Velominati Super Prestige: Milano-San Remo

RDV wins La Primavera in 1973

The second annual Velominati Super Prestige kicks off with La Primavera, Milano-San Remo on March 19. The first Monument of the year, MSR is the first true showdown of the year where all the big names will be en forme and willing to sell their mothers to notch this prestigious win. Although known for its famous climbs including the Cipressa and the Poggio, it isn’t the terrain that poses the greatest challenge in this race, but it’s distance. At almost 300km, this race is a monster. Without having ever ridden it, I can tell you with zero confidence that the Poggio is not a steep or difficult climb, but with a big pile of kilometers already ridden, even its moderate gradient will weigh heavy in the legs.

MSR often finishes in a bunch sprint, but not always. With a well-timed attack on the Poggio and more than a handful of seconds buffer before starting the descent, riders with technical descending skills (sorry, Les Freres Grimpeur, never gonna happen) can stay away and spoil the day for the fast men.

We find ourselves with a pile of data gleaned from watching Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, but La Primavera happens to be enough of a wild-card that all that data will only serve to cloud judgement. Our advice? Take out the radio earpiece to and vote on feel.

The winner of this VSP edition will earn an “Obey the Rules” bumper sticker and all reader’s points qualify towards the final prize of the free personalized Velominati Shop Apron. This year we’ve enhanced the entry mechanism; if you are inclined to enter, simply post your predictions for the top five placings in the designated area above the posts section, bearing in mind that entry/modification of picks closes at 5am Pacific time on the day of the race. Check the Super-Prestige main page for rules and scoring information.

Good luck.

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

frank says:

Mar 18 2011 at 5:20 pm

@all
Don't think he's racing here, but how cool is it to see Good Cadelephant showing up even without the bands? Not only did he bury the curse, but the bastid seems to be rockin' it sans bands.

By the way, very, VERY cool that my iPad knew to auto-complete "Cadel" with "Cadelephant". Evidently, Steve Jobs is a fan. I knew I liked that guy.
frank says:

Mar 18 2011 at 7:20 pm

Merckx bless whomever picked Geraint Thomas for the win. So adorable.
frank says:

Mar 18 2011 at 7:31 pm

@all Reminder: Entry/modification of the picks closes at 5am Paccific time. Also, for those cases where you're entering a pick who has the same namesake as another rider, please be aware that I'm going with the more famous of the two (Sagan gets entered for Peter). In the case where both names are unfamous, I pick based on whim. If you want to avoid ambiguity, give some vague indication of which you mean.
Andrew says:

Mar 18 2011 at 7:36 pm

After reflecting a bit, need to make some changes....

VSP PICKS:

1. Heinie the House-is-on-fire
2. Edvald Boasson Hagen Dasz
3. The mighty Thor
4. Goss
5. Pippo Potatoe
Andrew says:

Mar 18 2011 at 7:39 pm

Helps if I pick someone who'll actually be at the race for #5

VSP PICKS:

1. Heinie the House-is-on-fire
2. Edvald Boasson Hagen Dasz
3. The mighty Thor
4. Goss
5. Friar Oscar
Nate says:

Mar 18 2011 at 8:07 pm

@frank
5am? Won't the riders be well over the Turchino by then?
frank says:

Mar 18 2011 at 8:22 pm

@Nate
Indeed, but the live coverage won't start until another hour and 15 minutes from there. We'll see if anyone tries to violate the Piti Principle, and if we get some suspicious samples, we'll slide the time back.
Wayne Schimmelbusch says:

Mar 18 2011 at 9:56 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. White Line Fever
2. Heinrich Hussler
3. Goss
4. Oscar Freire
5. McRobbie Ewen
SterlingMatt says:

Mar 18 2011 at 10:17 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. Thor Hushovd
2. Philippe Gilbert
3. Oscar Freire
4. Peter Sagan
5. Damiano Cunego
Hawkeye says:

Mar 18 2011 at 10:50 pm

I've subbed Alby Davies for Thor. No cycling-based reason, I just like the cut of Alby's jib.

VSP PICKS:

1. Don't Haussler the Hoff
2. Haedo
3. Freire
4. Cavendouche
5. Alby