Velominati Super Prestige: Milano Sanremo 2014

Merckx takes his first of seven MSRs.

Het Volk (it will always be Het Volk to me) and now the Strade Bianche may well mark the sentimental beginning to the season, but those are specialized, pre-season races that appeal mostly to riders who are preparing for bigger objectives later in the year, such as the Cobbled or Ardennes Classics. Same goes for Tirreno Adriatico and Paris-Nice; there are preparatory events – none of the marquee names have these events in their programme as primary objectives.

The season doesn’t really start until Milano Sanremo, the first Monument and the first race of the year that any Pro would proudly define their career by winning, and so that’s where we start the fifth installment of the Velominati Super Prestige. Last year saw our biggest turnout yet, with sponsors kicking in some serious prizes for the Tour de France VSP. This year we’ve built on that momentum to offer three major prizes for the season-long VSP:

  1. First place overall wins a Veloforma Strada iR Velominati Edition frame in addition to the customary VSP winner’s VVorkshop Apron
  2. Second place overall wins a set of hand built CR Wheelworks Arenberg wheelset in a custom Velominati paint scheme laced to orange Chris King hubs. (CR Wheelworks is Café Roubaix’s new wheel goods brand.)
  3. Third place overall wins a full Velominati V-Kit with accompanying custom orange Bont Vaypor+ road shoes.

So, without further ado, check the start list, review the VSP Scoring Guidelines and get your picks in by the time the countdown clock goes to zero at midnight PDT on Sunday the 24th. If you think we mapped one of your picks wrong, use the dispute system and we’ll review it. Also remember to be precise enough in your description so we know which rider you mean; in other words, if you enter “Martin”, we will use our discretion (read: wild guess) to decide if you mean Tony or Dan – and that choice will not be negotiable once the the countdown clock goes to zero, so be sure to give yourself enough time.

Good luck, and don’t let these awesome prizes ruin your Rule #43 spirit.

[vsp_results id=”29200″/]

[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/VSP Prizes/”/]

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.

View Comments

  • @Buck Rogers

    @wiscot He's wearing a Belgian hairnet, same as Johan (I wonder if those are Testosterone patches on his knees???) and I think that they only come with one strap. They were pretty fuckin useless anyways so who really cares if they fall off in the crash?

    As for the sign behind The Prophet, all I got is possible schlong length of the before mentioned?

    Nah, they usually had two straps - one in front of the ear, the other behind. I know, I had one. But maybe the pros just did one to save weight.

    The Eddy sign? Big schlong coming through.

  • @moondance

    @Minnesota Expat

    @scaler911

    http://www.sportlemon.tv/20131025/vv526a3905a529d4.11605989-670321.html (try this)

    Got it. Tanks! Norton Utilities is going crazy, warning me about Russian hackers and Bulgarian malware, but I can deal with that later, this is the final 30k of MSR!

    Which of the stupid "Watch Now" buttons did you select that are not merely adverts for movie sites?

    Those were advertisements?! Wow, maybe that explains why I'm now getting all these pop-ups with female porn stars on bikes and ads for Cycling Friend Finder?

    So, anyone else see the highlights on beIN Sports? In HD no less? 30 minutes. Is it too much to ask for 2-3 hours of live feed faster than 360p?

  • @wiscot

    Can't believe cyclingnews and velonews didn't report thgis on the homepage:

    http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/140324_MSR_regenfotos

    "Oh, FUCK OFF rain." Too funny. Not great photography, but that's a good picture of Cav in the rain. Did he ride the distance without leg warmers? Daymnnnnn. Cav might be prickly on a good day and a jerk the rest of the time, but he's always there and goes the distance.  You got to like him for Ghent Wevelgem.

  • I like the fact that Matti Breshcel took that photo of Roman's legs. Who knew that after his cycling days he can apprentice for Pedale!

    Also, what in fact happened to Greg VA and Gilbert. Did Greg drop his chain there at the end? If so, damn, that guy just cannot make it happen. So close many times.

  • I can't resist this but having been trawling through the stories on the site, I came across this quote from Frank.

    "Besides, pro's don't wear jeans, and they don't wear white helmets that look like hollowed-out bowling balls"

    Quite apposite I thought for last weekends race.

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