Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s Ronde van Vlaanderen 2016

That's a legitimate Pain Face right there.

Everybody knows there are two kinds of cobbles. Big cobbles, little cobbles, grippy cobbles, and slippy cobbles. And when it comes to mastering the stones, no one is better than the undisputed King of the Cobbles, Kenny Van Vlaminck. And speaking of cobble legends, there is a great piece on our friend Johan Museeuw over on Rouleur today.

According to the weather reports, there is going to be wind and rain on Sunday. And if you watched the live coverage of Gent Wevelgem last week, the storm that blew in after the race was wicked intense. And, since I’ve decided not to visit Belgium this year, you can be pretty sure that the weather will finally be rubbish. You’re welcome.

We rode the RVV route (the classic route, not the crap new one) in the wind, rain, and hail a few years back, and it was striking how slippy the cobbles on the Paterberg and Koppenberg are in the wet. These climbs are borderline doable in the dry, and if you need to get out of the saddle for some extra juice, it is going to take some good bike handling to keep from spinning out.

And don’t forget we’ve got wicked prizes on offer; Don Walker is giving a free custom steel frame to the winner of the VSP overall, and Café Roubaix is awarding a set of their CR Wheelworks Arenberg wheelsets to the runner-up. Third place gets a free V-Kit. Boom. So get prognosticating and get your picks in before 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

JohnB says:

Mar 30 2016 at 4:01 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Alexander Kristoff
2. Fabien Cancellara
3. Tiesj Benoot
4. Sep Vanmarcke
5. Geraint Thomas
mitch66 says:

Mar 30 2016 at 4:05 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. GvA
2. Sagan
3. Spartacus
4. Stybar
5. Vanmarcke
gilly says:

Mar 30 2016 at 4:14 pm

That Kenny Van Vlaminck video is hilarious. "The Tour if Morocco is a big race in the Morocco area!"
JohnB says:

Mar 30 2016 at 4:33 pm
Nah, Thomas is in it because he wants to win it.

VSP PICKS:
1. Geraint Thomas
2. Fabien Cancellara
3. Alexander Kristoff
4. Sep Vanmarcke
5. Tiesj Benoot
Phillip Mercer says:

Mar 30 2016 at 5:02 pm
Go Faboo!

I can't see Tom do it this year. Etixx seem to be a basket case.

VSP PICKS:
1. Fabian Cancellara
2. Alexander Kristoff
3. Peter Sagan
4. Greg van Avermaet
5. Michal Kwiatkowski
Phillip Mercer says:

Mar 30 2016 at 5:09 pm
Forgot Tiesj!

VSP PICKS:
1. Fabian Cancellara
2. Peter Sagan
3. Greg van Avermaet
4. Michal Kwiatkowski
5. Tiesj Benoot
universo says:

Mar 30 2016 at 5:12 pm

@Phillip Mercer

Basket case. It makes reference in the form of a parabola to someone who has lost his mental health and has no cure. It is said that people without cure to a mental disease used to be sent to a mental health care facility for life where they would manufacture baskets for the rest of their lives.

Basketcase. A basketcase is common word used to describe a social outcast in school. Some characteristics of a basketcase included emotional instability, weirdness, and constant isolation from mainstream society. A basketcase is often independent and isolationist, in other words, anti-social.
Cameron W says:

Mar 30 2016 at 5:28 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Tom Boonen
2. Faboo
3. GVA
4. former second place Sagan
5. Geraint Thomas
Phillip Mercer says:

Mar 30 2016 at 5:33 pm

Does anti-social also include posting incongruous definitions with no real aim other than to be a douche?

@universo

basket case

n
1. a person who is suffering from extreme nervous strain; nervous wreck
universo says:

Mar 30 2016 at 5:43 pm

@Phillip Mercer

you are really not having any fun -- pretty hostile -- fuck off mate