Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Roubaix 2014

Phinney takes flight in the Trouée d’Arenberg.

It has been a brutal week for us Keepers, having decided not to hold a Keepers Tour this year. Watching the action from half a world away has been almost too much for us to bear, and I know most of the participants from last year must be feeling similarly. On Sunday, we would be escorted by our friends and guides, William and Alex of Pavé Cycling Classics, shooting from one location to another to watch the race, eating Genevieve’s homemade sandwiches and pounding Malteni like its going out of style.

We may not be there this year, but that doesn’t change the question on everyone’s mind: can Fabian do the double a record three times? Personally, I hope not – I want the double to stay special. Until 2003, the previous winner of the double was de Vlaeminck who had managed it in 1977 at which point it had only been done six times previously. But since Van Petegem pulled it off in ’03, Boonen and Cancellara have done it twice each – that’s 4 doubles in the last 10 years.

Come Sunday morning, I’ll be gunning for Boonen. He’s been behind his form just a tad, but he forced the selection on the Koppenberg last Sunday, so he has the power. Maybe a day of killing it in de Ronde was last touch he needed and he’ll be peaking for Sunday. Fabian of course will be strong, but Sep and Greg had strong showings last week and Vanmarke is now proving to be Flecha’s replacement – hopefully he’ll have more luck taking a big win Sunday.

The points from the Paris-Roubaix VSP count towards the overall prizes plus the winner of this event also gets to post for the rest of the year in the cobblestone badge. So 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 13th. 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.

Don’t forget we’ve got three major prizes for the season-long VSP:

First place overall wins a Veloforma Strada iR Velominati Edition frame in addition to the customary VSP winner’s VVorkshop Apron
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.)
Third place overall wins a full Velominati V-Kit with accompanying custom orange Bont Vaypor+ road shoes.

Good luck, have fun with it, and don’t lose your Rule #43 spirit.

[vsp_results id=”29528″/]

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

piwakawaka says:

Apr 13 2014 at 11:50 pm

@Gianni

@Barracuda

@Gianni

OK, I'm really liking Stijn Vandenbergh. One, he is huge and two, this is his car.

Begs the question, under what circumstances does one need a camo beemer ?

Any circumstance I'd say. To apply a camo paint job to a fancy wagon like that is a little mad and I like that.

Apparently camo is down with the kids these days.(Not my bike, I won't be taking any rules flack) the guy who owns it has a big engine.

What a race! Unreal final, OPQS really made sure of it this time, with a man in the break and two in the chase all they had to do was ride the Wiggans train, as he bridged the group up, for Thomas, the guys up the road were fucked which is partly why they were caught, and Terpstra has had a brilliant campaign this year, he crushed them, a very worthy victor
piwakawaka says:

Apr 14 2014 at 2:01 am

In the last 12 Monuments that he's finished, his results are: 1st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st and 3rd. A simply amazing record.
andrew says:

Apr 14 2014 at 2:39 am

@Bespoke

Can someone explain to this Pedalwan why Terpstra didn't ride out Boonen when Boonen was clearly gesturing for someone to help out - I think it was around 60km from the finish? If Terpstra had enough left in the tank to ride to the finish like he did, shouldn't he have used that to help his primo rider? Tom Mc referred to Terpstra as a Domestique so, isn't that his role?

Thanks

Boonen's team-mates were in the following chase group, so the best they could do to help him get away was not push, as that would only help close the break down. Boonen was frustrated that there was little to no co-operation in the breakaway, as while Thomas was taking turns on the front, the others weren't. Someone on Inrng even though Boonen was trying to get Thomas to help with the gesticulation at one point.

@wiscot

Sad for Boonen, but his loyal teammate won so there's some consolation there. I'm sure he does not resent Terpstra's win for one second.

Dripping with sarcasm! Boonen sounds like a bit of whiner in some of the interview excerpts:

"I'm angry with the other riders who were with me and refused to help but stopped me from getting away (alone).

"That annoyed me. I didn't understand this lack of co-operation.

"I had a lot of bad luck. I punctured at a bad time and then my water bottle holder broke. And then, most of all, in the last 30km my gears weren't working. It was difficult to ride under these conditions."

...and anytime someone starts with "I'm obviously delighted for Niki but...", whatever comes next negates whatever was before the 'but'.
Bespoke says:

Apr 14 2014 at 4:51 am

@Mikael Liddy

@andrew

Thanks both. I understand now: his gestures of frustration were to his group that weren't sharing the load, not to his teammates.

@Gianni

I'm pretty sure that's a vinyl skin.
Rhodri says:

Apr 14 2014 at 4:57 am

@Gianni

OK, I'm really liking Stijn Vandenbergh. One, he is huge and two, this is his car.

Where is it, I can't see it?

Sorry awful joke. "Beemers" rather than Bimmers in the UK as well as Aus too as far as I know
Marko says:

Apr 14 2014 at 5:38 am

@Rhodri

@Gianni

OK, I'm really liking Stijn Vandenbergh. One, he is huge and two, this is his car.

Where is it, I can't see it?

Sorry awful joke. "Beemers" rather than Bimmers in the UK as well as Aus too as far as I know

AKA Nazi Sleds.
KW says:

Apr 14 2014 at 6:13 am

@andrew

@Bespoke

Can someone explain to this Pedalwan why Terpstra didn't ride out Boonen when Boonen was clearly gesturing for someone to help out - I think it was around 60km from the finish? If Terpstra had enough left in the tank to ride to the finish like he did, shouldn't he have used that to help his primo rider? Tom Mc referred to Terpstra as a Domestique so, isn't that his role?

Thanks

Boonen's team-mates were in the following chase group, so the best they could do to help him get away was not push, as that would only help close the break down. Boonen was frustrated that there was little to no co-operation in the breakaway, as while Thomas was taking turns on the front, the others weren't. Someone on Inrng even though Boonen was trying to get Thomas to help with the gesticulation at one point.

@wiscot

Sad for Boonen, but his loyal teammate won so there's some consolation there. I'm sure he does not resent Terpstra's win for one second.

Dripping with sarcasm! Boonen sounds like a bit of whiner in some of the interview excerpts:

"I'm angry with the other riders who were with me and refused to help but stopped me from getting away (alone).

"That annoyed me. I didn't understand this lack of co-operation.

"I had a lot of bad luck. I punctured at a bad time and then my water bottle holder broke. And then, most of all, in the last 30km my gears weren't working. It was difficult to ride under these conditions."

...and anytime someone starts with "I'm obviously delighted for Niki but...", whatever comes next negates whatever was before the 'but'.

Yeah, I'm sorry, but I have to admit I was not super impressed with Boonen. When you've won P-R four times, do you really expect others to help you out? I'm sure it must be frustrating, but his constant gesturing seemed rather petulant, especially after he attacked the break and they came back together. Did he really expect any help then?
VeloVita says:

Apr 14 2014 at 6:40 am

@KW

Yeah, I'm sorry, but I have to admit I was not super impressed with Boonen. When you've won P-R four times, do you really expect others to help you out? I'm sure it must be frustrating, but his constant gesturing seemed rather petulant, especially after he attacked the break and they came back together. Did he really expect any help then?

You mean the same way that Cancellara gestures in any race where he is in a lead group and no one will work with him because they know that if they do, he's likely to win? I wouldn't call the gesturing petulant - in the thick of the racing with emotions running high and energy getting lower with every minute it seems fairly reasonable (not Boonen's expectations, but his frustration)
scaler911 says:

Apr 14 2014 at 7:02 am

@Ron

What to think about the build of Niki? He's tall, but has pretty slim legs and arms. Nothing like Boonen, Cancellara, Sagan. Not really the bulk of a cobbles man, but he's an Awesome Dutchman, of course.

PRO: no silver shoe covers halfway to his knees

CON: don't his bibs seem a bit, long, considerably longer than the rest of QuickSteppers?

Did anyone else see the LeMan discussion afterwards? The funny Italian host, Flecha, and LeMan. LeMan seems a bit nervous in front of the camera. Flecha...looked ace and seemed cool, composed and gave really sharp, insightful answers.

Ya, LeMan did seem fidgety it front of the camera, but this is new to him, so I'm going to cut him a bit of slack. It looked like he said he'd be doing the same thing for le Tour, so I'm sure he'll get some broadcasting coaching between now and then.
Chris says:

Apr 14 2014 at 7:03 am

Bit of Paris Roubaix related stem porn for @frank. Dave Millar's bike:

Couldn't find a matching seat post of epic proportions, sorry.