Velominati Super Prestige: Le Tour de France 2013
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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[vsp_results id=”24179″/]
Final change to the picks…unless I can’t sleep and become convinced that Cadel or Andy or Joaquim or TVG or Ryder are more realistic choices.
VSP PICKS:
1. Chris Froome
2. Alberto Contador
3. Richie Porte
4. Jurgen Van den Broeck
5. Andrew Talansky
VSP PICKS:
1. Chris Froome
2. Alberto Contador
3. Joaquim Rodriguez
4. Richie Porte
5. Cadel Evans
VSP PICKS:
1. Alberto Contador
2. Christopher Froome
3. JoaquÃm RodrÃguez Oliver
4. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte
5. Cadel Evans
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. Moreno
4. Valverde
5. Quintana
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. JRod
4. Valverde
5. Porte
VSP PICKS:
1. Chris Froome
2. Alberto Contador
3. Richie Porte
4. Alejandro Valverde
5. Nairo Quintana
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. Moreno
4. Danny Martin
5. Quintana
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. Joaquim Rodriguez
4. Evans
5. Dan Martin
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. Rodriguez
4. Van Garderen
5. Evans
Hoping the odds makers in Vegas are better than I at picking these things.
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. J. Rodriguez
4. Porte
5. Van Garderen
VSP PICKS:
1. Alberto Contador
2. Alejandro Valverde
3. Chris Froome
4. TJ Van Garderen
5. Bauke Mollema
VSP PICKS:
1. Christopher Froome
2. Richie Porte
3. Cadel Evans
4. Alberto Contador
5. Tejay van Garderen
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. Rodriguez
4. Porte
5. Hesjedal
I see even Google is getting into l’esprit du Tour
VSP PICKS:
1. Chris Froome
2. Joaquim Rodrijguez
3. Alberto Contador
4. Cadel Evans
5. Ryder Hesjedal
VSP PICKS:
1. chris froome
2. joaquin rodriguez
3. tj van garderen
4. alberto contador
5. richie porte
VSP PICKS:
1. CADEL
2. FROOM
3. CONTADOR
4. QUINTANA
5. HESJEDAL
VSP PICKS:
1. N. Quintana
2. T. Van Garderen
3. R. Porte
4. J. Rodriguez
5. P. Sagan
Alright, last minute change to my picks – my Quintana mapping dispute can be ignored.
VSP PICKS:
1. Chris Froome
2. Alberto Contador
3. Richie Porte
4. Joachim Rodriguez
5. Alejandro Valverde
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Hesjedal
3. Contador
4. Evans
5. Valverde
I am not feeling confident about this at all. Ride like hell for leather, boys!
VSP PICKS:
1. Chris Froome
2. Alberto Contador
3. JoaquÃm RodrÃguez
4. Tejay van Garderen
5. Richie Porte
Rooting for Rolland & Pinot
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Porte
3. Quintana
4. Pinot
5. Contador
Heres my picks.
VSP PICKS:
1. C Froome
2. A Contador
3. R Porte
4. J Rodriguez
5. C Evans
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Contador
3. Cadelephant
4. Valvo
5. Ryder
VSP PICKS:
1. Contador
2. Van Garderen
3. Porte
4. Valverde
5. Froome
VSP PICKS:
1. R Porte
2. C Evans
3. C Froome
4. T Van Garderen
5. A Contador
VSP PICKS:
1. Chris Froome
2. Alberto Contador
3. TJ Van Garderen
4. Ryder Hesjedel
5. Cadel Evans
VSP PICKS:
1. Chris Froome
2. Alberto Contador
3. Richie Porte
4. Tejay Van Garderen
5. Bauke Mollema
Thankfully there is no pressure for Gianni as he cannot accept such prizes. Froome goes down. Mayhem ensues. But all hail our sponsors for these super prizes.
VSP PICKS:
1. Hesjedal
2. Quintana
3. Porte
4. Evans
5. Martin, Dan
.
VSP PICKS:
1. Contador
2. Froome
3. TVG
4. J Rodriguez
5. Evans
VSP PICKS:
1. A. Contador
2. C. Froome
3. C. Evans
4. A. Schleck
5. R. Porte
Thanks Google for the acknowledgement!
@sthilzy
Google slight Rule #8 volition
Yeah but what an aero position, and check out the tash, the delicacy of the frame tubing and the white deep section rims matching the hat not to mention the length of that stem …
Why oh why does Gabriel Gate get his own segment? So painful.
@strathlubnaig Thanks! With Farrar being such a non-factor for the talent he possesses, I always seem to forget when he rides and when he doesn’t.
Well that was screwed up. What a way to start the tour
What a nutter of a stage! I’ve never seen anything so crazy in my life.
@sthilzy
Awesome!
@frank
Complete clusterfuck! High drama at its best.
Well now that we have all that out of the way, we can get on with some racing.
Because we had 340 entrants in the VSP this time around, we won’t be posting the results every day in the posts section here but instead are just updating the main article (the results are always posted there as well.)
But amazingly, @brett’s tactic to pull a Cipo and take the lead early and disappear after the hills seems to have worked as he takes the lead in a chaotic finale.
@girl
Just thank the fuck that you’re not Stateside and listening to Bobke do his own piece.
That stage felt like watching an old runaway train movie — were they going to stop the train before it crashed off the broken bridge?
I really hope it didn’t take them 20 minutes to decide that just backing up was the solution, but that they freed up something that was stuck so they could then back out.
That was insanely nuts. Feel for Tony Martin – the tour has certainly arrived with a bang.
@Collin It took them twenty minutes to understands that you can back up without tearing down the finish arc by letting the air out of the the buses tyres before.
That bus driver won’t be forgotten any time soon.
Unbelievable chaos, only the french can do this and it be OK
Oh my Merckx, my Veloforma Strada iR in the Velominati color scheme just came yesterday! Unfortunately I’ll be leaving for a week tomorrow and won’t have a chance to build it first…but that’s something to forward to!
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 sexy as fuck. cant wait to see the new build.
Merckx, that is a thing of beauty. Seeing pix is about as close as I’m likely to get too .. .. ..