Velominati Super Prestige

Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

Tarmac in bad state - Isn't that why we're here?

The 2012 Velominati Super Prestige kicks off in proper form this season with the debut of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as part of the series. I’m tempted to stubbornly refer to this race as Het Volk, but I’ll toe the line and refer to the race by its bewildering new(ish) name.

This is a tricky race to predict because the big races in April are a funny distance away; they are close enough that riders wanting to do well there should be in good enough form to be competitive now, but far enough off that a win here could indicate a rider hitting their peak too soon.

In fact, the latter seems to be the case: riders who show brilliance here rarely shine in April when the Monuments of Vlaanderen and Roubaix are contested. De Vlaeminck, Museeuw, Van Petegem, Vandenbroucke – all champions of the Cobbled Classics and all men who never succeeded to win Het Volk/Het Nieuwsblad in the same year as either of the big cobbled classics; in fact, a cursory study of past results lists reveals only Merckx and Ballerini as being able to pull this particular double.

This timing makes Het Nieuwsblad a particularly difficult race to predict; in addition to the wily nature of any cobbled classic, the big names may not quite have the eye of the tiger while riders with an outside chance at victory in April may be focusing their early season on glory in this minor classic which covers many of the sacred roads as de Ronde.

With that we kick off the first event of the 2012 VSP; up for grabs is the personalized Velominati Shop Apron to the contestent who wins the season-long competition. Check the Main VSP page for scoring guidelines and rules. As a sidebar, we’ve also made lots of changes to the VSP engine; despite my usual nonchalant approach to production-testing, I’ve actually done my best to test the system this time around. There are, however, too many scenarios to be sure I covered them all, so I strongly encourage you to enter your picks early, knowing that you can make changes all the way up until the VSP closes. If you notice something behaving strangely, please let us know and we’ll have time to resolve the issue or let you know precisely why you’re crazy.

Picks close at 5am Pacific time on Saturday, and since last year’s VSP taught us that our readership sucks at time zone calculations (I’m looking at you, Bretto), we’ve introduced a countdown clock which should make even the most bone-headed of contestants aware of how much time they’ve got left to enter their losing picks (now I’m looking at you, Ron).

Good luck, and stand by for the VVomen’s Het Nieuwsblad VSP, scheduled to go live tomorrow.

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464 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad”

  2. Woop!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Tom Boonen
    2. Edvald Boasson Hagen
    3. Philippe Gilbert
    4. Thomas Voeckler
    5. Lars Boom

  5. VSP PICKS:

    1. Boonen
    2. P. Gilbert
    3. Van Summeren
    4. Langeveld
    5. DeGendt

  9. I think the VSP thing is doing a bit weird… I’ll try them again.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Flecha
    2. Boonen
    3. Breschel
    4. Van Avermaet

  11. Ahhh! I’ve been called out and the VSP hasn’t even started yet! This is going to be a long (and stressful!) season of racing!

    I’ve already listed the races on various calendars around the house and near my desk. We’ll see how it goes.

    A countdown clock, eh. This is like the Super Bowl now. Or New Year’s Eve. Pretty cool, and hard to miss the submission deadline. Looking forward to a fine season of racing and all the fun & banter that goes on here. Start yer engines!

  14. Nope, still doesn’t quite take them all.

    @paolo
    It is the same starting list, but they’re both not 100% up-to-date.

  15. B’gger that didn’t work. I thought obscure names were manually ditched or is the crash imminent?

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Phast Phil
    2. One an two Flecha
    4. Greg Van Avermaet

  16. @frank
    As long as we can enter, I’m OK with it.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Flecha
    2. Boonen
    3. Breschel
    4. Van Avermaet

  17. @frank

    @Netraam, @Netraam, @Chris
    Looks like there’s a bug keeping some of your picks out of the list. I’m working on this now, but you will have to re-enter your picks later.

    Foul! Foul! I’m forced to register a formal protest. I’ll have forgotten who I chosen by then. Who ever I put into my original pick is whoever wins the thing. Any picks that appear against my name are clearly a result of the bug unless of course thy’re the right picks.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Phast Phil
    2. One an two Flecha
    4. Greg Van Avermaet

  20. Apparently switching to a new server also has its downsides. At least it’s good we found out now instead of 5 minutes before the start.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Flecha
    2. Boonen
    3. Breschel
    4. Van Avermaet

  21. Let’s make this shiznit happen!

    VSP PICKS:

    2. Tom Boonen
    3. Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni
    4. Lars Boom
    5. Edvald Boasson Hagen

  22. Let’s try that again. I think it might be because I included punctuation on my first pick.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Thor Hushovd
    2. Tom Boonen
    3. Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni
    4. Lars Boom
    5. Edvald Boasson Hagen

  23. It’s been too long…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Double H on the comeback trail
    2. Langeveld
    3. Boom goes the Dynamite
    4. Ballan
    5. Rollin Canuck

  25. @Chris

    Foul! Foul! I’m forced to register a formal protest.

    Oh, I’m sorry. Are you paying for a service?

    Should be working again…

    ANYONE WITH LESS THAN FIVE PICKS SHOWING NEEDS TO RE-ENTER THEIR PICKS OR YOU WILL NOT GET POINTS FOR THE MISSING SELECTIONS.

  26. @scaler911,@Netraam, @Chris
    Enter your picks now – the system should be working. I was up until 3 last night getting the last bits in place and, of course, that little innocuous code change I made right before going to bed had a bigger implication than expected in my state.

    And indeed, this is why I recommended people get their picks in early…thanks for your patience.

  28. @Calmante

    Let’s try that again. I think it might be because I included punctuation on my first pick.

    Quotes may cause problems, but they shouldn’t interfere with getting the picks submitted.

  29. @The Oracle

    Here goes.

    Dammit. What did I do wrong? My picks didn’t show up. Are they supposed to? Do I need to sign up somewhere? AAAAARGHHH!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Boonen
    2. Thor
    3. Boasson Hagen
    4. Flecha
    5. Van Avermaet

  30. Dark horses all. ‘DUM DUM DUMMMMM!!!!”

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Maaskant
    2. Boom
    3. Flecha
    4. Ballan
    5. Hayman

  34. I just hope this works.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Flecha
    2. Boonen
    3. Breschel
    4. Van Avermaet
    5. Leukemans

  36. @Cyclops

    VSP PICKS:
    1. Tyler Farrar
    2. Matti Breschel
    3. Phillipe Gilbert
    4. Lars Boom
    5. Heinrich Haussler

    Tyler is a bold choice sir.

  37. @frank

    @scaler911,@Netraam, @Chris
    Enter your picks now – the system should be working. I was up until 3 last night getting the last bits in place and, of course, that little innocuous code change I made right before going to bed had a bigger implication than expected in my state.
    And indeed, this is why I recommended people get their picks in early…thanks for your patience.

    It’s all good. We appreciate the hard work, but reserve the right to flip you shit.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Phil Gil
    2. T. Boo
    3. M Barry
    4. BOOM!
    5. David Miller

  38. VSP PICKS:

    1. BOONEN Tom
    2. BOASSON HAGEN Edvald
    3. GILBERT Philippe
    4. HUSHOVD Thor
    5. BOOM Lars

  39. @scaler911

    @Cyclops

    VSP PICKS:
    1. Tyler Farrar
    2. Matti Breschel
    3. Phillipe Gilbert
    4. Lars Boom
    5. Heinrich Haussler

    Tyler is a bold choice sir.

    I’m just proud of him that he didn’t say:

    1. Eddy
    2. Eddy
    3. Eddy
    4. Eddy
    5. Eddy

    Like he did for the entire first season he joined.

  40. I think Boss Hogg has a pretty damn good chance – as does Boom. They’re the perfect outsiders to win on Saturday. I hope Boonen and Hushpuppy are on form and close, but not too close. Potato, assuming he starts (I should check the roster) will be looking to prove to his bosses why he shouldn’t get fired.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Boss Hogg
    2. Boom
    3. Potato
    4. Boonen
    5. Hushovd

  41. @sgt

    Dark horses all. ‘DUM DUM DUMMMMM!!!!”
    VSP PICKS:
    1. Maaskant2. Boom3. Flecha4. Ballan5. Hayman

    Boom, Flecha and Ballan are dark horses??? Man, there are soooo many good riders riding this event that it is hard to pick only five.

  44. Wow, such a wide open field. I think Tomeke will want this to boost his confidence going forward. Such a tough call.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Tomeke
    2. Gilbert
    3. Heinrich Hustler
    4. Flecha
    5. Langeveld

  48. VSP PICKS:

    1. Boom Boom (Boonen)
    2. The Argentine Arrow (Flecha)
    3. G-Bear (P Gilbert)
    4. Tommy 5 (Voeckler)
    5. God of Thunder (Thor)

  49. VSP PICKS:

    1. Boonen
    2. P. Gilbert
    3. Van Summeren
    4. DeGendt
    5. Langeveld

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