Velominati Super Prestige: Le Tour de France 2013

Robert Millar leads Greg LeMan on the road to l’Alpe d’Huez in 1984

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.

[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Veloforma/”/]

[vsp_results id=”24179″/]

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.

Next Vlaams Orkest: Tegenwind »

Previous « Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d'Italia Femminile Internazionale 2013

View Comments

VirenqueForever says:

Jul 18 2013 at 12:52 pm

@Buck Rogers

@VirenqueForever

@Buck Rogers

@VirenqueForever

More Madiot...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAok6jt97os&feature=player_embedded

And more. This one never gets old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMmyyEOeVTs

...and some more...Watch @ 4:45 to 6:00 mins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBat3Tq_N2g

Goddamn! That would make me ride faster just to have him shut the fuck up!

I loved his explosion of passion at the end of the Pinot stage but all the yelling as the DS over the earphones would get REALLY old very quickly in my opinion!

The rest of that video is actually pretty good, all in French though from 2004 TDF, really shows difference between a (considered) clean team with Casar compared to COTHO...
motor city says:

Jul 18 2013 at 1:12 pm

38 points for me. Not too shabby...
Bianchi Denti says:

Jul 18 2013 at 1:27 pm

@Buck Rogers

@Bianchi Denti

Great stage! Now everyone please just hold their places to the end. I've got 1, 2, 3 and 5 in order!

But Contador does not look happy. He may lose 2nd place tomorrow without some top-notch recovery.

It's 3:30am in NZ, I've been drinking for 4.5 hours, and have to be at work in 3 hours. Anyone else in this predicament?

Holy SHIT!!! NICELY done. How many swap point penalities???

5 (Porte for Quintana). But I got my picks in early, so I'm in the lead for the first time ever!

I also made it to work on time, but couldn't face breakfast. So little do my so-called superiors know, but beer is currently my only fuel. I hope there were some slow release carbs in it.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
motor city says:

Jul 18 2013 at 1:27 pm

@motor city

38 points for me. Not too shabby...

Arrrgh...cock piss partridge.

I've just realised that if I hadn't done a first rest day swap of Valverde for Porte i'd have 43.
Bianchi Denti says:

Jul 18 2013 at 1:32 pm

@brett

The race for the VSP is a lot more exciting than the procession in France...

Provisional Race Results

1. FROOME Christopher

2. CONTADOR VELASCO Alberto

3. QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander

4. KREUZIGER Roman

5. RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin

Provisional VSP Standings

1. Bianchi Denti (45 points)

2. Barracuda (45 points)

3. bunji (45 points)

4. Tom (45 points)

5. Russ (45 points)

6. LA Dave (45 points)

7. Rigid (43 points)

8. scaler911 (41 points)

9. UptheTrossachs (41 points)

10. anotherdownunder (41 points)

...

340. Fred (0 points)

2 Welliminati in the top 7? Awesome! Go @Rigid!!
Bianchi Denti says:

Jul 18 2013 at 1:36 pm

I'm really starting to dislike Froome. No need to be a tosser just because the French officials didn't fall for Sky's feeble ruse. He may be falling into the trap of believing that people give a crap what he thinks.

"At the end of the day a rule is a rule and if I've been given 20 seconds I'll have to take that, but if you look at the technicality it was actually Richie Porte who fed from the car not myself. I fed from Richie Porte so maybe that's something that needs to be taken in consideration,"
Nate says:

Jul 18 2013 at 1:48 pm

@Bianchi Denti

I'm really starting to dislike Froome. No need to be a tosser just because the French officials didn't fall for Sky's feeble ruse. He may be falling into the trap of believing that people give a crap what he thinks.

"At the end of the day a rule is a rule and if I've been given 20 seconds I'll have to take that, but if you look at the technicality it was actually Richie Porte who fed from the car not myself. I fed from Richie Porte so maybe that's something that needs to be taken in consideration,"

Fuck me, he's ahead by over 5 minutes. His own fault he bonked. With that reasoning he should pursue a legal career when his sporting career is over.
Bianchi Denti says:

Jul 18 2013 at 1:59 pm

@motor city

@motor city

38 points for me. Not too shabby...

Arrrgh...cock piss partridge.

I've just realised that if I hadn't done a first rest day swap of Valverde for Porte i'd have 43.

Fine car, the Rover Vitesse.
piwakawaka says:

Jul 18 2013 at 2:07 pm

@Bianchi Denti

@brett

The race for the VSP is a lot more exciting than the procession in France...

Provisional Race Results

1. FROOME Christopher

2. CONTADOR VELASCO Alberto

3. QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander

4. KREUZIGER Roman

5. RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin

Provisional VSP Standings

1. Bianchi Denti (45 points)

2. Barracuda (45 points)

3. bunji (45 points)

4. Tom (45 points)

5. Russ (45 points)

6. LA Dave (45 points)

7. Rigid (43 points)

8. scaler911 (41 points)

9. UptheTrossachs (41 points)

10. anotherdownunder (41 points)

...

340. Fred (0 points)

2 Welliminati in the top 7? Awesome! Go @Rigid!!

Fuck cant wait too see that Veloforma smashin it up round here! Go BD!

So slept from 4-5, went to work at 6 I am dead, but that was awesome
LA Dave says:

Jul 18 2013 at 2:24 pm

@brett

The race for the VSP is a lot more exciting than the procession in France...

Provisional Race Results

1. FROOME Christopher

2. CONTADOR VELASCO Alberto

3. QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander

4. KREUZIGER Roman

5. RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin

Provisional VSP Standings

1. Bianchi Denti (45 points)

2. Barracuda (45 points)

3. bunji (45 points)

4. Tom (45 points)

5. Russ (45 points)

6. LA Dave (45 points)

7. Rigid (43 points)

8. scaler911 (41 points)

9. UptheTrossachs (41 points)

10. anotherdownunder (41 points)

...

340. Fred (0 points)

Wouldn't you know it...I'm tied for the points lead but 6th due to my timing. One spot out of a prize. Chances are Quintana is going to overtake Contador... so things might change a bit before Sunday, but that's ra burner!

Is the timing based on when you first made your picks? or when you made your last rest day substitute? Probably wouldn't make a difference but just wondering.

Either way my own damn fault for lagging!