Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Nice 2012
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.
I’m watching the eurosport feed and Sean Kelly seemed to think his gearing wasn’t that high because of the finish. Seemed to think it was something to do with Phinney being a track rider.
@Benj
Good call, Benji. I hadn’t even looked at my Eurosport account today, since the German version hadn’t shown the last several races. But they’ve got it.
Although I do enjoy listening to the Dutch announcers. My wife and I have discussed turning their commentaries into a drinking game.
So looks like Andy was a bad pick. 1.01 down on leader ATM. He looked like he was waiting for Frank.
@Bill
Hah! I’ve tried watching the Dutch streams during Omloop Het Nieuwsblad but it was just ridiculous.
Gooooo Richie Porte!
@Blah
From Michael Hutchinson on Twitter, gave me a good laugh.
Considering his qualities as a bike rider Andy Schleck really is an astonishingly inept time triallist.
@Benj
Looks like Andy and Frank were in sync, placing above 100.
@Blah
But still a better pick than my No. 1 Cam Meyer who was on the startlist yesterday but not today…
Wiggo going up hill in the little ring… I wonder how much difference this rain will make?
Life just gets better & better. Saturday morning I get to watch the Strada Bianchi, then put in 100kms, Sunday I get to wake up & watch Paris-Nice. Awesome. I almost can’t remember what my life was like before becoming a Follower.
On another note, I found a superb three hour route the other week, rode it yesterday. I love having a favorite 2, 3, 4 hour route that I can ride when I have the time. “Oh, I have three free hours…I know, I’ll hit that route…”
And, I even have a nice 1 hour route. It’s mainly on a bike trail (I know, I know) but I can get in some decent training, no cars to deal with, and at the times I ride usually no one on the trail. (it takes me 25 minutes to get out of the city so if I only have an hour, silly to spend most of it getting in/out of town). Oh, and an hour outside is still better than an hour on rollers!
Very nice riding by Jolly Naughty Wiggo. With continued health, good support, and a little bit of luck this may be his year. I wish I got excited about him. One good day privateering in the mountains of France will change that for me though.
Tommy V looked bored with it all already. He’s like a fickle mini-Bono.
Fantastic ride from Wiggins. Brave stuff in the wet, especially since the other late starters seemed to let up a bit. Also liked the “Wiggo” on the side of his skinsuit. Good to see Bruyneel’s magic on the Schlecks; they seem to have turned into super TT riders overnight (insert bucket of sarcasm to the tone). Par for their early season form, but it would have been nice to see them try to bury themselves in TTs between now and summer, no?
Fantastic result for Wiggins! He’s looking strong.
Andy and Frank were just shocking.
@harminator
Ooooouuuuch!
@Ron
You sir, are a ray of sunshine.
@marko
It’s taken me awhile to come around on the Modfather, but I started warming up to him last year. That was a brilliant ride today (especially in the rain). Sky’s also brought a strong team to support him here. With the amount of pressure he’s facing this year, seeing him ride while maintaining his cool-as-a-cucumber character is pretty impressive.
@Ron
One of the smartest things I’ve ever done: when we moved here, we intentionally looked for a place that wasn’t buried in the city. I’m a 10-minute ride to work (along a trail), 3-minute walk to groceries, and 5 minutes to get to half a dozen hills that will put me on rural roads by the time I get to the top (we live in a valley). And with lots of options for riding. Every ride starts at home and next to no city riding.
Tom Boonen 11th in a TT, nine seconds ahead of Tony Martin.
I wonder how many no balls they bowled ?
Wow…stunning TT by the Brothers Grimpeur. I wonder how many Euros went in the swear jar after the two TDF stages added distance?
@Tobin
If by “stunning” you mean “typical” then, yes. A Schleck will not win the Tour unless.
@Marko
It just amazes me how bad they are at them….must be the Camelbaks.
really wasn’t expecting that time from wiggins, watching him go into the first corner he looked slow compared to everyone else, and all the way through he looked cautious.
Just watched the TT on Eurosport. Stunning ride by Wiggo in the rain.
Of the brothers Grimpeur…the brothers Gimpeur is closer.
So far so good – must admit my pick for Grimplette in 4th was due to his consistently appalling TT form. Still could have been worse, as I was thinking of putting Hutarovich and Chavanel in as long shots, and they looked like they couldn’t have won a raffle today! Good ride from the Wigster though – keep it up lad.
If cycling is the “new golf”, why is there so much golf on my TV? Canadian winters and our cursed tv coverage blow….
@Fausto
Obviously I meant Sebas Chavanel – Sylvain looked like he was having a good day out there…
@Ron
That’s great.
It’s not fair on the Grimps to keep putting TT’s and downhills in stage races. They should complain to the UCI. Sprint stages should probably go as well.
@G’phantaMerckx to that. I like the Schlecks but while the tour might be won on the Alpe its surely lost in the tt.
go WIGGo
@Lepidopterist
Surely going by recent evidence it’s lost in a gear change and won in the laboratory? (Feel free to swap the words won and lost depending on which side of the Grimpette/Clenbutador fence you sit.)
TJ is in good position. Let’s see what the kid has got!
Bugger, first stage race & I manage to Delgado it!
Looked at the timer on Saturday night & saw I had a day and change to enter, figured it’d be a better move to do so sober so decided to wait til Sunday. Cue unplanned Sunday Session (including a couple of tasty Belgian Ales) & I forget it entirely.
Yuck, Valverde 30 seconds down. Not insurmountable but I doubt the peloton will let him get too far ahead.
Speaking of Eurosport, why the hell can’t I purchase one of their streaming passes here in the US? They don’t off the TV channel here and I guess that’s alright with me, but the online passes? Instead of forcing people to jack their feeds illegally, they could be turning a profit from people who actually enjoy their programming! They have the tech set up, so why the holdout?
I just heard Bob Roll say that the TT is a window in to the soul of the rider. Am I to believe then that the Brothers Gimp have no soul????
@King Clydesdale
I would pay for that!
Anyone seen this pic that Greg Henderson has posted on twitter? Gives a pretty good impression of why the brothers struggle TT-wise.
Froome was pulled from Team Sky due to a chest infection and replaced with Xabier Zandio on Team Sky. I don’t recall if there is a clause when a rider is pulled prior to the start? A ruling from the wise and all knowing referees? Can I swap him with the teammate that started in his place at least?
I didn’t see this reported prior to the selections being closed and I could be wrong (and often am) about the timing. If it goes down to bad luck that is how it goes. I have had plenty of good luck so far this season. It was bound to even out.
@King Clydesdale
Because they only purchase the European rights to the races. In theory if they offered online rights in the US etc it would lower the value of the broadcast rights there.
There are of course many flaws in this – for example I am in a region where nobody has the broadcast rights so there is no business to undercut.
But the simple fact is that if Eurosport asks for worldwide streaming rights then (I am pretty sure) ASO will charge more. The problem is with the rights holder not the rights buyer.
Look at the Strade Bianche – instead of making a paltry few thousand extra Euros from flogging limited online rights they allow the whole thing to be streamed for free. Surely at least part of the reason it has become an instant classic.
There is a simple way around it if you are willing to spend a bit more money – get a UK VPN account (I pay US$15 per month) and you will show as a UK IP address and be able to subscribe to Eurosport and anything else which is geo-blocked to Europe/UK.
It makes sense for me because I need it to get around the firewalls here which even block access to things like Skype so I can talk to my wife and children. Accessing the sport is just a side benefit… or maybe it’s the other way around.
@ChrisO
If you want to change your IP address, there are a lot of ways to do that for free. 5 seconds of googling and I got a tutorial.
@Netraam
When it comes to technology I readily confess to being the equivalent of a Fat Dentist On A Serotta, but paid VPNs seem to be what works here.
As I understand it, this isn’t just a matter of changing IP address. It is also needing to tunnel through the firewall that is used to keep undesirable things out of the country, like Porn, Politics, Gambling and Voice Over IP (see the connection… no ? Maybe if I tell you that the country’s monopolistic telecom operator also runs the firewall it might make more sense).
Possibly a simpler and cheaper solution of switching IP would work for KC.
Impressed by Voigt’s ride, I’d love to see him win something this year, a stage or the V moment of the year.
@ChrisO
I only know that IP is connected to your physical location through custom, but you can change it without consequence or paying. I only know that because I read an article about it 2 or maybe even 3 years ago.
On topic: Schleck says you shouldn’t take this time-trial as a benchmark. Too short for him, and he lacks the power to keep the big gear turning on this kind of track.
Which sounds like you should take him out of your tour spots right now.
@Netraam
Boo Hoo poor Schlecks, sounds like him complaining about the descents in last year’s TDF being too steep.
@ChrisO
Thanks for the clarification.
Your VPN talk reminded me of something called a proxy server which is a free version of what you were talking about. At least I can get to geo-restricted feeds using those.
This mornings weather charts:
Storm system over Belgium and Northern France creating plenty of wind and bringing more of the wet stuff today.
The first image isn’t cooperating…
The top chart isn’t showing anything up. It’s clear in London at the moment with the weather coming from the North West. Saturday was spent chasing the kids round trails in the woods wishing I’d gone for shorts rather than jeans whilst on Sunday I was regretting not wearing thermals and something more waterproof than a waxed cotton shooting jacket to the boys rugby game.
It looks like the mixed weather is going to be with us for the next few days at least.
The big question, though, is will it be wet or dry for the first weekend of the Keepers Tour?
@Benj
Really, if I’m going to include a Schleck on my Tour VSP it’s going to be Fränk because he complains less, and it will be in 5th position.
@Mikael Liddy
They may well have poor positioning on a TT bike but I suspect the real reason behind their shocking results would be that they can’t cope with the separation; for Andy, it’s very hard to ride in an aero position whilst constantly looking over his should to see where Frank is and mentally ruinous that big brother isn’t just behind him, Frank on the other hand is preoccupied with the thought of his little brother riding into the back of a parked car or into a ditch because he’s not looking where he’s going. The thought of having to explain to his mum why he wasn’t looking after his little brother completely fucks with his V-Locus.