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

Cass says:

Mar 31 2016 at 7:16 pm
It's going to be a great race. Can't freakin wait.

VSP PICKS:
1. Cancellara
2. Sagan
3. van Avermaet
4. Stybar
5. Kwiatowski
starclimber says:

Mar 31 2016 at 9:00 pm

Hmmm. So many similar selections. I love Tommeke, but he's still Swoonen last I checked. Hmmmm. Must ponder my grossly unorthodox picks further, but not enough to Delgado for the third time this spring. Hmmmmmmmmmmm........
Steampunk says:

Mar 31 2016 at 9:43 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. F. Cancellara
2. P. Sagan
3. T. Benoot
4. N. Terpstra
5. G. Van Avermaet
BarTapeMummy says:

Mar 31 2016 at 10:08 pm
Cancellara goes out with a bang, Sagan in all the right moves but lacks sprint legs, as for the others

... I'm gonna stop pretending like what I say here has anything to do with how it will pan out. And that's the beauty of it.

VSP PICKS:
1. Cancellara, Fabian
2. Sagan, Peter
3. Van Avermaet, Greg
4. Benoot, Tiesj
5. Kwiatkowski, Michal
taon24 says:

Mar 31 2016 at 11:07 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Sagan
2. Van Avermaet
3. Cancellara
4. Vanmarke
5. Kristoff
Ken says:

Mar 31 2016 at 11:08 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. CANCELLARA Fabian
2. SAGAN Peter
3. VANMARCKE Sep
4. VAN AVERMAET Greg
5. Michal Kwiatkowski
Wietse Verbrugghe says:

Apr 1 2016 at 12:01 am
No foul weather this weekend in Flanders, it'll be sunny and dry, almost 20°C...

Also, DON'T ride the official RVV cyclosportive, it sucks massively. You'll be on foot on about every climb, it's just frustrating. Come to Flanders in February, if you really want to be left alone with the cobbles, the wind and the rain. Empty roads of suffering all the way.

VSP PICKS:
1. Sagan
2. Spartacus
3. Vanmarcke
4. Van Avermaet
5. Rowe
dinosaurJR says:

Apr 1 2016 at 2:03 am
Updating my picks as "Work Shy" Vanmarcke wasnt accepted.

Also, after watching King Kenny talking of the grippy cobbles, the slippy cobbles, the big cobbles and the small cobbles I went right out and bought a full Top Bonk Schleppers kit.

Bloody genius, Matt Stephens is.

VSP PICKS:
1. Well'ard Stannard
2. Pinchy Sagan
3. Spartacus
4. Sep Vanmarcke
5. Pistoff the Viking
aaus says:

Apr 1 2016 at 2:38 am
VSP PICKS:
1. Greg Van Avermaet
2. Peter Sagan
3. Fabian Cancellara
4. Niki Terpstra
5. Alexander Kristoff
Minnesota Expat says:

Apr 1 2016 at 3:09 am
VSP PICKS:
1. Peter Sagan
2. Michal Kwiatkowski
3. Fabian Cancellara
4. Tiesj Benoot
5. Greg Van Avermaet