The early eighties saw the tide change in the European Peloton. Components were taking on a new, curvy shape as they left their boxy forms behind. The glint of toe clips in the sun would become a rarer sight as the move towards clipless pedals would take hold in 1985. English speakers were winning the big races classically won by continental Pros.
The 1984 Tour could be my favorite edition of the race. In 1983, the rookie Laurent Fignon had won in the absence of Le Patron, Bernard Hinault. The 1984 race saw the two go head-to-head, with Fignon becoming the one and only person in history to have laughed at Hinault and lived. He did more than live, he won. The new guard was here, and they were making their presence known.
This photo is from the stage to l’Alpe d’Huez. LeMond was riding in support of Fignon, and Robert Millar, in his second Tour, was leading the King of the Mountains competition, which he would eventually win. Millar wrote an account of this stage in Issue 13 of Rouleur, which everyone should make an effort to find a copy of. He describes the attacks that come fast and furious on the penultimate climb in such vivid detail, it makes my guns ache. But worse than that is his and LeMonds effort to hold on to Fignon and Hinault’s wheels in the ride through the valley to Le Bourg d’Oisans and the base of the final climb. It is the perfect description of the suffering of the Cyclist. LeMond, in service to his leader, is on the front one moment as he reels Hinault in after an attack, before being cast into the gutter and the back wheel a moment later when the next attack comes.
Just as 1984 was a watershed moment in the Pro peloton, 2013 is a watershed year for the VSP. This year we are offering five amazing prizes from five amazing partners.
Prizes
First prize is a Veloforma Strada iR road frame, painted in an exclusive Velominati color scheme with the newly-designed Velominati Super Prestige logo. Please note that this is a brand-spankin’ new frame for Veloforma. The geometry can be reviewed here.
Second prize is a pair of Café Roubaix carbon tubular wheels. The winner of this prize will be given the choice between the sub-1000g Haleakala wheels or a road version of my beloved Arenberg wheelset. As an additional incentive, anyone who enters their picks in the Tour VSP will get a $200 discount on any wheelset at Café Roubaix.
Third prize is a pair of Bont cycling shoes. The winner of this prize will be assisted in selecting the size, color, and model of shoe.
Fourth prize is a Flandrian Best kit from DeFeet consisting of a wool U-D-Shirt, Arm Skins, Kneekers, Slipstreams, and a pair of V-Socks.
Fifth prize is a wool jersey from our Keepers Tour tour partners, Pavé Cycling Classics.
Many thanks to each of our sponsors for providing such exciting prizes.
Rules
Enter your picks for the top five riders on G.C. by the time the countdown clock goes to zero; Grand Tour scoring rules apply. Check the mapping of your picks by the end of Stage 1 and use the dispute system should it be mapped incorrectly.
We will be enforcing Piti Principle rules much more closely. We will be accepting pick disputes through the start of Stage 2. After that, it will be at The Keepers’ discretion as to whether or not we allow the dispute. If your pick is ambiguous and we map them to the wrong rider, make sure you check your disputes before the deadline; we may reject the dispute after that time. For example, should both Tony and Dan Martin take the start and you enter “Martin” as your pick, we will pick one for you and you will have to live with it if you forget to dispute it before the deadline.
Good luck, and Merckxspeed.
Update: This is the same paint scheme that the winner will have, except the VSP Winner’s Badge will be replacing the V-Lion.
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View Comments
@Mikael Liddy
He did not come off his bike. He cracked so badly that he almost came to a stop, swerved to the left and ended up riding for a metre or so through the cobbles and crap at the side of the road. He then looked to have completely blown and progressed very slowly from there.
The weird thing was his posing for the cameras as he came up to the line, smiling like he had done an awesome ride or something. I do wonder about that guys mental state!
@mouse
LeMan seems to want to take it at face value...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lemond-there-can-be-spectacular-performances-without-doping
@DerHoggz
Not fucking swearing enough.
@pakrat
He also had Bilharzia last year which affected his performance and he looked pretty strong even then..
@mouse WRT Cotho, he won the fucking race 7 times in a row. With an army of robots. Sky can't even get last year's winner to back up 2 tours in a row, and have a team that is falling to bits, so while the comparison is a natural one to make, like most things when you go past the headline and look at the details things are quite different.
What I KNOW I saw last night was a very fit, well prepared rider taking the bit between the teeth on a key stage of the tour. It's a stage that I'd say Sky had planned on targeting for a long time, and chapeau for getting it right. Of course if he's still doing it in 7 years time, I'll but one of those Stupid Giro Air Attack helmets and eat it.
I also like that they sacked the dopers on their staff straight away after the reasoned decision came out. That argument that you need the experience and expertise of cheats has been one I've struggled with.
@Deakus think the Bilharzia was when he first signed for Sky & didn't finish the 2010 Giro after getting a tow up the Mortirolo from a motorbike (was going to be outside the time cut anyway). 2011 Vuelta was the first decent result he had after recovering.
@Mikael Liddy
Quote from Wikipedia, I have not had a chance to verify it but I remember it being mentioned all over again in the news last year.
The early part of Froome's 2012 season was wrecked by illness. He withdrew from the Volta ao Algarve with a severe chest infection, and blood tests showed his bilharzia parasites had returned
Sagan's not the only rider who can wheelie...
@minion @mouse The armchair guilty by comparative performance speculation is beginning to piss me off too.
Seems to me that there's a bit of a changing of the guard going on at the moment. There's a bunch of riders that everyone expected to be doing well have failed to turn up at all. I'll bet that if you had a look at the top ten most popular VSP picks you'd see Froome, Contrador and a whole load of disappointment. Cadel - MIA, Valverde - MIA, Porte - MIA, TJ - MIA; Ryder - MIA, etc. Did many people pick Mollema and Ten Dam? And there are a few others that are hopefully going to have a great ride through the Alps - J Rod and Quintana that probably featured in peoples picks but haven't hit the top 5 yet.
Just because his competitors haven't performed doesn't mean Froome is doping, they're going a long way to making him look incredible.
I absolutely fucking loved yesterday, mental crowds (the size and intensity, not the dickheads in costume), the flares, the motos crashing running into each other, Contrador having the class and decency to say "Chapeau, the best guy won", Richie Porte's grin as the Rodriguez group finally ground past him, the fact that Froome attached the fuck out the mountain to the point of needing oxygen. Fucking loved the balls of this guy:
@brett
For some reason that reminds me of a school report