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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View Comments

Oli says:

Sep 28 2015 at 2:49 am

Great win.
ChrisO says:

Sep 28 2015 at 2:58 am

Have you seen the footage of his foot coming out of the cleat as he powered up the hill on his attack - he hardly misses a beat and puts it back in.

Very impressive.
LawnCzar says:

Sep 28 2015 at 3:47 am

@brett

That was awesome! The way he got the gap, we didn’t even realise he had it so quickly. And then the top-tube-sitting-pedalling, the Phantom Aeros, the not-overdone salute, the dozens of other riders congratulating him, and his interview where he talked about the humanitarian crisis… all class. That’s how you win Worlds.

All of this.

I'm trying to find a photo from the awards ceremony I saw earlier where he's got the entire medal in his mouth, rather than just pretending to nibble the end. Live deep and suck the marrow out of life.

I live just a couple hours from Richmond, but couldn't get there because of family business up north. (It has to come back before 2035, right? Hello?) I managed to stream the race on my phone, though, and have to say that this was one hell of a day of racing. Very pleased by how Richmond represented us to the world.
sthilzy says:

Sep 28 2015 at 3:55 am

Ballsy Sagan win!
LawnCzar says:

Sep 28 2015 at 4:09 am

@LawnCzar

Ah, here we go.
wiscot says:

Sep 28 2015 at 5:19 am

My picks were the usual crap - Nibali for the win? Hesjedahl in 2nd? What was I thinking? Awesome ride by Sagan. One of the most stylish wins in recent years. The chasers must have been going crazy trying to pull him back. I was out for a ride yesterday during the race and kept thinking "I'll bet Saggy's going to romp home." True enough, he did!

Great to see Phinney at the head of affairs. I'm thrilled that he seems to be coming back to form.

Nice to see the motos behaved.

Sagan won partly because the Slovakia kit is cool and well designed. The horrible USA jersey proved to be a hindrance.

I'm just a bit wary of what's to come next vis-a-vis Sagan's kit. Let's face it, the Saxo kit is pretty shite and Tinkoff has no taste. Will we see a Saxo-Tinkoff Rainbow Turd? The eyeballs boggle at the thought.

Great to see Boonen and Sagan do the pinky thing. One thing that I love about the likes of Tommeke and Vos are they are great champions and great losers. Tommeke gave it a helluva shot but came up short. He knew what Sagan had done and gave him props for it. I'm, sure Tommeke also appreciates the pressure Sagan's had this year for a big result.
Ron says:

Sep 28 2015 at 6:43 am

We were at the second corner of Libby Hill for the entire men's race. VMH got some awesome photos, will get them off her phone and post some later today.

Gianni - if you think the live coverage was bad, so was some of it on the course. We stood at the top of Governor's Hill for awhile on Saturday. They were playing the Bee Gees, George Thorogood, Billy Joel. It was bad. The big video monitor behind us wasn't showing the women's race, but instead a Virginia tourism advert. Oh man.

What was up with Matthews on the podium? He seems out of sorts. Tired? Pissed? Confused?

Oh yeah, I kid you not, I heard them interview goddamn Vaughters live on the Libby Hill PA. Thank god also got to hear Connie Carpenter interview.

And on Saturday during the men's junior the 1KM to go blow up banner came down. Who did I happen to see helping pull it off the course? Ferrand-Prevot. How many other world class athletes/sports would be helping with course upkeep?

And how about the guy hounding Sagan at the finish? A Specialized rep who didn't want his bike thrown on the ground? A Slovakian handler to keep him from going too wild? Peter was trying to kiss his gal and that guy was pulling him away!
wiscot says:

Sep 28 2015 at 7:11 am

@Ron

Thanks for the scoops! Nice to get a "man-on-the-spot" report!
frank says:

Sep 28 2015 at 7:15 am

@Simon

@brett said it all. So great to see Sagan disappear down the road on the descent…skill, balls and gutting it out to the end. Fabulous.

Totally; I loved how obviously he was struggling - he clearly put it all into the climb where he got the gap and then from there is seemed like he'd burnt his matches and he was just surviving to the finish. So awesome!
frank says:

Sep 28 2015 at 7:18 am

@Gianni

@Geraint

Cheers. I am a moron. I should have known US TV might do a half assed job.

I watched the first few hours on the mobile app (streaming to the TV) and then Paul and Christian took over for a while on NBC...I feel like it was more than just the last 30km though...

By the way, did anyone hear the commentator on the app's stream tell people to go to Velominati and check out The Rules?