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
@Marcus wot he said.
As far as fanning the flames of publicity goes, this is a positive conversation, fuck these cheats we need people to know, we need to tell others, we should express how fucked we think it is, I know some of you are bored by this but I hope they can " hear" our disgust, I reckon you can see the burden these cheats carry to their hollow victories in their eyes.
@Bianchi Denti
I understand that Stuey 'EP' O'Grady (I'm here all week, folks. Try the veal, and don't forget to tip your waiter.) would be a friend of Gerry, Shane and co., but until they're happy to seethe publicly (particularly about lying to Vance), they'll be suffering a severe credibility deficiency. Kittel is a f'n legend in this regard.
@Deakus I hear you, I'm just gutted. I suppose it's all part of the cleansing process.
The real tragedy is;
"What people will find hardest to accept is not the act of cheating itself, but the years of lying and denial for O'Grady had plenty of chances to come clean before this." Quoted from here
As everyone else has the chance to come clean, they don't. Bring on the amnesty! If you're busted after the amnesty, you're out for life!
I've always had the (macabre) thought of having a drug free event - Olympics, TdF, Swimmimg, Tri any sport where you free to take anything you damn well like. Just have a asterix next to your name with what you took and see how long you survive as a living person as well as your status in the sporting world. This would ruin National sports institutes/academies as well as ruin it for the naturally talented athlete who'd like to compete with other natural athletes. It's just a thought.
@sthilzy
And another possible drawback:
all drugs olympics from llcoolR on Vimeo.
Let's try that again:
Dang.
With reference to SOG, how the fuck can so many gimps just decide to go find this shit themselves, pump themselves up without any knowledge or involvement of team or teammates? This is the things that shits me, there is clearly thinly veiled coverups going on. The raison desire seems to be, don't say jack until you're practically in the crosshairs....
systematic testing of past samples in future years seems a retarded, but only, way of catching people. If they know that they will be busted as cheats, not now, but maybe in 10 years time, that will smear their career, some might not be likely to start. I mean, the French investigation is based on results for the 1998 tour, that were retested in 2004. 9 years ago FFS! Which isn't fast enough, but the point is who cares that the UCI statute of limitations is past, guys got busted and their 'glittering' careers turned into the worthless turds that they should have been...
Or if not worthless turds, at least taken within the context of doping, and asterixed....
@Beers it's not the statute of limitations that stops the prosecution, it's the fact that there aren't B samples to be tested (given they got a pass at the time I assume the B's weren't kept).
@Mikael Liddy
Yes, no B sample because nothing was found at the time (clean at the time) so none needed be provided. Was more talking in general, it doesn't matter if they get retested in 20 years time and the guys are gone from the peleton, the idea is that they will get found out eventually, and sullied. The fact the A sample later retested positive is enough to cloud their careers, correctly, in our eyes.