Velominati Super Prestige: Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012

The Keepers and Rigid rolled into a region in France called Flandres which, without doing any further research into the matter, we assume is the coloquial French term for this region of the world. If its anything like the other regions in Europe, these places have roots that extend way past any modern country’s border and situate themselves in a history long past.

They do, however, speak French with all the stubbornness that we have come to love from the French. None of us in the group speak French very well, and no one we’ve found in Lille speaks English very well. Which means we’re all communicating with arms and legs more so than with words. We’re on our way to Kemmel, which means we’ll be able to speak a bit of Flemish again.

With Keepers Tour: Cobbled Classics 2012 about to begin in earnest, we’re busy organizing ourselves and making final preparations, so we’ll have to forgo the usual insightful, hard-hitting, race insight we usually produce for the VSPs. What’s that you say? We’re usually full of shit? Ah, right. You’ll have to forgive us the usual shit, then, and take today’s flavor.

Watch the countdown timer, get your VSP picks in by Sunday morning at 5am Pacific. Winner of this VSP event will earn the right to comment all year with the Leeuw van Vlaanderen commenting badge. We will also forgo the usual Symbol Pack prize awarded to a Monument and award the winner a copy of the local newspaper the day after the race.

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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  • Yep, that's when I saw the flag. I noted that there was another black flag closer to the camera which is evident from Oracle's snaps of his TV - Cool!

  • VSP Points up. Sorry, we couldn't be bothered to do this earlier as we were watching Boonen fucking rip it up and are now completely pissed (English word for "Drunk").

    Fucking spectacular day.

    [vsp_results id="15208"]
    [/vsp_results]

  • What a race! I'm thrilled for Boonen. I really like him & think he's just riding so well. Cheers, Tom, for pulling it all back together after a couple thin years & having a few of us question your dedication and determination. Must take a massive amount of self-belief and commitment to return to such lofty heights.

    I'm also really happy for Pippo. Great riding not long after a crash. And not long after he too was thought to have seen his best days fading. Yeah, first second but damn I wish I could ride to that place behind Boonen. I thought he was going to get him there at the end.

    And congratulations too Ballan! Again, maybe we questioned his form, but no matter what the dude is a very strong cyclist & a fine racer.

    Get well soon, Fabian & Sebastian!

    I typically watch alone, maybe calling the VMH in for the final 5km. Today was at a post-party brunch and got a few non-cycling friends and a few "oh, watching guys ride bikes? How boring!" folks to watch around 40km and get into it. Couldn't concentrate as well, but that's what a solo rewatching is for!

    mcsqueak - I watch all the races online. I don't mind Flemish or Italian anymore. Maybe I can deal with it because I don't own a t.v. I'm happy when the VMH let's me watch (not working on it) on her nice mac. If not, I'm on my netbook (so tiny, but I still love the racing!) or desktop. But, you either need to get used to it or find a solution. Can't have you not enjoying the races!

    I didn't see the Keepers. I can only imagine the fun partying they'll do all night.

  • @Buck Rogers
    Standing in Flanders Fields, in the midst of all the shit that's happened in the past and watching these men ride by, for some fucking reason the fist person I thought of as I screamed in joy as Boonen crossed first was how happy you must be.

    About 10,000 Belgians within earshot shared your joy. As did I.

  • That was such a class break - Boonen almost unhooked on the Patersberg, and on the run-in they all worked. Ballan had only one chance: Break Clear. Boonen had only one chance: Arrive in a group. Pozato had only one chance: Arrive as fresh as possible. All of them did their job and it was a brilliant race.

  • Hmmm, thought I already had 30 0r 31 points but with my 8 from today I only have 37. Guess it'll be sorted eventually, as well as my point for pickin Arndt in the women's race.

  • @frank

    @Buck Rogers
    Standing in Flanders Fields, in the midst of all the shit that's happened in the past and watching these men ride by, for some fucking reason the fist person I thought of as I screamed in joy as Boonen crossed first was how happy you must be.


    About 10,000 Belgians within earshot shared your joy. As did I.

    Man, for a long term Boonen fan this year is magical, especially after the last two years. And to stand on that hallowed ground, both in terms of miltary/world history and cycling history, just the thought gives me goose bumps.

    Enjoy it, Brother, you deserve it! And, if you would, throw back one or two for me in the local brewery!

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