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
Stages like today are why I think Sky is tactically suspect.
Katusha and Rodriguez started the attacks on Col de Manse. Rodriguez is in 8th place, more than 7 minutes down. He's got Quintana, Ten Dam, Kreuziger, Contador and Mollema to get past before he's a threat to Froome. So why did Sky put their men on the front and chase it down ? Make the others work.
And then when Froome and Contador had their little near-crash, why did Porte do all the work to get back. Contador is three seconds ahead of Kreuziger - he could have put Kreuziger ahead of his team leader. Mollema was there as well and he would have gained time on Contador. They were never going to lose more than 15-20 seconds and he could have seriously fucked with Contador's head and made him work.
But they just seem to have no other strategy than to dominate with pure strength.
Okay, Bauke Mollema is my new favorite cyclist. He has raced thousands of kilometers, nearly broken today.
Then what does he do? Composes himself, gives a good interview, answers questions honestly and in sentences in his second (or third? fourth?) language, gives us something to consider, admits it was hard, all with a mic stuck in his face right after he's just put in a full-on effort.
And then? Well, he tells us he rode that fucker in the Big Ring the whole time.
Good on ya, Bauke!!
@wiscot
I quit Little League after one season because I nearly lost my mind waiting for a fly ball in the outfield. Yo La Tengo? Nope, so fucking boring.
All of this is to say that I don't care about baseball at all. The NFL is plain weird to me, as is the NBA. It honestly depresses me that there are millions of people I live amongst who follow the sport when I think it's crooked, rigged, and boring. That's the key: boring.
Braun. I know nothing about baseball but wow, I was thrilled when he was caught, then I was shocked when they cleared him. Very, very clearly a doper.
It is a crime that cycling is portrayed as the only sport where the athletes are enhanced. The NFL? I'd say 100% of them are on something that is/should be considered cheating. But fuck it, let all the clowns dance along to the corporate music.
@Dan_R
I wrote this back in the immediate aftermath of the "reasoned decision." It kind of sums up your point and I stand by the general argument...
@Steampunk I rembember reading that a while ago but hadn't realised that it was yours. Strong work.
I generally can't be arsed discussing doping in cycling with anyone but a small group of people outside of this site and that comes down to the fact that they can't accept that doping is rife in most sports but they don't know that because the testing is either extremely lax or results are routinely covered up.
I see that thibaut pinots fear of descending has finally got the better of him and he has gone home....
@Deakus
It's really too damn bad, and I hope he gets straight to work with the right therapist. With the right help and enough persistence, I suspect he could beat this fast and hard enough to get back on the bike successfully. The Fear is a bitch, but it can be beaten.
@ChrisO
Agreed - I was listening in French on RMC and commentators (much better than P2) were lamenting SKY tactics
Mmmmmm things could be about to get really interesting!
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-shorts-rain-on-its-way-no-friends-for-team-sky
ChrisO It appeared to me that Froome tried to get Contador to contribute to the chase, but he wouldn't. I would be more concerned about Mollema than Contador. Mollema is a good TTer, so Froome doesn't want to lose any seconds to him by playing mind games with Contador. That makes sense to me.