Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2014
Attention all Velominati. The Tour VSP is going on line and it should be a good one. Sure, between Froomy and Bertie a person could hedge their bets but Moviestar is all in for Valverde, BMC for TeeJay, Astana for the Shark and Garmin is finally committing to a team leader in Talansky. Some other teams (ahem…Trek Factory Racing for one) have resigned themselves to hunting stage wins. The Tour swings through the Yorkshire Dales, everyone but the riders can enjoy some excellent ales. As the Tour continues to Lille, Norther France and Belgium, the quality pints continue. Yes, it’s hot and the VSP generator has beer on its mind.
The route, the sprints, the climbing and even the final time trial should make this a decent Tour. Here is a start list. Everyone will have a vial in their jersey pocket, but don’t worry, it’s legal.
It is still not too late to win the overall 2014 VSP and we have made it worth your while.
- 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.
Refer to the VSP page for details concerning scoring and rest day swaps. If you want to call yourself Pedro Delgado, you will only have yourself to blame. The VSP banner on the homepage has the countdown clock, refresh your browser and don’t be late. Good luck and good picking.
[vsp_results id=”30275″/]
I can’t believe this! This will blow the VSP up for sure: http://www.theonion.com/video/breaking-tour-de-france-on-hold-as-cyclists-ride-o,36474/
Spare a thought for Gino Bartali tomorrow – a true giant – on and off the bike. The last paragraph is a gem: “When I asked my father why I couldn’t tell anyone, he said: ‘You must do good, but you must not talk about it. If you talk about it you’re taking advantage of others’ misfortunes for your own gain,” Andrea Bartali told the BBC earlier this year.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/italy-remembers-gino-bartali-cycling-hero-save-jews-nazis
Samara Sheppard-22km with a broken arse! Giro Rosa 2014.
strange only seems to want to post to one small portion of the photo…
@piwakawaka ever since the server issues this week the site doesn’t seem to be shrinking photos to fit the comment column width.
After today 3 of 5 have now abandoned… Things are looking bleak.
Just cause I think it’s a great picture, Reza is doing an awesome job, he’s French, and his presence makes the peloton richer.
@piwakawaka
Yeah. Guess you have to play around with the size and do some cropping in Picture Manager.
That worked out well. Carry on!
@Steampunk
Given the way Nibbles rode Stage 5, and then the way he climbed past Rodriguez up Belles Filles, I think it wouldn’t matter if Froome and Contador were still in it. Sure, there would have been fireworks, but Nibali stamped his name down as the man to beat and ripped time (2+mins) into anyone who mattered when the race was on. No asterisk from me :) I feel like I should have trusted Nibali’s press conference “I’ll be ready at the Tour” instead of relying on my impression of his race results.
@wiscot ha ha love it
Good grief, yellow jersey – got to screen grab that.
…and Kristoff still hasn’t sorted out his tilted helmet problem.
@Teocalli congrats fella.
@Teocalli
Well done. I knew my Lantern Rouge was safe…
@Geraint
Maybe it’s his head that’s tilted . . .
Teocalli – Congrats – yup, screen-grab that sucker!
I should have known better than to put Porte in the VSP.
Wow. Wow. Wow. Nibali. I suppose I will slot him in on the rest day and leave Valverde where he is. Meanhile, three DNFs in my top 5.
Intriguing that Porte cracked. What is Sky’s plan C?
Boy am I glad I spent the day fixing the server and not making a ill-fated swap for Porte!
Thibaut Pinot’s my man… Just need Vince to crack. TJ put in a great effort too.
Van Garderen is within striking distance of the podium. Too bad I picked him for 4th.
Wow! What a stage!
And now we have 3 Frenchmen in the Top 6 at the almost 2/3rd point of the tdf. When was the last time that happened?
Just praying for a Malmerde meltdown and then it will be perfect!
If you listen very carefully, you can hear Wiggo chuckling. Plan C for Sky? Everyone knows their alphabet starts and stops at the letter A. Maybe they should just tell Geraint to go fucking crazy. Seems as good a plan as any.
Nibbles? Dominator. Mind you, not too late for him to have un jour sans. I’m wanting Valmerde to have a shit day and old man Horner to pick it up a bit.
@Erik
Who was Phonak’s team doctor back in ’06?
Porte is French for door, non?
Back door Richie for the Lexicon?
@Harminator
Nice! He certainly seemed to get f&*ked from behind today, no?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf3KG8VAtJg
Oh, one more thing. I can’t tell you how happy I am that Nibali has not become the yellow turd. Just the maillot jaune, the rest is standard team kit. That’s class right there. Compare it to Quintana in the Giro who became the pink turd to the nth degree. Hopefully this will be an ongoing trend but I see Sagan is the green turd at the moment, notwithstanding his green Cannondale kit.
I know the sponsors and TV probably like the bikes/kits/gear that match the jersey, but things have been going too fa in recent years. Nibbles has restored some semblance of order and decorum.
Nibbles is riding at a level above. Hasn’t looked under pressure yet.
Very impressed with young Romain Bardet. Rode like a lion today as did Tejay. Nice to see them work together and a nice gesture of thanks at the finish. In sharp contrast with Malmerde…wouldn’t work with Pinot, attacked him after his pull, then jumped him 100 before the line. No shame.
@Buck Rogers Crikey! I think Jim might put doping control into the red zone.
@Teocalli
Well that was short lived but a day in yellow is a day in yellow!
@wiscot
This! Great class and respect being shown. Sagan pisses me right off. He’s got so much talent but his ego seems to be getting in the way of him at times. He’s in green but he’s lost a fair few stages this Tour.
The only thing troubling me is Nibbles’ fabulous form and the fact that his team principal is Vino! Don’t look behind the curtain.
A Frenchman on the podium? Allez, Allez, Allez.
@Teocalli
You are our very own Tony Gallopin!
@wiscot
Without wishing to start and argument, not sure that any team has a plan B – Tinkof Saxo, OPQS, Trek? I’d think Wiggo is glad he’s not there to get stuffed on the climbs without a tug or two to pull him up.
@Mikael Liddy
Does Porte have Low T? It’s natural for testosterone levels to decline as men age, but sometimes low testosterone can cause symptoms ranging from low sex drive to depression.
I will say no more.
@wiscot
Absolutely! And he’s not even wearing a yellow helmet or sunglasses. Very very classy indeed. Aside from him being on the douchebag Astana team.
I’m also happy that he’s riding to take time but he’s also not taking so much time at any of these stages; his big lead was built on the cobbles and now he’s just padding it little by little.
Great race.
@Harminator
No shit, eh??? He is SERIOUSLY f&*ked up in that video!
@Teocalli
AG2R maybe?
Good point though; the counterpoint is that I can’t think of any other team that has a previous winner in its ranks and left him on the bench. Who knows what Wiggo would have done in the race, I agree he’s probably happy he’s not there as he’s bulked up and has other plans that involve going fast on the flat. But Brailsford still looks like a dick for not taking him along. Plan C? Nah. Geraint has no chance now that he’s lost time trying to help Froome on stage 5 and then Porte today. Shame, as he looked like he still had more left than Porte did today even after doing loads of domestique duty.
@frank
I get your basic point, but I’d rather he wore yellow than those turquoise shorts. The Astana kit is an abomination. But fuck it, if he rides like that, he can wear what the hell he likes.
@Geraint
My final comment (and I do accept that Wiggins has been amazing for British cycling) but his pattern of winning is kill the time trial and survive the mountains. That just does not fit with this year’s course. Be good to see GT going for stage wins now though.
@frank Vino is looking like Vinan.
@frank
Agreed, very controlled racing, perhaps too controlled? He seems to gap his opponents and then just holds them, almost as if he doesn’t want it to look too dominant. On a brighter note TJVG!
Reports suggest Fuglsang was The second rider (after Contador) to be Van Den Broek. Apparently he was thunderstruck by Jurgan’s bidon.
On an unrelated note, fuck you Brailsford, Wiggins Wiggins Wiggins! Oi Oi Oi!
Porte did exactly what I expected him to do, just a few stages earlier than I expected. For a rider whose main job it is to deliver a team captain to the business end of a climb, he popped at exactly the right point.
Wiggin’s instagram looks like he’s having a better time than anyone at the race right now…
@Teocalli
Just catching up on yesterdays stage and I second that. Plus Valverde rode like a fucking prick with Pinot.
Because I don’t want to be accused of overwhelming cynicism and negativity, it did warm the blackened cockles of my heart to see Frandy (I don’t know which one it was) rolling with the leaders at the end of the stage last night.
@unversio
Are Conan and Vino related? You know Conan’s hair is juiced . . .
I wouldn’t have thought a stage with the Lautaret and Izoard could be so dull. Paying the price for a good first week I guess.
Chapeau to Thibot Pinault for hanging on when they pushed it on the descent.
Maybe the last climb will make me eat my words but nobody appears to be prepared to challenge Nibali any more.
@ChrisO
I’ve dropped off twice to the dulcet tones of Kirby and Kelly. I feel its fair to say its a race for second now, and why would any rider want to push themselves against Nibbles and the Astana boys. A majority French podium may be on the cards if Bardet and Pinot can keep Valverde et al away…
Nice to see Gee given a bit of leg room earlier.
@ChrisO final climb was definitely lively, it’s always nice to see Piti losing time too. I’m quite liking the French civil war that’s going on, but they’re all racing for second.
@VeloJello
This.