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

geoffrey says:

Jul 10 2013 at 7:57 am

@Steampunk

I have to agree with Steampunk on Cavendish. He has matured a lot in the last couple of years and you can't argue with his ability. He is obviously obnoxious after a loss for a few minutes, but he gets over it, gives good analysis and acknowledges his rivals. I hope Sagan can also turn himself into a human being.
Tartan1749 says:

Jul 10 2013 at 7:58 am

@Skip

@wiscot

@VeloVita

Definitely not cool was the shitty Power Bar ""trophy" Danny M got yesterday. Seriously? That's the trophy for the stage? Please tell me there's something else. It looked like it was bought from a dollar store FFS. (Hopefully some tech-savvy Velominatus can post a pic.)

Here's the best photo of the stage winner's trophy I could find (from Letour.fr).

Hard to see at that angle, but basically a plexiglass tombstone type thing. It's no cobblestone, but it seems the stage winner's trophies haven't been too pretty for a while.

Nice article from Inrng on the subject if you're interested. He says that the TDF stage winner's trophy "doesn't quite capture the significance of their win, it's a tribute to the sponsor, not the sport."

Here's a better photo of the Powerbar dildo and NuvaRing. Man, is that the worst trophy I've ever seen, especially for a Tour stage. I've seen better stuff at the local track.
Buck Rogers says:

Jul 10 2013 at 8:08 am

@Tartan1749

@Skip

@wiscot

@VeloVita

Definitely not cool was the shitty Power Bar ""trophy" Danny M got yesterday. Seriously? That's the trophy for the stage? Please tell me there's something else. It looked like it was bought from a dollar store FFS. (Hopefully some tech-savvy Velominatus can post a pic.)

Here's the best photo of the stage winner's trophy I could find (from Letour.fr).

Hard to see at that angle, but basically a plexiglass tombstone type thing. It's no cobblestone, but it seems the stage winner's trophies haven't been too pretty for a while.

Nice article from Inrng on the subject if you're interested. He says that the TDF stage winner's trophy "doesn't quite capture the significance of their win, it's a tribute to the sponsor, not the sport."

Here's a better photo of the Powerbar dildo and NuvaRing. Man, is that the worst trophy I've ever seen, especially for a Tour stage. I've seen better stuff at the local track.

Jeeezhus! If that is the size of your wife's/significant others dildo I am glad that I am not married/dating her!
VeloVita says:

Jul 10 2013 at 8:18 am

@Buck Rogers

@Tartan1749

@Skip

@wiscot

@VeloVita

Definitely not cool was the shitty Power Bar ""trophy" Danny M got yesterday. Seriously? That's the trophy for the stage? Please tell me there's something else. It looked like it was bought from a dollar store FFS. (Hopefully some tech-savvy Velominatus can post a pic.)

Here's the best photo of the stage winner's trophy I could find (from Letour.fr).

Hard to see at that angle, but basically a plexiglass tombstone type thing. It's no cobblestone, but it seems the stage winner's trophies haven't been too pretty for a while.

Nice article from Inrng on the subject if you're interested. He says that the TDF stage winner's trophy "doesn't quite capture the significance of their win, it's a tribute to the sponsor, not the sport."

Here's a better photo of the Powerbar dildo and NuvaRing. Man, is that the worst trophy I've ever seen, especially for a Tour stage. I've seen better stuff at the local track.

Jeeezhus! If that is the size of your wife's/significant others dildo I am glad that I am not married/dating her!

OK, now that I've seen a better photo I have to agree that its an absolute shit trophy for winning a tour stage.

@Buck Rogers unless that's also an extremely large NuvaRing. To scale its not so intimidating.
Chris says:

Jul 10 2013 at 8:22 am

Looks like someone told Danny Boy and Quitana that they were my rest day swaps and they've immediately gone out and shot themselves in the foot.
Tartan1749 says:

Jul 10 2013 at 8:24 am

@Buck Rogers Ha!

Froome-Dog is killing the ITT, it seems. Nothing against Froome, but I hope Martin wins the stage. I think this stage will set the top step of the podium as I don't see Froome losing that much time, if any, in the Alps.

- I'm a bit disappointed in Quintana: not just for my VSP, but I was secretly hoping he could be a true GC contender over the next few years after his aggression Saturday.

- Alas, I may also need to re-think my assessment of TJ and side with Steamy in that he very well could be overated.

- Belkin seem to be the big winners today and very well could be setting up for 2nd & 3rd in Paris. What a gold mine that would be for the new sponsor!
Cyclops says:

Jul 10 2013 at 8:43 am

Props to Martin (and the rest of OPQS) for rocking the #capsnothats.
Buck Rogers says:

Jul 10 2013 at 8:43 am

Sagan just misses out on a point by placing 16th. Still a pretty impressive ride!
freddy says:

Jul 10 2013 at 8:52 am

@Buck Rogers what cant he do
frank says:

Jul 10 2013 at 9:03 am

Schleckchute deployed. Jay-sus. How can a rider with GT aspirations stay that bad at TTing for so many years, after getting your head kicked in on so many occasions? He's a tall enough guy that he should be able to crack the top half. He just barely made the top 3/4s.