think hard about 12-27. I can understand why you might want a 53/39 in a crit but otherwise I can't see the attraction. I don't think there is much to the argument that because you can spin more with a compact you will go slower? Just because you have a compact doesn't mean you HAVE to ride it in the lowest gear. Isn't it simply, for example, that if you are riding with your mate who is grinding away in the 39x25, you could put it in the 21 to get (about) the same ratio? Anyway, I don't think I'll be going back, esp given cost of new cranksets.
@brett
Ah! But 50x36 is aesthetically OK, but you don't find that ratio very often. Besides, aesthetics are only part of the problem as outlined above. Seriously, who rides a 27?
@frank @kitcarson
#6 so much better put than me. But that is what I was getting at. You could see it with the advent of trippels, Mountain bikers looking to get a road bike were forever asking for trippels because they "needed an easier gear" to get up the hills.
We ain't got no cafes in Idaho. Even if we did I wouldn't lean my bike against its wall. I just stuff my front wheel between the asscheeks of the guy that is kneeling on the ground from exhaustion after trying to grunt too big a gear up Teton Pass.
@frank Yes, well I suppose it's time to let the cat out of the bag, isn't it, Frank?? The issue of the compact, and in fact any kind of improper gearing ratio (that would be compacts in general and anything above 39/25, is that it is clearly the work of the Anti-V. The Anti-V, being of course, that insidious force -- opposing The V -- that creeps into our unconscious and makes us act, dress, etc in ways not befitting to a Velominatus. Some examples:
You might think of partaking in the V-Chalice BEFORE the ride, rather than after, so that the ride doesn't manifest itself -- that's the work of the Anti-V.
Those times you find yourself saying "yes," when the barista asks you if you want whipped cream on your vanilla soy frappuccino.
You feel a diabolical impulse to violate Rule 23 frequently and in a variety of fabulous colors.
Indeed, The Anti V will sometimes disguise itself in the seductive voice of Chris Carmichael urging you to spin up that long climb with gearing not befitting to a Velominatus...but fuck that! Have nothing of it. Tell it to go back to its comfy abode!
Need another "recovery day," or is the tractor beam of the couch stronger than the will to suffer for a good cause? Yep, you know where that's coming from.
ANYTIME you feel the urge to violate The Rules - that's the work of the Anti-V.
So, yes, it's supernatural and at times disconcerting, but firm your mind, reflect on The V, and say a Hail Merckx or two, and all will turn out fine in the end...
@Brett As for the "55" I think Frank is engaging in exaggeration to create more of a dramatic "effect," something he tends to do at times...
@Jarvis that's what so fascinating to me - even, in the past, of course, when i had a triple (only temporarily, and it was given to me, I never bought the thing, ok?), I could never bring myself to use the granny ring. It seemed like fucking torture. All forward motion slowed dramatically and I was still working hard. I don't mountain bike, so I guess there are times when you might need it, and I suppose it's a whole different style of riding, but those damned triples are ugly as fuck. Just last night, for example, I was walking up this steep steep hill in San Francisco, to get to my ex-hottie's place, and this dude passes me and I'm like "Wow, good observance of The V, buddy," but then I look at his crank and he's got a triple and he's riding in the fucking granny ring. Totally ruined any appreciation I had for his effort...
Well, ok... I have a confession to make: My commute bike, a 2001 LeMelvis Zurich, is in fact, a triple...BUT I never actually use the granny ring for reasons mentioned above. I almost sold it this weekend, to rid myself of the stigma (I want an older, steel celeste bianchi with a double, ideally).