Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Nice 2012

The master of Paris-Nice: Sean Kelly

It’s right around this time of year when the little voice in my head that spurs me on in cold, wet, Rule #9 conditions starts getting overpowered by all my other personalities who at this stage are gathering stones and crowbars and getting ready to enforce their will on him regarding their preference for riding in nice, warm, sunny conditions. I feel bad for the little guy, too, since he helps me a lot in a climate like the Pacific Northwest; but truth be told, my fingers still haven’t regained their feeling from last week’s ride and I admit it would be nice to arrive home after a ride triumphant and warm instead of frozen and soaked like a wet rat.

It appears I’m not the only one ready for some warmer weather, and Paris-Nice traditionally holds a place of honor as “The Race to the Sun” for its timing is such that the race often starts in the French interior with rain (and possibly snow), and arrives on the sunny Cote d’Azur in Nice in balmy conditions.

With that we start our first stage race of the season, along with an opportunity to expose more bugs and logical faults in the VSP software. But never mind that; the same basic rules apply as do with one-day races, expect the stakes are a bit higher with 10 points for first place, 8 for second, 7 for third, 5 for fourth, and 3 for fifth plus two bonus points per rider in the top five regardless of the rider’s placing. Should the race be exciting enough to merit its inclusion, The Keepers may elect to include a bonus round on the VSP for one of the stages along the way. Watch this space for news in that arena.

Check the start list and watch the countdown timer as picks close at 5am Pacific on Sunday; up for grabs is the personalized Velominati Shop Apron to the contestent who wins the season-long competition. Check the Main VSP page for scoring guidelines and rules. Seeing as this is the first stage race, I strongly encourage you to enter your picks early, knowing that you can make changes all the way up until the VSP closes. If you notice something behaving strangely, please let us know and we’ll have time to resolve the issue.

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

nico says:

Mar 2 2012 at 3:29 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. LEIPHEIMER Levi
2. WIGGINS Bradley
3. VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro
4. SCHLECK Frank
5. BRAJKOVIC Janez
Adrian says:

Mar 2 2012 at 3:39 pm

If I had a clue, I'd be dangerous......

VSP PICKS:

1. Martin
2. Cunago
3. Wiggins
4. Roche
5. Leipheimer
ajn124 says:

Mar 2 2012 at 3:48 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. Hushovd
2. Tony martin
3. Haussler
4. Kloden
5. Porte
payaso says:

Mar 2 2012 at 4:03 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. leipheimer
2. van garderen
3. kloden
4. wiggins
5. gerrans
motor city says:

Mar 2 2012 at 4:08 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. Jens Voigt
2. Jens Voigt
3. Jens Voigt
4. Jens Voigt
5. Jens Voigt
brett says:

Mar 2 2012 at 4:26 pm

@Dr C

Hopelessy for Queen and Country, and as obscure as a set of cave drawings, should score nought due to decoding issues

Valverde will probably win, but I can't vore for a non-repentant sinner

VSP PICKS:

1. Giant Tomato
2. Twiggo
3. Tea Cakes in the Garden
4. Foreign Tandem
5. Daft Sort of Yoyo

What the hell? Ok, I got Tea Cakes, but the rest have got me fucked...
RedRanger says:

Mar 2 2012 at 4:28 pm

@brett
Does frank have to map the entries manually? I try to keep it simple for his sake.
acciaio says:

Mar 2 2012 at 4:32 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. Valverde
2. Wiggo
3. Leipheimer
4. Big Dog Tony Martin
5. Kloden
harminator says:

Mar 2 2012 at 4:37 pm

Someone is going to test the limits of the "Abstruse Nickname Unmapped Statute" (ANUS)

VSP PICKS:

1. Cam Meyer
2. Twiggo
3. Count Basso
4. Swivelneck Senior
5. J-Roy
frank says:

Mar 2 2012 at 4:40 pm

@RedRanger

@brett
Does frank have to map the entries manually? I try to keep it simple for his sake.

Not quite - the majority map themselves based on our new fancy code. But now with this new system in place, the only ones it doesn't figure out are the really odd ones, as @brett is kindly demonstrating.

The system keeps getting better and better with time and how many picks have been made, so it should keep lightening our load. Of the entries (times 5 for each of the five picks) there were maybe 50 in the Strade Bianche VSP that needed manual attention. So not bad - especially as compared with last year.

@all
Double-check your mappings and help us get better with this - the more we map correctly, the more it lightens our load in the future. Use the dispute function if you see something is off.