Velominati Super Prestige

Velominati Super Prestige: Milano-Sanremo 2016

Milan Sanremo. I know we’ve been watching the men and women crush the cobbles already, and that’s the spiritual beginning of the season, but La Primavera is the longest Classic of them all, and the first race of the season that will be a genuine target for all the gunslingers. Which makes this the symbolic start to the season and, typically, the first event of our annual Velominati Super Prestige.

Please don’t call it a fantasy cycling game; the VSP is based on the old season-long Super Prestige (and later the World Cup) which awarded points to riders for how they finished in the qualifying races. The points were tallied and whomever held the most points at the end of the season was declared the winner, was showered in champagne, got epic bragging rights, and presumably got the girl. During the year, the leader earned the right to wear the white leader’s jersey with verticalized rainbow stripes.

Our series is based on the same principle, where you select the riders you think will be in the top five, in order of finishing. Points are awarded for getting your picks right, and bonus points are on offer for getting close. The leader of the event gets a little white jersey as their posting badge, and those who win the events for the Monuments and Grand Tours get to post with a commemorative badge for the ensuing year.

For the last several years, we’ve also been offering some crazy prizes; a custom road frame to the winner, hand built wheels to the runner-up, and a full v-kit to the runner-up-runner. This year, we’re delighted to announce that our friend Dan Richter of Café Roubaix will be offering up another of our collaboration Velominati-CR Wheelworks wheelsets. The V-Kit is the same as last year, with the addition of the possibility to choose the new VLVV design should you so choose.

The big news is that Don Walker of Don Walker Cycles and the head honcho of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show is going to be offering one of his hand-built, custom road frames. I was introduced to Don through @Haldy, who owns something like five of his bikes. There is no denying it when you meet a fellow Velominatus: instant friendship. I had him build me a track bike for The Improbable Hour on Festum Prophetae, and now we’re flirting about my first custom road frame because my other bikes just seem so impersonal now.

Don is the quintessential small frame builder; he only take 6 customer orders per year so you won’t be rolling up to the local group ride only to find four other riders on the same steed. The rest of his bikes are for his team and for the therapy of working with his hands. Working with him on the bike design is an incredible experience; delving into riding style and position and fine-tuning every detail of the build. And then it quickly devolves into shit-talking and teasing. I am so excited to share this experience with the lucky winner.

With that, start prognosticating on your picks and check the scoring guidelines. I know some of you are doing some intense analysis, and recall that last season we had a tie which we had to break by going back to see which of the two were entering their picks in earlier on average. Also don’t Delgado it; we have been known to have the odd timing glitch and even though that’s not your fault, I’m still not going to manually enter your picks because you waited around and the window closed earlier than you thought it would. The kids probably have an emoji for that.

Good luck, and may the V be with you. VLVV.

  • Café Roubaix's CR Wheelworks Arenbergs

[vsp_results id=”38071″/]

Related Posts

Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s World Championship Road Race 2017

Sep 21 2017

Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s World Championship Road Race 2017

Sep 21 2017

459 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Milano-Sanremo 2016”

  1. @CrankySheds

    @frank

    I like that you picked Gallopin. Somebody should. I would have if my tin can didn’t tell me to do otherwise.

    My favorite thing is that “Gallopin’ Tony” automatically maps itself. I always think I’m making it up for the first time. Ah, the pleasures of short-term and long-term memory deficiency. Otherwise known as narcissism and ADD.

  2. @asyax

    My work access doesn’t seem to like to play with the Velominati – only shows line 1

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Cancellara

    This is the strangest phenom, and I’d love to know what browser/computer you are using. PM me with details please. You’re not the only one. Chances are if you you change to a civilized browser (not IE) then it will work OK.

  4. No cool nicknames, just the picks.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Swift
    3. Cancellara
    4. Matthews
    5. Van Avermaet

  6. Michael Matthews, Peter Sagan, Nacer Bouhanni, Fabian Cancellara, Geraint Thomas.    Just in case originals dont show.

    Daddy wants Dan’s wheels

  8. Spartacus and Co to go nuts over The Poggio and descend like crazy to shoot is out at the finish together. Sagan to make yet another tactical blunder in following GVAs move way too early and allowing The Swiss God to sit on and power past them just prior to the line.

    I have missed something, who is Billions and Billions?

    Lastly, thanks for running this site. I have read for a long time and figured it was time to jump in and interact. Also big props to the guys submitting the prizes,

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Spartacus
    2. Sagan
    3. GVA
    4. Stylebar
    5. Nibbles

  9. @Lukas

    Sagan

    Cancellara

    Gallopin

    Stybar

    Van Avermaet

    Fabulous new frame… Hope springs eternal.

    You’ll have to enter those correctly, I’m afraid.

  10. pfiew, it’s fixed. For a (very long) minute I thought I had to figure it out all by myself…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. cancellara
    2. stybar
    3. sagan
    4. kristoff
    5. van marke

  11. @bea

    pfiew, it’s fixed. For a (very long) minute I thought I had to figure it out all by myself…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. cancellara
    2. stybar
    3. sagan
    4. kristoff
    5. van marke

    Happy to help.

  12. Also, thanks to @Haldy for not having his head up his ass like I did, and pointed out that the race actually happens on Saturday, not Sunday.

    So, SUPRISE! You get one less day to make your picks, and I’m genuinely sorry you can’t wait until after the race to enter!

  13. big bunchie, BOOM!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. MATTHEWS Michael
    2. GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando
    3. CAVENDISH Mark
    4. GREIPEL André
    5. KRISTOFF Alexander

  15. Changing Cancellara to Spartacus in an effort to enter my picks properly.

    Roll on Saturday.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Gaviria
    3. Kristoff
    4. Stybar
    5. Spartacus

  19. I had several possible top fives – one for an imagined bunch sprint, one for a successful long attack, one that spoke for my patriotism to my adopted home (1 – Pistoff, 2- B-Hog, 3 – Bystrøm… like that’s ever going to happen) and this one that I finally settled on which is based on none of the above.

    1. Peter Sagan (he has been playing possum all this time)

    2. Alex Kristoff (bookies favourite, could could go either way between Sagan and him?)

    3. Zdenek Stybar (Mainly because he looks like Ash from Evil Dead https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harelbeke_-_E3_Harelbeke,_27_maart_2015_(G16).JPG)

    4. Faboo (he can’t win everything this year – can he?)

    5. Greg Van Avermaet (on fire so far this season)

    Tommeke doesn’t fit in any of my top five permutations, however… I just get the feeling that he isn’t hungry enough anymore after crushing fools for so many years, plus being dropped on ones head in the desert isn’t particularly motivating either, I guess. As for him being old, well he is only 13 months older than me…

    To be honest it really does feel like picking five pros at random from the big names and hoping for the best at this stage. At least these guys are all confirmed as starting, right?

     

  22. Good Luck everybody!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Elia Viviani
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Fernando Gaviria
    4. Alexander Kristoff
    5. Michael Matthews

  24. VSP PICKS:

    1. Geraint Thomas
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Mark Cavendish
    4. André Greipel
    5. Ben Swift

  27. so a break of 5 goes at the foot of the cipressa. all five fighting like a bag of wild cats. non-stop attacks and counter-attacks for the last 26k, but thomas makes his final move 300m from the top of the poggio and descends like a nutter chasing back 25 seconds from bertie in P-N

     

    so…

    thomas, bardet, nibali, van avermaet, stybar

     

    simples, innit

    VSP PICKS:

    1. thomas
    2. bardet
    3. nibali
    4. van avermaet
    5. stybar

  28. You see how I put Cavendish in 5? That’s a big, fat FUCK YOU GREG VAN AVERMAET. Cav has no hope of making it to the finish in the leading bunch, but at least he hasn’t whinged his way out of a doping case in the last 2 years. The ditch is too good your you, you fucking dodgy fucker.

    I hate that guy.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Cancellara
    2. Wild Sagan of Borneo
    3. Kristoff
    4. Bling
    5. Cavendish

  29. 11.       Alexander Kristoff

    22.       Michael Matthews

    33.       Peter Sagan

    44.       Nacer Bouhanni

    45.       Greg Van Avermaet

  30.  

    BTW if Jack Bauer was racing, he’d be pick number one. Interesting to see Shane Archbold and a few other kiwis in the race.

  32. Didn’t work apparently

    VSP Picks

    1. Kristoff

    2. Cancellara

    3. Matthews

    4. Van Avermaet
    5. Sagan

  33. Kristoff has squared away his helmet wearing and remains well prepared, Sagan is cementing his place as the housewife’s choice by always coming second. The rest I haven’t a clue – might as well take them out of a hat but Gaviria has been looking good and Cavendouche has focu

    sed on the track and getting to Rio so I don’t think he’ll be in at the kill

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Kristoff
    2. Sagan
    3. Michael Matthews
    4. Fernando Gaviria
    5. Bohanni

  34. Good luck to everyone

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter Sagan
    2. Stybar
    3. Van Avermaet
    4. Boasson Hagen
    5. Dumoulin

  36. VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter Sagan
    2. Alexander Kristoff
    3. Greg van Avermaet
    4. Edvald Boassen Hagen
    5. Geraint Thomas

  38. VSP PICKS:

    1. Zdenek Stybar
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Greg Van Avermaet
    4. Fabian Cancellara
    5. Geraint Thomas

  39. I’m posting mine again because fair’s fair. I’m going for the champ to show off the bands and sprint clear from a select bunch who break over the Poggio.

  40. Ah, still didn’t work. I don’t want to be mysterious – I’ve gone for Sagan, Van Av, Nibs, Bouhoo, Cav.

  41. First one of the season, lets see…..

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter Sagan
    2. Fabian Cancellara
    3. Michael Matthews
    4. Greg Van Avermarrt
    5. Edvald Bosen-Hagen

  43. Good luck to everyone. looking to another season of road bike racing.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Styler
    3. Cancellara
    4. Van Avermaet
    5. Bosen-Hagen

  46. 1. Peter Sagan

    2. Alejandro Valverde

    3. Geraint Thomas

    4. Tom Dumoulin

    5. Marcel Kittel

  48. Stybar’s new, lightweight front teeth prove decisive in a war of attrition. Sagan’s shaven legs make a difference, but Kristoff’s Scandinavian taciturnity saves him a crucial bit of energy in the final, lumbering sprint around the velodrome. Everyone sits on Sagan, GVM can’t quite contain himself and churns out mighty squares too early. VanMarke, finally, has a bike with parts that work and podiums.

     

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Styby
    2. Kristoff.
    3. The Sepster
    4. VanAvermaet
    5. The Sagster

  49. @Lewbowski Achiever

    Stybar’s new, lightweight front teeth prove decisive in a war of attrition. Sagan’s shaven legs make a difference, but Kristoff’s Scandinavian taciturnity saves him a crucial bit of energy in the final, lumbering sprint around the velodrome. Everyone sits on Sagan, GVM can’t quite contain himself and churns out mighty squares too early. VanMarke, finally, has a bike with parts that work and podiums.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Styby
    2. Kristoff.
    3. The Sepster
    4. VanAvermaet
    5. The Sagster

    Errrr . . . this is Milan-San Remo. It’s Paris-Roubaix than finishes on the velodrome! Your picks might still be good in a few weeks though . . .

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Cancellara
    2. Sagan
    3. Matthews
    4. Kristoff
    5. Geraint Thomas

  50. First time entering, I’m exited!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Spartacus
    2. Matthews
    3. Sagan
    4. Bo Hagen
    5. Thomas

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.