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

CJ says:

Mar 18 2011 at 3:25 am

@brett
This guy

VSP PICKS:

1. Haussler
2. Freire
3. Davis
4. Mcewen
5. Bozic
stabbsy says:

Mar 18 2011 at 3:34 am

Can't tell they are coming from Australia can you

VSP PICKS:

1. Haussler
2. Goss
3. Bling
4. Petacchi
5. McEwen
Sam says:

Mar 18 2011 at 3:49 am

Cavendish cos i recon he's sandbagging, Modolo finished 4th last year and he's young and fast, Farrar needs no explanation, you'd be an idiot not to have someone from BMC after the way they were riding in Tirreno-Adriatico and Gilbert cos he's the man....

VSP PICKS:

1. Cavendish
2. Sacha Modolo
3. Farrar
4. Ballan
5. Gilbert
G'phant says:

Mar 18 2011 at 3:58 am

So, I really have no idea. But I am ridiculously excited nonetheless.I was wondering this morning why I was so excited. I decided that it's not just because the season is about to properly start. It's also because the VSP is about to start. If there is one thing better than following a sport you love it is talking loads of bollocks about the sport you love. And the VSP provides the perfect vehicle for talking (via the interweb) an enormous amount of bollocks. So, best of luck to you all and to the riders, let the racing and the bollocks-talk begin in earnest, and a huge shout out to Frank and the other keepers for making this all possible.

VSP PICKS:

1. Thunder God
2. Gibbletbert
3. Daniele Been Naughty
4. Oscar Fryer
5. H2
Cobblestone says:

Mar 18 2011 at 4:30 am

An international TOP 5. I would have added Roger but he doesn't ride anymore, allthough he still thinks he can win from these amateurs

Go Phil, he wants to win all classics in his career

VSP PICKS:

1. Gilbert
2. Bennati
3. Frere
4. Haussler
5. Farrar
Alex says:

Mar 18 2011 at 5:02 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Gilbert, because the weather will be bad and he's good
2. Hushovd, rainbow will represent
3. Haussler, will just miss again
4. Goss, on form
5. Boonen, not quite there

VSP PICKS:

1. Gilbert
2. Hushovd
3. Haussler
4. Goss
5. Boonen
Harminator says:

Mar 18 2011 at 5:49 am

Gilbert will wheelsuck Fabian all the way then jump him like a stinky schoolboy

VSP PICKS:

1. Gilbert
2. Sparty
3. Hors-leur
4. Al B Davo
5. Thor
frank says:

Mar 18 2011 at 6:05 am

@brett

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

There have been a couple that really had wondering, but I think I figured it out. As a side-note, if you nickname is so far off that I have no clue who you're talking about, you're kind of taking a chance.

When the scoring comes out and you think I buggered it up, just let me know. Piti Principle applies, so don't go being so vague you get to change it to the winning pick every time. G'Phant is watching you.
frank says:

Mar 18 2011 at 6:12 am

@Ron

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?

I was in NL once over the weekend of de Ronde. I didn't make the trip down and still regret it. You have time, you have a good rail system. Go watch the race, mate.

@all
For those of you who have truncated results (only the top two picks getting entered) please email us with any information you can provide that might help us track down what went wrong.
Nathan says:

Mar 18 2011 at 6:14 am

Hmm... Thunder God in for White Line Fever

VSP PICKS:

1. Heinrich HouseOnFire
2. Oscar Fryer
3. CavenDish
4. Gilbert
5. I ain't no HushPuppy