Pedro Delgado. The patron saint of the VSP
Le Primavera has arrived. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2015 Velominati Super Prestige. It’s been a long quiet winter of very little cycling news, little racing and barely a scandal. This Sunday marks the real beginning of the season for us cycling fanatics.
The true beauty of MSR, that despite its length, only on the descent of the Poggio and the run in to Sanremo does the race really show itself. No one is going to solo away in the last forty kms. No one is going to drop everybody on the Poggio and ride away to arrive a minute ahead on the Via Roma. The descent off the Poggio is its own race. And it’s the reason inept descenders like Frank Schleck are not pulling on the shoe covers this Sunday. Getting down to the Via Roma at the front requires some bravado. It will be a sprint of some fashion; maybe one, maybe two, maybe twenty. One is going to have to watch 290 kms of racing to understand the last three.
There is talk of rain on the coast. Rain is not required for Milano-Sanremo. It is for Paris-Roubaix. Here is a provisional start list. Be specific about your picks, just entering Chavanel can get you in a spot of bother your whining will not get you out of. And the betting window closes when the countdown timer goes to zero so refresh your page to know for sure. Or better yet, get your picks in early, like your taxes.
This 2015 Milano-Sanremo will be a good one. It is a very open field with many viable winners. Getting on the Big Board early won’t be easy this Sunday. Whatever OCD ritual you need to do to get good picks in, do it correctly, many times, then one more time for good luck.
The VSP is a race. It bestows some bragging rights on those that do well. Feel free to mock others picks, just acknowledge it when they drop you like a sack of nails. If you are supreme, omniscient and your god is a cruel (they all are) yet fair god you may win a Velominati oven mitt. But if you are supreme (supremely lucky) over the whole VSP season, then dear reader, you are going to win something special. These are the prizes for the overall 2015 season. Due to the fact that we are unable to recognize the passage of time in a meaningful way, we have yet to complete the prize list, but here is a teaser:
First place– Something big and awesome, to be determined.
Second Place– A Café Roubaix/Velominati wheel-set, Chris King hubs, hand built by professional wheelsmith and Velominatus Dan Richter.
Third Place– A Velominati kit: jersey, bibs, and cap.
The VSP generator has been rebuilt with new o-rings, auxiliary pull-start and tube amplifiers. The specifics of the VSP can be found on its slightly out of date page. Let’s do this.
[vsp_results id=”32514″/]
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
Mark Cavendish almost on the top of Poggio, Milano Sanremo 2015.
@Pedale.Forchetta
What a great photo, and what an unhappy face. I think the pain is not only in his body.
@Pedale.Forchetta
This image reminds me of The Hustler -- a long vanishing point. Great vantage point.
@Daccordi Rider
Not necessarily even shifting the front. In my case it was just a case of bad chainline in the small cogs pulling the chain off the ring - all it takes then is a hard effort, some rocking of the bike or a bump in the road.
FSA's top rings are pretty damn good, and there's no necessity to match cranks to the groupset. Many bikes these days don't come with Shimano cranks because they don't offer a 30mm spindle, and while Shimano rings are amazing, Di2 shifting components will work well with pretty much any crank. Most of the peloton runs the "wrong" crankset - mostly because of the powermeters. My Rotor 3D with a power2max power metering spider and SRAM rings works flawlessly on a Shimano 7800/6700 drivetrain.
@xyxax
Look at Gorilla face... not happy either.
Andre' Greipel and Vincenzo Nibali
@Pedale.Forchetta
Not fair to make big guys like Greipel (and me) ride up steep hills.
@RobSandy
But as you can see he's leading Nibali!
@Pedale.Forchetta
I know he's in front of him & so appears a little bigger, but have a look at the size difference between those guns!
Greipel's packing a pair of cannons, Vincenzo has a pair that look more like long barreled rifles
@Pedale.Forchetta
Yeah, go big guy!
@Mikael Liddy
And have you seen the photo comparing Greipel's guns to one of the German track sprinters? Makes Greipel's look like pea-shooters.
@Pedale.Forchetta
You should put your pic of Van Avermaet up here.
That guy has a Gold Rewards Card to the Pain Cave. Such an exciting racer. I really hope he gets a good win this season.