Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2014

Marcel’s tan lines are crisp

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″/]

Gianni

Gianni has left the building.

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View Comments

Mike_P says:

Jul 18 2014 at 9:53 am

@Teocalli

@Teocalli

Good grief, yellow jersey - got to screen grab that.

Well that was short lived but a day in yellow is a day in yellow!

You are our very own Tony Gallopin!
Teocalli says:

Jul 18 2014 at 9:54 am

@wiscot

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.

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.
Erik says:

Jul 18 2014 at 9:54 am

@Mikael Liddy

@Erik

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?

Who was Phonak's team doctor back in '06?

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.
frank says:

Jul 18 2014 at 10:17 am

@wiscot

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.

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.
Buck Rogers says:

Jul 18 2014 at 10:42 am

@Harminator

@Buck Rogers Crikey! I think Jim might put doping control into the red zone.

No shit, eh??? He is SERIOUSLY f&*ked up in that video!
Geraint says:

Jul 18 2014 at 11:42 am

@Teocalli

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.

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.
Geraint says:

Jul 18 2014 at 11:48 am

@frank

@wiscot

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.

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 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.
Teocalli says:

Jul 18 2014 at 1:05 pm

@Geraint

@Teocalli

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.

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.

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.
unversio says:

Jul 18 2014 at 1:32 pm

@frank Vino is looking like Vinan.
piwakawaka says:

Jul 18 2014 at 3:10 pm

@frank

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.

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!