Velominati Super Prestige: Mens World Road Race Championships 2015

The Prophet has spoken

The last time the US hosted a World Championship, it was for the Cyclocross and it was totally badass. But potholes are part of the fun in CX; we’ll have to see how a speeding peloton deals with them.

My Pedalwan Nephew will be roadside watching this weekend in Richmond, and I have to say I hate him a little bit for having that opportunity at such a young age; he better be wearing Velominati gear or I’m disowning him. I also now realize in a face-palm moment that I should have sent him the V-Flag. What day is it? Can I still overnight it? Is that even worth it?

Ok. Back on message. I really hope the police don’t shoot any of the riders, or arrest the peloton for speeding. Assuming that doesn’t happen, I suggest you meditate on the start list, pull a few aces out of your sleeve, and lay down your picks. 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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gilly says:

Sep 27 2015 at 1:46 am
Heart rules. Just watched Lizzies superb race craft in the women's race so I'm going for Sagan to take Kwiatkowski in a reversal of the Strade Bianchi from a couple of years back as a reward for being the best fucking racer this season. Or not of course!

VSP PICKS:
1. Sagan
2. Kwiatkowski
3. Rodriguez
4. Valverde
5. Alaphillippe
Oli says:

Sep 27 2015 at 2:42 am

@ChrisO

Great stuff! Congratulations on making it back.
Ron says:

Sep 27 2015 at 3:40 am

Watched all of the Jr. Men and Women's Elite yesterday, from various spots on the course. Libby Hilly is no joke, not with the narrowness, the switchbacks, and the cobbles. 23rd Street is STEEP and narrow, think it tops out at 20%. Governor's Hill, while not steep, is long and you'd better time it right, or you won't get to the top in good shape. Overall a pretty exciting downtown course.

Walking into the Convention Center to check out the "Fan Zone" and...Taylor Phinney went right by me, on his way for a training ride after the Juniors. At the top of Governor's Hill and a Dutch dude rides by after the Juniors, all bundled up. "That guy couldn't have just finished..." Someone yells out "Niki!" Yup, Terpstra. Since I've never seen the road Pros in person, pretty wild to see what I essentially consider cycling giants/ghosts go right by. Today will be even crazier.

Also some local unhappiness that Monument Ave. and southern Civil War generals will be used as a backdrop. Not to get into politics here, but certainly an interesting dilemma. Do you glorify men determined to "protect a way of life" who many think fall on the wrong side of history?

Anyway, can quite believe I'll be seeing all these incredible cyclists in person today. Richmond has a pretty darn good downtown for this. Feels quite Euro in some parts. Also AWESOME to just have bike rule a whole city. Closed down roads, fans with bikes all over, bikes parked on every pole and tree, people riding all over sidewalks, etc., nobody yelling at them. Ahhh, a brief glimpse at the U.S. if bikes were top dog and cyclists were accepted! I'm in the Twilight Zone here...and I love it!

ChrisO - good on ya for getting back in the game. At this point, that queasy nervous energy before competition is something I don't like enough to do it. Maybe I'll get it back in a few years, but for now, I enjoy just riding.
frank says:

Sep 27 2015 at 9:23 am

@ChrisO

@LeoTea

@ChrisO

The hip came through OK. Bit painful on the big efforts – it’s a 2.5km circuit with a couple of sharp turns, one coming up a climb, so pretty much every lap you have to do at least two power sprints. Feeling a bit stiff and sore now though, but not too bad.

Glad to hear you’re back racing. Some of my favourite pieces on the site were your escapades in the desert. I was wondering about the side effects of the injury. From the X-rays you posted, it looked to be a reasonably clean break, and given that I was under the impression that such breaks usually heal pretty thoroughly, it must be something else causing the pain? Joint problems? Or side effect of having the leg cut open in order to install the hardware?

Thanks.

Yes the break was clean and it has healed well. The current pain is being caused by the hardware itself inflaming the soft tissue and normally the metal plate has to be in for at least 12-18 months.

It got quite bad a few months ago and the doctors said there were three options.

1) Take it out early, but they didn’t want to do that.

2) Stop riding, but I didn’t want to do that.

3) Suck it up.

So we’re just managing the pain. I have daily exercises to stretch and strengthen, and am using a foam roller to keep things loose. It seems to keep it under control, if not back to normal.

Welcome back to racing; been great reading your updates; looking forward to hearing how it went.
frank says:

Sep 27 2015 at 10:55 am

Loving Taylor riding off the front!
Harminator says:

Sep 27 2015 at 11:34 am

@frank

Yeah but why? Now inevitably caught. No more matches.
frank says:

Sep 27 2015 at 11:44 am

@Harminator

REPRESENTIN'!
Harminator says:

Sep 27 2015 at 11:46 am

@frank

Representin' a star spangled turd.
frank says:

Sep 27 2015 at 12:31 pm

WHAT A FINISH!!! Sagan is such a stud these days; I think the bike throw/salute was the coolest thing I've seen a cyclist do after a finish. And then the Boonen point/high five afterwards, SUCH CLASS!

Massive congrats to Richmond Virginia - The USA, apparently, does know a thing or two about hosting a world class race!
frank says:

Sep 27 2015 at 12:34 pm

The Boonen finger-point: