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
@Collin Froome may be strongest but does that make him the best ?
I've always thought Sky were tactically suspect. Their sheer power has covered their limitations but you can't apply marginal gains to that shit
@frank
Curious if any of the 4-10 riders are in anyone's VSP any more or if the VSP just turned into a combo of who put Froome, Mollema, and Contador in the right order first. Can't imagine anyone put any of these guys on the podium.
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:02:48
5 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:03:01
6 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:04:39
7 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:04:44
8 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 0:05:18
9 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:39
10 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp 0:05:52
@ChrisO Sky is down to 6 riders for the remainder of the tour and lost a couple early today (including Porte). I think they know they are against the wall and can't cover/lead every move now. With that in mind, I think Froome & Co. are actually playing it smart and conserving for the mountains. That said, the other GC contenders will be nibbling back time all the way to Paris. Tactically, this is a chess match with no clear winner yet, but absolutely fucking fantastic drama - the likes of which hasn't been seen in years!
@razmaspaz Not for me. I only have Froome and Cuntador in my VSP out of the Top 10. But I am pretty sure that people switched in Kreuze and Ten Dam on the first rest day and possibly also Quintana.
Still just an awesome stage!!! If I smoked I'd definitely need a cigarette right about now!
And the 'real' beauty of today's stage is the desperate long attacks in the mountains we can expect to see from the vanquished. Malmerde will have to try 'something', as will Martin and Evans, because, of course, they're in my VSP! Can those teams get together and try a counter-shit-kicking?
Cav after today's stage: "When echelons start...it's kind of like, you know if you have a feeling if you fall through ice, you've got five seconds? You've got five seconds, or it's over. And that's exactly what it's like in an echelon. You've got five seconds to make it right, otherwise that's it"
Me after the Tour of Sharjah: "Being shelled is like ice breaking. It starts behind you, then the deadly crack reaches your wheel and you plunge into the void."
I'm with you buddy...
@ChrisO That's a good point. Going to the front and burying it up the mountains seems to be their only tactic. When you're stronger as a whole than everyone it works, but like we've seen with Gilbert who only had the attack on the final lump approach, when you aren't the strongest, the results slip away.
@Tartan1749 except maybe 2 years ago, and maybe 2009, 2008, 2007...
@Buck Rogers
This one was a Mick Rogers party piece, anyone who's seen Chasing Legends would remember him being the driving force behind HTC screwing over the peleton on a massive cross wind day & guess who was egging the Saxo boys on today? Biggest casualty for Sky of out of their whole ex doper clean out last year was getting rid of the guy who basically ran their tour on the road last year.
On another note, look what I got 'given' by the local book store today!
They do daily prize giveaways through twitter & today's was a tour based special. I've a feeling there was a touch of the sympathy vote involved cos they've had to keep telling me that The Rules has been delayed in getting shipped out here.