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.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Veloforma/”/]
[vsp_results id=”24179″/]
@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.
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!
@Buck Rogers
I had this last night… too..
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.
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?
I take it back. Cav threw a shoulder squeezing by. Wonder what the jury will say?
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.
@Erik
It wasn’t Degenkolb, but a teammate. And it was definitely Cavendouche’s fault.
@Cyclops
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???
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.
@PeakInTwoYears
He realised he could not hold the wheel in front and started to fade back in to the group. He actually looked like he was going to pull up left and I think Cav then tried to jump on to the wheel the A-S rider had been following but the rider did not move left so when Cav made his move the space was still filled.
So much of a bunch sprint like this is instinct and peripheral vision. Technically I guess Cav is at fault he deviated from his line and I think the commissaires will sanction him. Can you blaming for taking an indication/predictor and acting on it….not really I don’t think it was at all deliberate…bunch sprinting is too dangerous to try deliberately taking people out!
@PeakInTwoYears
Hell, join the majority and don’t let that stop you!
@paolo Because Griepel was getting ready to blow by Steegmans and you want to be on the fastest wheel you can when your get ready to wind it up.
@Buck Rogers
I don’t know what the fuck is going on, dude. Nothing has changed on the site, but I’m finding if I reload the page, it seems to fix the problem. I will dig into it as its driving me nuts to go through and fix all y’all’s posts!
On a side note, I thought of you the other day reading an account of Jason Everman and how he left Nirvana and Soundgarden to join the special forces and worked over in Afghanistan and Iraq. Wondered if the SF family is small enough that you might have known him?
Paolo, I don’t know what the thinking was behind leaving Steegmans, I thought he should have stayed there too, but then I haven’t won as many stages of the Tour as Cav…
As for the crash I think Veelers has himself to blame – this seems to be a tactic by Lotto first and now Argos, to put people in the line and then make Cav come around them.
Lleadout men peeling off one at a time and going to the side is fine. Veelers was third fucking wheel 200m from the finish – from there you either keep sprinting or you shouldn’t have been there in the first place. It’s like deciding you don’t want to skydive after you’ve left the plane.
Hesjedal’s takedown of Kennaugh was considerably more reckless than anything Cav did, and Greipel similarly took out half the field on Day 1.
@Buck Rogers
Yeah, no shit. I’m starting to like the little shit, but that move really looked like a brat who was loosing his temper. He continues to show a dangerous disregard for other’s safety when he’s not getting the wins he thinks he should. Not cool; he’s messing with people’s livelihood, if not their lives. Look at Haussler; after he took him out, he’s never been back to the same form.
He’ll I’m not qualified to judge either but you can see the intent from the front angle if you freeze frame it. It’s a vicious little dig. Yeah Veelers looked back faded and didn’t do a good job of staying very straight, it looked to me like Cav thought he was being blocked deliberately which I don’t think is true. I think Veelers was just fucked and Cav needlessly threw the shoulder because he thought Veelers was trying to block him. Got him right under the elbow. On NBC just before the break they had the perfect front shot of it.
well I’m off to ride in plus 100 heat….mad dogs and Englishmen……..
@frank
Read that. A fascinating article.
Cavendouche just posted this on FB:
“Just seen the sprint. I believe I didn’t move line. I’m actually coming past Veelers & we touch elbows when he moves. Anyway, hope he’s ok.”
@starclimber
Malmerde!!! Nearly spewed my iced tea when I read that!
I confess I’m not impartial, as something about Cav’ has always rubbed me the wrong way. I wasn’t surprised when I heard about that ridiculous CVNDSH brand. He’s just the kind of guy that would plaster his name on existing products just to make a buck from suckers.
I’m definitely in the @ChrisO camp on this one, while Cav was at some fault, Veelers more than contributed to his own downfall by dropping anchor & going back through the middle of the pack. Those having a go at Cav for going left should also remember the roads turns left pretty much at that point.
@Mirko
So when Cipo does it, it’s fine…or Boardman, or Pendleton, or Hoy for that matter? Personally I preferred the previous Cav branding that never made it to the shelves…FST AS FCK…far more ballsey.
Basically in any sport these days you get a name, you become a brand, brand and ad men come in and start fucking around, they are all at it and to be honest good luck to them, they will be retired soon enough and washing cars, serving burgers or whatever. The world is littered with very poor ex pro cyclists, they bust their balls to entertain us and I have no problem with them capitalising on their fame.
Would I buy the shit with their name on it…hell no…a fool and his money are easily parted and if you want to believe all that promotional guff then you deserve to be poor as the brand men get rich…it is the way of the world Im afraid.
Cool story about him. I never met him. He left the miltary in 2006 and that was the same year of my first trip downrange
to Afghan with 3rd Group. I searched but could not find which Group he was with. I was with 3rd for a bit in Afghan and then full time for years with 5th Group but his name never came up in conversations.
You meet a lot of really cool guys within SF. A ton of overachievers with a real sense of integrity and honour and a desire to serve something greater than themselves. I love that community.
Seems to be the @frank, or whomever, symbol/name that screws it up when I try to post.
When I delete that, no problem.
@Mirko
I’m cheerfully biased as well, I rather like the guy and I’m not sure what’s so ridiculous about the brand. The vowelless brand name is eye catching but none of the likely products are that surprising, a bike, socks, sunglasses.
It might be getting into Rule #17 territory but it’s no different to any of the bike manufacturers bringing out team replica bikes or any of the other sportsmen or women putting their name to trainers or eyewear.
@Sauterelle
He also tweeted this (before the FB post presumably) “Not seen a replay of the final yet, but was involved in an incident with Tom Veelers. Whatever has happened, if I’m at fault, I’m sorry.”
@Deakus Cipo and Boardman actually make products and, at least in Cipo’s case, kick-ass, made in Italy stuff. CVNDSH takes stuff from Specialized, Oakley and others and puts an additional brand on it, an additional brand you have to pay. IMHO this is utterly useless and dickish but hey, so are Louis Vuitton and Breitling, so CVNDCH might succeed as well…
@ChrisO
Having watched it I’d have to agree. At half speed it doesn’t look like an attempt to take someone out, more leaning into an anticipated impact. Cav may have miss judged things but Veelers deviated off his line at the last moment.
Ok, check this out. Veelers came across the white line to his right into Cav’s path. Cav is holding his line. Not Cav’s fault at all IMHO>
http://tourdejose.com/2013/07/09/screenshots-cavendish-and-veelers/
@wiscot
That sequence omits the one where Cav really dug his shoulder into Veelers first. Cav was well clear and didn’t need to cut back over so soon; it smacks of a brash move to me.
@Deakus Spot on. @Mirko Show me a pro rider who wouldn’t like a bit of cash coming their way from a pair of Oakleys with his name on it.
@Mirko
@wiscot
That’s what I saw, too. These stills show Veelers left of the white line, then on it for two stills, then right of it. Cavendish is holding his line but gets his weight into Veelers–probably instinctively given how fast it’s happening, but I can’t pretend to be in his head.
@Sauterelle ROTFL
@Chris
How about all those who went on to do doing sth useful? But hey, Ã chacun son truc…
@frank
I don’t have strong feelings about Cavendish either way, but I don’t get this claim. Look at the two images together. In order for Cav to get his shoulder into Veelers, Veelers has had to move over to Cav–who holds his line, even after the impact, which says to me that Veelers just blew it and Cav reacted in self-defense, even if he did pass very close.
veeters was clearly popped, so why Cav didn’t just go by, and rubbed him is beyond me
nonetheless, in that rub, it sure didn’t seem like much and the guy is makin like banged-n-feld on the ground
I err in that ‘its racing’ fella’s
One of these days, Cav will find the ole frame pump through the front wheel if he keeps douching it out
@Mirko I’m not sure that the social responsibility of ex-riders’ career choices has any relevance on whether they would have liked a bit of extra income from endorsements has any relevance.
As to whether Cav might go to do something useful, we’ve got to give him the benefit of the doubt there, he’s got a bit to go before he’s retired. Boardman, Cipo and even Merckx hadn’t started up their businesses whilst they were still riding. Let’s not even go into Merckx’s endorsements.
Each to their own, indeed.
Ha! That was good for a solid belly laugh! Thanks!
I still think Cav was in the right. Look at the shots – he’s left of the white line and moves to the right to pass Veelers. Veelers then blows his wad and fades sharply right into Cav who’s trying to pass and get on the wheel in front of him. At 65kmh a lot of what these guys have to do must be ion sheer mili-second instinct. I think he saw Veelers coming over on him and reflectively dipped his shoulder to ward off the challenge.What was her supposed to do? Get sent into the barriers?
@Deakus
Wow. That MPCC is as effective as the UCI…
@Deakus
Measuring the height of their bus at 1:49 is also a nice touch.
@PeakInTwoYears, @wiscot
Those pictures really skew what’s going on. I don’t think there’s a question that Veelers went off his line by a bit, but the offending action to me is Cav’s sharp movement back over with the shoulder and bike to cut back in. Mark had already deviated to avoid the rider and was well clear, but then chose to go back in, and it looks very much like a flick. There was no reason/need for him to cut back in that nature.
It does surprise me a bit, however, that Veelers went down so hard; it doesn’t seem like a hard enough push to cause the bike to disappear.
@frank
What you said! No need for it.
I have no idea what Wiscot is looking at and I have looked at the shots and the replays plenty. Veelers drops his head….fades right a tad and Cav says…take that fucko! I can’t believe he’s got away with it. Poor riding by Veelers but it didn’t deserve that. If Cav is so ok with it then why did he blow up at the first interviewer who asked him if it was his fault. He basically assulted the guy and took his recorder and stormed on to the bus. The recorder was later returned. I’ve always been a Cav fan but this is just too much. He’s on twitter asking if anyone can flick their bike right and not counter balance by leaning left at 65kph. He didn’t flcik his bike right ffs. Then he’s saying the road bears left so that’s why he did it but that’s bullshit too, it bears left about 50 yards away and his bike stays straight while hes up and out and leaning hard to the left to make contact. Disgusting!
I’m still not seeing it. I’m seeing guys jockeying for position and I’m seeing guys in full sprint. I’m seeing Veelers veer right and letting up. Throwing a shoulder, though? I don’t see it. Cav’s getting into full spring mode in order to catch a wheel and the bike is going back and forth as he hammers on the pedals. There was no deliberate contact on Cav’s part””if anything he cut left into the slipstream a fraction early, but I think this is Veelers’s doing, after Kittel went (very) wide to his left. His job was to hold his line, and he walked (I’m sure unintentionally) into Cav’s path. At that kind of speed, I can’t imagine Cav even saw him as he was already focused on the finish.
@wiscot
The visual evidence I have suggests to me exactly this interpretation. And I really don’t give a rat fuck about Cavendish.
(Although I would have said “reflexively.” But that’s because I’m a fucking pedant.)
And instead of “challenge,” I might have said “guy who blew his wad and couldn’t hold his line and was going to put me on the tarmac.”
Can’t bash Cav, I used to think he was an arrogant twat. He has shown such maturity over the last couple seasons, he’s one of my favorite riders now. There’s a new paradigm for racing, and sprinting especially (and I don’t mean no drugs). There are so many riders to battle through who have no chance, but get in the way of a pure sprint finish…
I just saw that Renshaw may be signed to Omega, Cav has to be flipping cartwheels to have that locomotive back on the train!
Changing the subject temporarily back to commentators, I’ll bet they are all glad to be working on the TdF at the moment. If they were working at the Tour of Qinghai Lake, they would have had to welcome yesterday’s stage winner Pourseyedigolakhour Mirsamad. Who knows what P1, P2 or MK would have made of that?
@Bianchi Denti
Jeez. I thought Spanish names were hard.
@frank
certainly looked like cav was pissed to lose again(and get blocked in).lowered his shoulder and took veelers out,if it had been reversed,cav would be crying up a storm. he may be the fastest sprinter,but he’s a little wanker.imho.