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

LA Dave says:

Mar 17 2011 at 9:28 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. Gilbert
2. Ballan
LA Dave says:

Mar 17 2011 at 9:43 pm

Not sure what I did, but only two of my picks saved.... so here's the full set:
1- Gilbert
2- Ballan
3- Thor
4- Di Luca
5- Boasson Hagen
CJ says:

Mar 17 2011 at 9:48 pm

Frank. Work computers seem to have blocked all your fancy gewgaws. Is it okay if I just crayon my picks in here? Not like they'll be remotely close anyways.

Haussler
Freire
A. Davis
McEwen
Bozic.
il ciclista medio says:

Mar 17 2011 at 10:16 pm

@Marko
I see that Eurosport is broadcasting it live (2hrs) at 1:00am EST Australia. Not sure if you get that over there? but is one of our cable channels here
brett says:

Mar 17 2011 at 11:06 pm

Man, the nickname game is getting serious! I hope you can work out who some of these fuckers are, frank...

And whoever tipped Di Luca, genius!

So, because I don't qualify for The Apron and I went shite last year, I'm going for an Aussie top 5... just ridiculous enough to work. Or not.

VSP PICKS:

1. Heiny
2. Alby
3. Gossy
4. Robbie
5. Ricky Shaw
Marcus says:

Mar 18 2011 at 12:40 am

@brett
What about Cookey And Bling?
Nathan says:

Mar 18 2011 at 1:17 am

@frank
Sean Kelly... Beast

1982 MSR, that's what happens when the sprinters take their eye of the ball... the early break
Ron says:

Mar 18 2011 at 1:35 am

@ Frank - yep, saw those photos at cycling news. Some really great shots in there.

Also enjoyed reading what Cipo had to say about each of the racers he thinks has a shot. Seems like he has a pretty solid idea of what is going on in the pro ranks still.

Can't wait for the race! I'm still in the Czech Republic and for some reason being in the same time zone, and this close to Italy, makes the race just a little bit more exciting. I'm scheduled to head back to the U.S. in a few weeks, just before Ronde and P-R. Hmm, should I delay my flights?

Enjoy MSR fellow Followers! (and Keepers)

VSP PICKS:

1. Gilbert
2. Freire
Ron says:

Mar 18 2011 at 1:41 am

Uh oh, I only have two entered and the picks boxes are only showing two. Did I break the software?

Damnit.

I'll wait a bit, hope to see all five boxes, as I see the note to NOT add them here...
brett says:

Mar 18 2011 at 2:34 am

@Marcus
Bling?