Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s Elite Road Race 2013

Gobbles goes clear on the Cauberg in 2012

The world championship road race stands out among all other one-day races as the one where the winner is awarded both a curse and a jersey to carry for the next 12 months. It also inspires way too many riders to wear white bibs, which is an alarming trend in itself and one which I hope Brian Cookston, the new UCI President, prioritizes over the doping problem – let’s face facts: white shorts on rainy days does more damage to Cycling’s image than any doping scandal ever could.

Be that as it may, I often find myself wondering if its easier to win a Grand Tour or a one-day race. Certainly, winning a Grand Tour requires focus, discipline, and performance across a wide range of terrain and over a long period of time, but it also offers the opportunity to recover from a bad moment and to take advantage of the days where the terrain or discipline suits the qualities of the rider. A one-day race, on the other hand, is shorter but also less controllable. All in, no net; a moment’s inattention could be disastrous and in an instant your chances could disappear up the road.

The World Championships are also the only race which has brought Mary V to tears after narrowly losing the title. The Dutch don’t cry easily, especially not the ones who bleed pure V.

The Worlds are always a live wire of a race; the national teams mean the riders are riding for and against their usual teammates. Team unity is always a question, and loyalties are hard to predict. All for one and one for all, until a mate goes up the road and suddenly things start looking blurry. Throw in a circuit race, a big climb you ride 17 times, a steep ramp about V km from finish, and you’ve got yourself a race Nostradamus would have a chore predicting.

The Men set out in what is predicted to be horrendous weather on Sunday, September 29. Check the start list, rattle the bones, and put your picks in by the time the clock goes to zero. Good luck.

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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

Jaundo says:

Sep 27 2013 at 10:14 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Boassen Hagen
2. Cancellara
3. Valverde
4. Nibali
5. Gilbert
mbarston says:

Sep 27 2013 at 10:15 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Valverde
2. Gilbert
3. Sagen
4. Cancellera
5. Rodriguez
Mike_P says:

Sep 27 2013 at 10:21 am

This could be a real crackerjack of a race this year. The Spanish are coming mob handed, but one thing's for sure; whoever wants to be winning classics and GT's next year will probably happily settle for silver.

So who is handing out the medals, Cookson or the fat Irish fucker?

VSP PICKS:

1. Valverde
2. Nibbles
3. Purito Rodriguez
4. Faboo
5. Froome
HMBSteve says:

Sep 27 2013 at 10:34 am

VSP PICKS:

1. CANCELLARA
2. QUINTANA ROJAS
3. VALVERDE
4. NIBALI
5. SAGAN
Erik says:

Sep 27 2013 at 10:36 am

Buy the ticket, take the ride. I have no idea. Probably some unknown Italian will get it.

VSP PICKS:

1. Nibali
2. Valverde
3. Horner
4. Cancellara
5. Froome
chrishent says:

Sep 27 2013 at 10:42 am

With the horrible weather forecasted, there's only one man for the job: Nibbles. UrÃ¡n is wishful thinking, as I would love to see one of my fellow Colombians on the podium. Would have gone with Betancur, as he's probably the most talented one-day rider for Colombia, but he didn't show anything at the Vuelta and will be working for UrÃ¡n and Quintana

And, as much as I hate to admit it, I can see Sagan winning this thing. The U23 race today showed that you could see a 20-man group make it to the finish. Spain, Italy, Colombia and Switzerland are going to have make this race very hard in order to get rid of someone like Sagan

VSP PICKS:

1. Nibbles
2. UrÃ¡n UrÃ¡n
3. Valverde
4. Sagan
5. Faboo
stickyjumper says:

Sep 27 2013 at 10:42 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Valverde
2. Cancellara
3. Sagan
4. Gilbert
5. Gesink
Erik says:

Sep 27 2013 at 10:52 am

Wait. I'm changing my mind. Froome no. Evans in. Go good Cadel. Make a showing in the rain.

VSP PICKS:

1. Nibali
2. Valverde
3. Horner
4. Cancellara
5. Evans
eightzero says:

Sep 27 2013 at 10:53 am

@Mike_P

So who is handing out the medals, Cookson or the fat Irish fucker?

Gold. That FIF needs to go away. Remember he got booed at the Cx race here in the US? Hope he does the medals this weekend so people can throw shitte at him.
VirenqueForever says:

Sep 27 2013 at 10:55 am

VSP PICKS:

1. DaCosta
2. Sagan
3. Cancellara
4. iglinsky
5. Nibali