Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s Liege-Bastogne Liege 2017

There was a time when this is what Cycling looked like.

This guy. This fucking Valverde guy. How can you make it look so easy? Dan Martin was right to look like a little bitch on the podium, because that’s exactly what Valvecap made of him: his little bitch.

What kills me about him is he looks totally awesome, but I can’t find myself liking him. What’s the matter with me? Looking Fantastic is normally all I need. Maybe its because he’s bald. But that hasn’t stopped me before. Chalk it up to the great mysteries of life.

Liege is a race that’s dear to my heart; my dad and I did it together when I was seventeen and it was one of the greatest rides of my life. It’s a great classic, but today’s era of specialization means we rarely see riders contest the cobbled classics as well as the Ardennes classics. Yet, this year we’ve got Greg Van Avermaet lining up after winning Roubaix in the true Hardman style of Eddy Mereckx or Sean Kelly.

So lets make this happen people: I’m voting for GvA, nearly assuring everyone he won’t be anywhere near the podium. Appologies in advance. You know the drill: get the 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

Teocalli says:

Apr 21 2017 at 2:22 pm
Balls, what I meant was.......

VSP PICKS:
1. Dab Martin
2. Kwiatkowski
3. Valverde
4. Barguil
5. Izagirre
Teocalli says:

Apr 21 2017 at 2:23 pm
or even.......

VSP PICKS:
1. Dan Martin
2. Kwiatkowski
3. Valverde
4. Barguil
5. Izagirre
BacklashJack says:

Apr 21 2017 at 2:30 pm
@frank - I'm with you on the Valverde thing. Been saying the same thing all spring. He looks great, wins with panache, and is just a beast. In every way, I should like him. But I don't. He just seems TOO good, if you know what I mean. Maybe he's legit, but word is that he's putting down the same power numbers that he did ten years ago and...let's just say...he had some help.

VSP PICKS:
1. Dan Martin
2. Kwiatkowski
3. Valverde
4. Albasini
5. Henao
Cary says:

Apr 21 2017 at 2:32 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Alejandro Valverde
2. Dan Martin
3. Michal Kwiatkowski
4. Romain Bardet
5. Greg van Avermaet
MikeK says:

Apr 21 2017 at 2:57 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Alejandro Valverde
2. Michal Kwiatkowski
3. Dan Martin
4. Michael Albasini
5. Rui Costa
frank says:

Apr 21 2017 at 3:00 pm
@BacklashJack
@frank – I’m with you on the Valverde thing. Been saying the same thing all spring. He looks great, wins with panache, and is just a beast. In every way, I should like him. But I don’t. He just seems TOO good, if you know what I mean. Maybe he’s legit, but word is that he’s putting down the same power numbers that he did ten years ago and…let’s just say…he had some help.

VSP PICKS:
1. Dan Martin
2. Kwiatkowski
3. Valverde
4. Albasini
5. Henao
0

0
Yeah, we know he had help from his dog Piti if nothing else, right?
Davido says:

Apr 21 2017 at 3:06 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Valverde
2. Kwiatkowski
3. Albasini
4. Gva
5. Henao
Kunanyi says:

Apr 21 2017 at 3:17 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Alexandro Valverde
2. Michal Kwiatkowski
3. Dan Martin
4. Michael Albasini
Kunanyi says:

Apr 21 2017 at 3:20 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Alexandro Valverde
2. Michal Kwiatkowski
3. Dan Martin
4. Michael Albasini
5. Sergio Henao
Rick says:

Apr 21 2017 at 5:14 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Valverde