Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s Ronde van Vlaanderen 2016
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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Sagan – pure class.
12 points in the women’s, 13 in the men’s. I’m happy with that.
Superb rides from both rainbow jerseys and their peers.
Peter Sagan is the man. A true champion.
How do you hold off Faboo on a flat run-in to the finish? You push on the pedals, that’s how. @il muro di manayunk takes an impressive win over a tight field!
[vsp_results id=”40388″/]
FUCK.YES!
That is all.
I’m coining a new acronym, NIRTO
3 or more picks in the top five, None In The Right Order.
Throwing in a “FFS” is almost de rigeur, FFS.
Glad for Sagan and class to VanMarkuh for not challenging Fabs for seond.
Fabs said on the Sporza interview that he just missed that second when the attack occurred and was annoyed that it was Kwiat going. Couldn’t answer why he didn’t go with Sep’s counter.
Jesus, coin an acronym and misspell it. NITRO
FFS.
@xyxax
Into the Lexi with that one! I’m amazed I even got any points!
@CrankySheds
That one-two ain’t bad, especially as all the others didn’t show at all. How my tin can left out Sagan is going to be a matter I have to look into. That, and how to properly submit ALL my picks by iPhone.
@frank
Your top 10 in the overall, climbing at altitude this year!
Hold up, let me just check out the window….
Nope, no pigs flying, hmmmmmm…..could the youngster finally be showing his promise?
@xyxax
In that case, I double nitro’d today.
But holy shit, what a performance by Sagan though! Incredible! I think this one will go down in the annals of Mt. Velomis and be recounted by us mere mortals for some time to come.
@DVMR
argghhhh, the double NITRO is the worst.
FFS..
Much like Peter, I will cherish my first Monument victory!
Four of five with none in the correct position. Standard.
Got the winner and three of top five right. I can’t complain about that.
@xyxax
FMFLFFS… F!
@il muro di manayunk
I miss the badge already. I feel naked without it.
I better win something soon.
@il muro di manayunk
Congrats!
@Erik
well it looks like you’ve at least got that pretty leaf to keep you company til late September.
HOLY FUCKITYFUCKFUCK was that BRILLIANT or WHAT??? Fucking SAGAN killing it and winning it in style. No one will work with you??? Then why not just crush all their souls and ride away in the saddle to victory!!! God that was so GREAT!
I was eating a brunch with the In-Laws in southern NH and following the live ticker via smart phone and I had to run outside the restaurant and just SCREAM when he won it. So fucking brilliant!!! To paraphrase Doctor Evil, “This race completed me”.
Just watched the last 30 k’s on youtube while on the trainer after a six hour drive home. Such class and style from all of the top three. Cancellara saying his goodbyes in the final 500 meters and Vanmarke, after a few digs around the 800 meter mark, allowing him to go out in style. Just such a beautiful moment. Pure class athletes from a pure class sport. Vanmarke redeemed himself a bit there by coasting in behind Sparty.
Jesus, I am spent!
@Mikael Liddy
It was a good VSP last season. Hoping for better this season.
Spartacus’ post race drink wasn’t quite as celebratory this year…
Sagan is a stud. Period. The whole bit about nobody working with him is pretty hardcore.
@chuckp
I can.
@Erik
The season is but young; these points matter not. Wait until we crush us a Grand Tour.
@CrankySheds
…yeah. And it is so disappointing when you go all NITRO and get slim pickings for points as a result. The struggle is real.
As for your struggle with the iPhone submittal. I’ve done that but will test taht out again to double check and make sure it’s all accurate.
CANNOT BELIEVE NO ONE HAS POSTED THIS YET. THE DOUBLE RAINBOW. REALLY?
@frank
Laughter for days on what is a shitty Monday here ! Well played
@frank Does this count?
@frank
Or this?
Having been doubtful about Sagan in the past I have to say he crushed it today.
His physical ability was never in question but his tactical brain never seemed to be firing on all cylinders and I feared it would continue when he was jumped by Kwiatkowski in E3.
But when it really mattered he followed the right move (Kwiatkowski’s), worked when he needed to work and jumped at exactly the right time. Cancellara made the mistake of not following Kwiatkowski and Sagan and he missed his chance when he couldn’t bridge across to the front group before Sagan had kicked on.
He could have been the greatest classics rider never to win a monument so I’m pleased he’s got the monkey off his back.
Pity Boonen wasn’t in the mix. His day is done I suspect.
So much for the curse of the Rainbow Jersey. Sagan’s career looked to be all but in the toilet, and now that he’s in the bands the boy is en fuego. Talk about N.I.T.R.O. !
@Harminator
@frank Does this count?
Does it count for what? You posted 2 pictures twice, so you are now nr 1 on the ranking of the VVSP: VVield Systems poorly
Does it count as NITRO if you have Pinchy, Faboo, Sep V and Pistoff as 2,3,4,5? I would have raked the points in if Stannard had shown up yesterday… Or if anyone else had won…
@KogaLover
But isn’t @Harminator just playing around with the theme of “Duh-ble” rainbows here?
@ErikdR
Aha, now I get it, thanks!
Bit of science:
While a primary rainbow is visible when light is reflected once off the back of a raindrop, a secondary and usually dimmer rainbow is spotted when light is reflected twice in a more complicated pattern.
The colors of the second rainbow are inverted, with blue on the outside and red moved to the inside. The second bow appears dimmer or cloudier because much more light is released from two reflections, and both bows cover a larger portion of the sky.
It is rare and unlikely, but three or even four rainbows can be seen on occasion, but only if they are reflected off of the earthly objects.
@KogaLover
Cheers!
A question, while I remember: That blue ‘Signature’ Koga you ride (and recently published a tantalizing ‘partly’ picture of) has an alloy frame, as you mentioned. But I’m assuming the front fork is carbon?
The only double rainbow that matters!
@ErikdR
Hi Erik, yes fork is carbon. The frame is made out of 6069 alloy, which is lighter than say 7005 or other well known aluminium alloys. While 6069 is not lighter than the lightest carbon frames, it is lighter than the heavier (or cheaper) carbons. I attach some links with background info.
http://racefietsblog.nl/mooie-nieuwe-alu-racer-van-eigen-bodem-de-koga-a-limited-aluminium-6069/
http://www.cyclingonline.nl/artikel/632_cyclingonlinenl_test-_koga_a-limited.html
http://www.tour-magazin.de/raeder/rennraeder/koga-a-limited-aluminium-6069/a22755.html
http://wielrenblad.soulonline.nl/leesvoer/koga-a-limited-al-6069-test/
http://www.test.koga-signature.com/docs/news/NL_122013_FTS_A-limited.pdf
@hudson
Great photo! Vlaanderen Centenary, WC’s podium – perfect!
@hudson
Now THAT is an awesome pic for a Monday morning!
@KogaLover
Hi K L. Thanks for the links. Just finished reading the article/review by Leon van Bon. Excellent stuff – and I couldn’t help thinking that the image of the Blue Koga with the background of “Delfts blauwe tegels” was just the right balance between corny and classy. Liked that a lot. Funny that LvB doesn’t seem to agree too much with the blue color scheme. To me, that color is as spot on as it gets for a Koga, as mentioned earlier.
As for alloy frames: my 9-bike is a Giant Defy 1: 7005 alloy frame; carbon fork and seatpost. Regardless of marketing jargon, Huangisms and whatever, I have to say that the bike (on the standard factory rims and 23 mm Schwalbe ‘Durano Plus’ tires which are usually inflated to slightly lower pressure than ‘rock hard’) is remarkably comfortable. I’d heard many stories about alloy frames being harsh and unforgiving, but the Defy has a nice ‘steamroller’ quality about it.
@hudson
That is a great photo!
@frank
Marginal gains?
@KogaLover
Thanks, Captain Science.
@dinosaurJR
Ouch, that’s mega-NITRO. That’s evidence of a vengeful god.
@xyxax
I know, right? And normally the Big Man and I are on pretty good terms…
@ChrisO
@Oli
So I guess I now qualified as an Awesome Dutch Nerd!
@ErikdR
It is, a further proof we don’t need podium girls – those two winners don’t need any garnish!