Velominati Super Prestige: Le Tour de France 2013

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.

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frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

RedRanger says:

Jul 10 2013 at 4:15 pm

Im pretty confident Conti is gonna take time on Valverde and take the second step in Paris, which would wn me a new frame or wheels. just saying.
Gianni says:

Jul 10 2013 at 4:53 pm

@Buck Rogers

Yeah, a little spin up to get the last vestiges of Gates/dos/windows shiet out of your brains and then, all butter, all the time.
Nate says:

Jul 10 2013 at 5:08 pm

@Buck Rogers The apple stuff is easy, intuitive, works better, and costs more.
PeakInTwoYears says:

Jul 10 2013 at 6:09 pm

@Nate

@Buck Rogers The apple stuff is easy, intuitive, works better, and costs more.

Thisness.

I changed sides a number of years ago, and as long as I have my own or someone else's money to spend I'll never go back.
frank says:

Jul 10 2013 at 10:31 pm

@wiscot

@Mirko

@Gianni it's not complicated: Schleck has fantastic genes, but a fragile psyche. He might well be the love child of Indurain and Lindsey Lohan.

Yeah, thanks for that mental image. Big Mig and the jailbird from LA.

Actually, that's pretty hot. Especially in context of the other crap that gets posted here.
frank says:

Jul 10 2013 at 10:35 pm

@Steampunk

@frank

Has the polish doper's time been wiped yet? Is Sparty going after Boardman's or his record? I've lost the thread on that.

This would all be moot if you'd pushed on the pedals a little harder last month. Little known secret: the faster you pedal, the faster you go. Going around in circles like that, it's not like the scenery should have distracted you.

I think that's the biggest compliment ever paid me. And the biggest overstatement ever. Nice work, doing that all in one post.
frank says:

Jul 10 2013 at 10:36 pm

@motor city

This obviously goes with out saying, but no-one should have piss thrown at them in the workplace.

Agreed. Totally. Or be spat on. Unless you're occupation is spit/piss wrangling.
Deakus says:

Jul 10 2013 at 10:38 pm

@Buck Rogers

Okay, completely irrelevant but need you alls (TN speak coming out there) IT advice. Home laptop died and we need to get a new one, or maybe two as kids are getting older. The VMH wants to go Apple and get MacBook Pros. Never having used Apple products besides iPod and iPad's, do you think that this is a good and are they a good idea even without the "never used them before" question? Thanks!

In the middle of conversion now. Have gone iPads and iPhones in the house. Using iTunes instead of DVDs and have apple tv, still waiting for the pc to die. Will never look back, so fed up with windows..
frank says:

Jul 10 2013 at 10:42 pm

@Buck Rogers

Okay, completely irrelevant but need you alls (TN speak coming out there) IT advice. Home laptop died and we need to get a new one, or maybe two as kids are getting older. The VMH wants to go Apple and get MacBook Pros. Never having used Apple products besides iPod and iPad's, do you think that this is a good and are they a good idea even without the "never used them before" question? Thanks!

Better, more reliable, more stable, etc. There is a learning curve moving from Windows, but in the long run, much better. My new work laptop is a Windows box. I am using my personal laptop instead, which is a Mac. Once you get used to it, it is so far superiour, you can't imagine using MSFT.

That said, Office kicks the Apple product's ass up and down the street. But you can get it for Apple. And you can run all Windows programs on Apple as well.
Chris says:

Jul 11 2013 at 1:16 am

@Buck Rogers

Okay, completely irrelevant but need you alls (TN speak coming out there) IT advice. Home laptop died and we need to get a new one, or maybe two as kids are getting older. The VMH wants to go Apple and get MacBook Pros. Never having used Apple products besides iPod and iPad's, do you think that this is a good and are they a good idea even without the "never used them before" question? Thanks!

Damn, too much V-usage during the classics, the giro and the tour? I got home last night to random bleeps and lots of thin vertical lines in pretty colours against a black background. No hint of the start up protocols, bios etc. It's an all in one so all the likely suspects are special (read unobtainable) items soldered on to the motherboard. - I know not a great idea but great for the kitchen where you don't want an extra box of gubbins cluttering up the place.

I like the idea (or is it just the aesthetic) of the apple offerings but price is likely to prevent that.