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.

Related Posts

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

  1. startlist omloop het Nieuwsblad 2012. Boasson-Haagen seems to be ill (according to sporza.be).

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Boom
    2. Leukemans
    3. Chavanel
    4. Hoste
    5. Saramotins

  2. Ok, gonna join the party on this one … Beginners luck !!!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. Hushovd
    3. Flecha
    4. Langeveld
    5. Millar

  3. VSP PICKS:

    1. Navardauskas
    2. Boassen Hagen
    3. Van Summeren
    4. Neyens
    5. Vaitkus

  4. People left and right are still choosing Boasson Hagen. Come on people, he isn’t even riding!

  5. @Netraam

    People left and right are still choosing Boasson Hagen. Come on people, he isn’t even riding!

    Duuuude…they know he isn’t riding. It’s like a statement bro!! Boasson Hagen is so bad ass he can win when he isn’t even riding…whoa! Like Seriously…

  6. VSP PICKS:

    1. Tornado Tom
    2. Greg Van Avermaet
    3. Flecha
    4. Leukemans
    5. jens keukeleire

  7. Another first timer here, how hard can this be?

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sylvain Chavanel
    2. Thor Hushovd
    3. Tom Boonen
    4. Stijn Devolder
    5. Flecha

  8. @Nate

    Those of you thinking you’re in for an apron can dream on this awesomeness:Now I’m off to meditate about Saturday’s results while sitting on some genuine Flandrian cobblestones. I’ll be back later with my picks.

    I read that as “while shitting some genuine Flandrian cobblestones.”

  9. VSP PICKS:

    1. Flecha
    2. Hushovd
    3. Van Summeren
    4. Phinney
    5. Millar

  10. Placeholders of sorts till I make up my mind.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Flecha
    2. Greg van a
    3. Boonen
    4. John dkolb
    5. Boom

  11. VSP PICKS:

    1. Tom Boonan
    2. The thunder god
    3. Flecha
    4. Lars Boom
    5. Johan Vansummeran

  12. VSP PICKS:

    1. Boonen
    2. Flecha
    3. Marcus Burghardt
    4. Van Summeren
    5. Gilbert

  13. Ok here we go my first chance at the super prestige – be gentle

    VSP PICKS:

    1. E Boasson Hagen
    2. T Phinney
    3. T Boonen
    4. P Gilbert
    5. G Steegmans

  14. @San Tonio

    Ok here we go my first chance at the super prestige – be gentle
    VSP PICKS:
    1. E Boasson Hagen2. T Phinney3. T Boonen4. P Gilbert5. G Steegmans

    Dude, hard to be gentle when your top pick is not even racing! Try again. (Don’t worry, it happened to me before as well. Like at the start of a race when you cannot get clipped in–soooo embarrassing!)

  15. @San Tonio

    Ok here we go my first chance at the super prestige – be gentle
    VSP PICKS:
    1. E Boasson Hagen2. T Phinney3. T Boonen4. P Gilbert5. G Steegmans

    Also, with a name like San Tonio, do you live in San Antonio? That’s where I am currently.

  16. VSP PICKS:

    1. BOONEN Tom
    2. BOOM Lars
    3. LANGEVELD Sebastian
    4. HAUSSLER Heinrich
    5. HUSHOVD Thor

  17. Nice photos by Kristof Ramon from the last day or two of Team Lotto’s course recon for Omloop (link courtesy of Cycling Tips). Especially like the Haaghoek photo here.

  18. Damit EBH – this is no time to get a cold

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Bak Lars
    2. Pozzato
    3. Boonen
    4. Flecha
    5. Nuyens

  19. VSP PICKS:

    1. Bernie Eisel
    2. David Millar
    3. Lars Bak
    4. Gerald Ciolek
    5. Lars Boom

  20. interesting picks

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Hossler
    2. Van Avermaet
    3. Lars Boom Boom
    4. Boonen
    5. Flecha i betya

  21. @Marcus
    Mate, I knew you’d get a kick out of seeing my splendid shop apron!
    Let’s to that again:

    My mediations are complete, here are my picks. The big guns will keep the powder dry.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Jan Anton vander Pijl
    2. Leukemans
    3. Paolini
    4. Vanmarcke
    5. Quasimodo

  22. OK, here we go… can’t wait to see how this race shakes folks out and we can start to see what will be shaping up for the classics…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. ka-BOOM
    2. Boonen
    3. Flecha
    4. Gilbert Grape
    5. Thor

  23. @JC Belgium
    Gilbert Gottfried looks horrid in those all-red tights! Reminds me of a USSR speed skater from the 80’s. He does look at home in his element, otherwise.

  24. @Buck Rogers
    Classic rookie mistake. I have til tomorrow to change my pick? I might have to go back and reread the vsp rules.

    and yeah I live and ride in SA.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Boasson Hagen
    2. T Phinney
    3. T Boonen
    4. P Gilbert
    5. G Steegmans

  25. VSP PICKS:

    1. Greg van Avago
    2. Fletcher
    3. Tomeke
    4. Bars Loom
    5. Fast Phil

  26. Sky nick it from the flahutes

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Stannard
    2. Nuyens
    3. Flecha
    4. Boonen
    5. Langeveld

  27. VSP PICKS:

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

  28. VSP PICKS:

    1. BOOM Lars
    2. BOONEN Tom
    3. GILBERT Phillippe
    4. HUSHOVD Thor
    5. FLECHA Juan Antonio

  29. VSP PICKS:

    1. Phil Gilbert!
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Lars Boom
    4. Boonen
    5. Flecha

  30. Out: Boasson Hagen

    In: Van Summeren

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Boasson Hagen
    2. Gilbert
    3. Flecha
    4. Clarke (Will)
    5. Boonen

  31. I’m pretty sure if we all keep picking the Boss we can will him to win, riding or no.

  32. Upedated Choices.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Juan Antonio Flecha
    2. Greg van Avermaet
    3. Tom Boonen
    4. John Degenkolb
    5. Peter Sagan

  33. Vsp picks

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Juan Antonio Flecha
    2. Tom Boonen
    3. Thor Hushovd
    4. Philippe Gilbert
    5. Lars Boom

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.