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.

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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

Buck Rogers says:

Jul 9 2013 at 4:58 am

@Deakus

At least he is going to a team with no history of doping or supporting dopers. Helps to quiet those rumours that he was actually intentionally doping ya know.
Buck Rogers says:

Jul 9 2013 at 5:00 am

Frahnk! Everytime I try to post something with a quote from an earlier post I get an error message that says something like "oops, looks like you are trying to post something too quickly. Please try again." And it will not let me but if I cut out the quote then it works but it still seems fucked up. Not sure why but thought you might want to know. It is this way on three different computers as well for me. Thnaks!
Deakus says:

Jul 9 2013 at 5:26 am

@Buck Rogers

Frahnk! Everytime I try to post something with a quote from an earlier post I get an error message that says something like "oops, looks like you are trying to post something too quickly. Please try again." And it will not let me but if I cut out the quote then it works but it still seems fucked up. Not sure why but thought you might want to know. It is this way on three different computers as well for me. Thnaks!

I had this last night... too..
Erik says:

Jul 9 2013 at 8:46 am

I say no to rest day swaps. Richie Porte will pull a Landis (without chemical assistance) and bounce back in a truly epic breakaway, dragging Cadel Evans along with him. Rapha will release a full length feature film about the stage.

Froome will have a dehydrated day and drop off the back. Rodriguez will take a stage and Belkin (without chemical assistance) will fall off.

At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Erik says:

Jul 9 2013 at 8:52 am

Miraculously, my cyclingfans feed didn't pop up an ad during the overhead replay of the crash. Looks like Cav bumped Degenkolb but by my eyes, Degenkolb was falling already. Anyone else any thoughts?
Erik says:

Jul 9 2013 at 8:59 am

I take it back. Cav threw a shoulder squeezing by. Wonder what the jury will say?
Cyclops says:

Jul 9 2013 at 9:01 am

I like Cav but to my eyes it looked (from the overhead) like an intentional take out of the Shimano-Argos rider. I think that the frustration of knowing he was going to get beat by Kittel or Greipel again got to him. But that is merely conjecture on my part.
Mirko says:

Jul 9 2013 at 9:04 am

@Erik

Miraculously, my cyclingfans feed didn't pop up an ad during the overhead replay of the crash. Looks like Cav bumped Degenkolb but by my eyes, Degenkolb was falling already. Anyone else any thoughts?

It wasn't Degenkolb, but a teammate. And it was definitely Cavendouche's fault.

Miraculously, my cyclingfans feed didn't pop up an ad during the overhead replay of the crash. Looks like Cav bumped Degenkolb but by my eyes, Degenkolb was falling already. Anyone else any thoughts?
paolo says:

Jul 9 2013 at 9:11 am

@Cyclops

I like Cav but to my eyes it looked (from the overhead) like an intentional take out of the Shimano-Argos rider. I think that the frustration of knowing he was going to get beat by Kittel or Greipel again got to him. But that is merely conjecture on my part.

Having just watched the slo mo from the front angle about a dozen times I would say it was intentional. Frustration at having to go around Veelers ( it was Veelers btw) . Looked like cav gave a shake of the head after and sat up a tad either through guilt or trying to make it look like it was Veelers fault or just becuase he knew he'd blown it but clearly from the front you can see Cav quite literally throw his shoulder out from the bike and at Veelers. Disgusting. It's one thing to fight for a lead out or a sprint finish. Quite another to deliberately take someone out becuase they pissed you off.

Maybe someone who races ( cyclops, chris o) can tell me why cav left Steegmans wheel to try and get griepels because he seemed perfectly placed behind Steegmans???
PeakInTwoYears says:

Jul 9 2013 at 9:26 am

The Argos-Shimano rider did fade to the right as Cavendish was coming around (really close with his shoulder out). You can see it because the A-S rider had been on the white line but was right of it when they met. I'll be curious to see what the consensus is and whether there's a judgment. I am thoroughly unqualified to judge.