Velominati Super Prestige

Velominati Super Prestige: Le Tour de France 2013

millar-lemond
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″/]

Related Posts

Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s World Championship Road Race 2017

Sep 21 2017

Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s World Championship Road Race 2017

Sep 21 2017

1,667 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Le Tour de France 2013”

  1. Please, please please………. i need that frame!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Chris Froome
    2. Alberto Contador
    3. Richie Porte
    4. N Quintana
    5. J Rodriguez

  2. VSP PICKS:

    1. Froome
    2. Contador
    3. Porte
    4. van Garderen
    5. Evans

  9. Updated picks.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Froome
    2. Contador
    3. Rodruigez
    4. Van den Broeck
    5. Sagan

  11. Ooh la la, only 4 days to go. Who will crash out in the usual 1st week carnage? Who will fall foul of WADA’s new doping protocol? Jalabert’s out of the tour already and I expect some current riders might follow before the off.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Chris Froome
    2. Alberto Contador
    3. Thomas De Gendt
    4. Mikel Nieve
    5. Przemyslaw Niemiec

  12. Man, this is always tough, and thanks to the amazing keepers and the prizes on offer, even tougher! Thanks to the sponsors for stepping up.

    I think Froome is on form and without the Wiggins factor, looks good. Bertie ain’t the man he used to be. I can’t see him dropping Froome on a climb.Cuddles I like, but see his age against him and I think Tejay will assert himself. I’m thinking BMC might want to avoid a Froome/Wiggo scenario where the younger rider was clearly stronger, but had to wait.

    Wee Purito will be up there but not enough to podium. Big Belgie-boy I think will surprise with a strong ride throughout. Not spectacular, but super-steady.

    Cav for green. I think he’s really going to go for the first stage. He knows he’s not getting any younger, his train is beginning to hum in unison, and opportunities to add yellow to his amazing collection are few and far between from here on out.

    Mountains? Young rider? No clue.

    Allez!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Froome
    2. Contador
    3. Van Garderen
    4. Rodriguez
    5. Van Den Broeck

  13. He who dares…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Contador
    2. Porte
    3. Mollema
    4. Van Garderen
    5. Pinot

  14. VSP PICKS:

    1. C Froome
    2. A Valverde
    3. V Nibali
    4. R Porte
    5. J Rodriguez

  15. All of the plausible choices seem to have been picked, so I’m going to try throwing it way down field and see if somebody can come up with it in the end zone. Great set of prizes!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Evans
    2. Contador
    3. Sagan
    4. Froome
    5. Voeckler

  16. Let’s see who steps up.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Bauke Mollema
    2. Alberto Contrador
    3. Tejay van Garderen
    4. Thomas Voeckler
    5. Liewuwe Westra

  19. VSP PICKS:

    1. Chris Froome
    2. Tejay Van Garderen
    3. Alberto Contador
    4. Jurgen Van Den Broeck
    5. Nairo Quintana

  21. VSP PICKS:

    1. Chris Froome
    2. Cuntador
    3. Richie Porte
    4. Tejay Van Garderen
    5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck

  23. Cannot discount Cadel but I fear something will happen to the Dog like Wiggo in 2011.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Richie Porte
    2. TJVangarderen
    3. Contador
    4. Cuddles Evans
    5. Sanchez

  25. Let’s do this thing!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Igor Anton
    2. Chris Froome
    3. Teejay Van Garderen
    4. Ryder Hesjedal
    5. Cadel Evans

  27. VSP PICKS:

    1. Froome
    2. Van Garderen
    3. Contador
    4. Ryder Hesjedal
    5. Porte

  28. VSP PICKS:

    1. Alberto Contador
    2. Joaquim Rodríguez
    3. Alejandro Valverde
    4. Richie Porte
    5. Cadel Evans

  30. Awesome prizes, chapeau Keepers, or as they say over here – hat.

    Froome FTW due to supply issues from Bertie’s butcher, close 3-way scrap for the podium.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Froomedog
    2. Bertie Beefsteak
    3. Porte
    4. TJVG
    5. Purito

  31. VSP PICKS:

    1. Chris Froome
    2. Alberto Contador
    3. Rigoberto Uran
    4. Vincenzo Nibali
    5. Cadel Evans

  33. I wonder if Pete Sagan a.k.a. “The Tourminator” is going to be rocking his new Sagan brand kits this July. These don’t seem to be rule compliant….You can see the rest of the offering in all of it’s frightening glory at http://www.petersagan.com

     

  35. @sthilzy @LA Dave I’ve been willing to put a few of his antics down to a young guy having fun, but he’s looking more & more as if he’s happy to step up to the douchebag sprinter role now that Cav has matured…that kit is just a poor rip off of the Cipo muscle suit.

  36. VSP PICKS:

    1. Any Porte in a Storm
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Bertie
    4. Andy Schleck
    5. Norman Stanley

  39. Full squads of the strongest riders finally, should be exciting! Great prizes, just had to put an entry in, no idea really..

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Chris Froome
    2. Uran Uran
    3. Contador
    4. Cuddles
    5. Nibali

  40. VSP PICKS:

    1. Alberto Contador
    2. Christopher Froome
    3. Cadel Evans
    4. Ryder Hesjedal
    5. Alejandro Valverde

  41. awesome work with the prizes Keepers.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Evans
    2. Porte
    3. Froome
    4. J-rod
    5. Valverde

  42. VSP PICKS:

    1. Contador
    2. Valverde
    3. Froome
    4. Van garderen tj
    5. Evans

  43. Tough to pick and no JRod or Valv in my top 5 either.  Here goes Nothin!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Froome
    2. Contador
    3. Evans
    4. Porte
    5. Hesjedal

  46. woohoo…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Contador
    2. J Rodriguez
    3. Froome
    4. Evans
    5. Valverde

  48. Many others that could easily fill my 3 – 5 spots. TJVG, JVDB, Rydah… I even think Schleck might surprise. Not sure this will be my top 5 come Saturday… but at least I’m on the board.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. The Froome Wagon
    2. Contadork
    3. Nairo Escarabajo
    4. sPORTEy Spice
    5. Purito

  49. @Mikael Liddy

    @sthilzy @LA Dave I’ve been willing to put a few of his antics down to a young guy having fun, but he’s looking more & more as if he’s happy to step up to the douchebag sprinter role now that Cav has matured…that kit is just a poor rip off of the Cipo muscle suit.

    Yes, definitely a bite on Cipo, and Super Mario didn’t try to market and sell them (that I know of). I actually like the kid, especially his enthusiasm and love for riding/racing. He’s definitely made some dumb mistakes that I’ll chalk up to youth… but so did I.

    I can forgive all of that stuff… but that kit is just awful… can’t forgive him for unleashing that monstrosity on the world.

  50. VSP PICKS:

    1. C Froome
    2. C Evans
    3. R Porte
    4. A Valverde
    5. Dan Martin

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.