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″/]
@Mikael Liddy
Hell yeah, much more impressive than the bunt in the green on Saturday.
What a race, G pulls Porte back and gains some time on Bertie, they are both going to have to go some and take it to Nibbles to get back that time, quite big for so early in the race. What is the record for the longest run in yellow?
Bint, not bunt!
Dammit! Missed the last 10k but it sure was epic what I saw. Sad for Froome, but you know, I think there’s a big difference between training on cobbles and racing on them. Most of the guys who did well today have raced on the stones. Not surprised at Nibali at all. Good all rounder in GTs and one day races. Known to be a great bike handler. He’s also shown himself to be an aggressive and proactive racer – see stage 2 for evidence.
I hate to bring up COTHO, but if he showed one thing in ALL his tours (and I’m including comeback ones) is that you need luck. Some you make, some you don’t. Nibali had luck, Froome didn’t.
Agreed on Sky – now they’re stage hunting – along with many other teams. All their eggs were in the GC basket.
Should cobbles be in the Tour? Yes. Just as mountains, TTs, flat stages, lumpy stages should be. I want an all rounder to win, not some billy goat who limits his losses on the flat. Nibali is an all-rounder. Froome is not.
Contador v Nibble has a lot of potential. Neither one is afraid to actually race. So much better than reducing matters to a a/kg contest.
@Nate
Yeah, and then TJ is bitching today that the Tour shouldn’t have cobbles, forgetting that Froome quit before the first secteur. Maybe they should eliminate stages with rain as well?
Stop your bitchin’ and make me a sandwich!
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-garderen-feels-tour-de-france-should-not-include-cobbled-stages
@Minnesota Expat
Plus one to that. I also understand they extensively tested their gear and practiced with Van Petegem at race pace to really understand how it all worked.
@wiscot
Fabian’s point was perfect yesterday; if you can’t have cobbles, then why have climbs? Any one of those riders (cough! TJ cough!) who complains about it is dangerously close to emulating the Grimplette.
Video is good, but sometimes stills are better. Check these pictures out for what an epic stage just happened. Look at the faces. The one of Porte and Thomas is especially great.
http://www.steephill.tv/2014/tour-de-france/photos/stage-05/
One more thing. Even if Froome had been 100%, I honestly think he’d have finished with Contador at best. Could he have stayed with Nibbles? Hell no. Look at how Thomas and Porte rode when given their freedom – even a fit Froome would have been an anchor in that scenario.
Right now, Prudhomme is thinking “hmmmm, cobbles ever year, I think that could be arranged . . .”
You’ve got to admit, this is only stage 5 and it’s been a great tour so far! Sure beats past years when all the GC guys just rode together until the mountains or first TT.
@Chris
Cruel, funny nonetheless.
@Buck Rogers
Indeed. He did extremely well at both Paris Roubaix and Public Relations in 2014.
I see Froome is getting some sympathy, but not much else, so I think it’s time to profess my Dirty Froome Love.
The first time I saw Froome race was in the 2011 Vuelta when he did that storming TT that put him in the top 3. His subsequent experience in that race, having to wait for Wiggo, even though he was in red made my appreciation for him grow (particularly when Wiggo would do his stupid hill-getting-steeper, must-tuck-lower routine). Froome should have won that race.
On the Tour in 2012 he won one stage, and should have had another 1 or 2, but again Wiggo’s need to have his hand held on the steep stuff cost him.
Finally in 2013 Froome was given his head. He took yellow in style, attacking earlier then he was supposed to. And then the next day, he clung on when Garmin decided they were going to fuck with everybody. He then won with style on Ventoux, accelerating away from Bertie, and then slowly dropping Quintana. He showed his class on the last mountain stage, having a go and attacking Quintana, even though he didn’t have to. The one complaint made about Wiggo in 2012 was that he had no panache on the bike. Froome is the opposite; as far away from a trendy mop-top mod as you can get, but you can’t accuse him of riding like a robot.
Stage 2 on the Dauphine this year is a shining example. Left alone with 6km to go, he rode damn near everyone off his wheel, and not by slow strangulation. He jumped, decelerated, jumped again, and then just rode as hard as he could to the line.
Yes, he does look like a spider humping a lightbulb, and his fascination with his stem is a bit puzzling. But he’s making the most of his God-given physiology, no matter how unorthodox it might be.
The race is going to be much poorer without him.
@wiscot
Crikey. Look at the focus in Porte’s eyes. “This is our/my big chance. C’mon G, let’s fucking smash it!”.
I loved that stage. Anyone else see @Alex under the Malteni flag on the 2nd-to-last secteur?
@LeoTea
Well put, I’m with you there.
@LeoTea Great statement. As much as I get frustrated with how nice Froome can be, I have to admit I shed a tear when I saw him shake his head and step in to car.
Fuckin’ awesome! What a stage, 47kph average, 47!!, brilliant riding by the Astana squad, very impressed by Nibili so far, take that Vino!
@frank
But today Candelabra is saying the cobbles dont belong in the tour and it was dangerous, all because Schleck lost 8 minutes, and complained no one can pass on the narrow pave, sounds like sore loserspeak to me, how can he change his mind like that.
What a shit sandwich that was out there today…wow!
I still haven’t seen the last half of the race and can’t wait to catch up with it tonight. However, I will say, that when it got ugly… and riders started going down… and the cobbles were looming… it certainly felt like a reckoning of sorts in which heart, skill and courage would trump watts.
The Tour needs more of this.
It will be interesting to see what Porte and Thomas can do together when the road goes up.
Awesome stuff!
@Chris
Beauty!
Holy Fuck, that was a stage. Geraint Thomas is such a stud. He dragged Porte up through about three groups. And Cancellara was on NBC sports afterward, charming, making sense, clean. That’s a pro.
I’d be under a blanket in the team bus, asleep.
@Chris Disappointed the headline doesn’t read “Boom shake the Froome”
There were a lot of strong performances out there but Nibali was in a different league today. To ride away from Sagan and Spartacus towards the end was amazing.
As much as I’m not a fan of Froome it was horrible watching him stand at the side of the road. He looked like he didn’t really know which bit of his hurt more and needed holding. He looked in a proper shit state.
@strathlubnaig
He can’t. That’s fucking stupid. I think the first was him speaking his mind, today he is taking the team line.
@dyalander
Oh wow! That’s a DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince reference! Now its a party!
@frank
Compare & contrast widdle TJ’s cry with the reaction of one of his team mates…
As if we needed an excuse to love him any more!
@Chris
I felt the same way and I wanted him to lose but I didn’t want him to quite without putting up a fight.
As the day has passed and I’m now also embittered by a cheap Dutch loss in the World Cup, I have realized that Merckx would have finished the stage at least. He stayed in the ’75 Tour despite several physical ailments just to lend credibility to Thevenet’s victory. That’s class.
I totally get Froome quitting, he was fucked, but part of me wishes he’d at least have finished. I could see part of him just was tired of crashing and couldn’t face going on and losing heaps of time. Lets remember, he’s the only one who DNF’d today. It would have been class to let himself be beaten properly. But obviously if he couldn’t go on, he couldn’t go on.
And don’t start me on TJ. Fucking bitching about the cobbles is one thing if you can ride them. If you can’t, then you’re just being a bitch. Hinault fucking bitched about them but he fucking won Roubaix, too. And he knew he had to win it to lend credibility to his bitching. And TJ fucking blaming his crash on not being used to riding low pressure tires? COME THE FUCK ON! Try training for what you know you will face in the race!! You’ve known since the Fall!!
JAYSUS. Doctor, where are my pills?
@Chris
Strong performances ?!? Did Boom just race 250 some km in 3 hrs 18 minutes across wet cobbles? On a skating rink? I’m trying to comprehend what these cats just did today. Do I have the #s correct? Looney tunes. Simply looney tunes. I can’t imagine.
How fitting is it that Stage “V” was exactly that? When I saw the rain this morning this morning and heard it was 50 F there, I was sure that everyone would get throttled. I can’t blame Froome for packing it in, most regular people want a day off after a failed unclip attempt (you know we’ve all done it, whether seen or not). 3 times in two days, ouch. I feel bad for whoever has to tangle with Cav and Chris once they are back to 100% and all this Tour jazz is over. Both of these guys will be on fire for the remainder of the season.
Like most professional sportsmen these guys needs a good dose of the V. Almost every sport these days the pros complain if the conditions are even mildly challenging. As a Pedalwan I’ve only been following for a few years but every tour they find a stage “too hard,” last year it was a dangerous descent, this year cobbles.
The only issue I have is that the cobbles are too early. They should be the penultimate stage of the tour (or even reverse the Paris-Roubaix as the final stage if they ever decide to race it again ). Make the GC contenders really put it all on the line on the cobbles.
And throw in a mountain stage en grave (ascent and descent) as well as a tribute to the history of the sport, no support cars, tubulars round the shoulders, teams hammering the mountains in the dust. Great stuff for the spectators, hard work for the teams.
@Bianchi Denti
Yeah. Amazing race. I kind of wished they would shut TJ and Cancellara up. Sure, it as a butcher shop. But who said cycling was a walk in the park. I know that if it were, I wouldn’t do it. Surprised that there wasn’t a Boom interview at the end. Ya know, some thing where he says “I love the cobbles.” Next thing you know, the organizers will have to stop using grades over 5 percent. And for days over 85 degrees, rest stops for the riders every 20 minutes.
@wilburrox Awesome day no matter what, but closer to 160 k
@frank
This, this, and this. Only his badassedness and his massive firepower and willingness and ability to use it for effect on the cobbles justified his “connerie” remark.
But, yeah, I was so hoping to see a resurgent Spaniard or Sicilian take it to Froome over the course of the race. Someone with a decent tan, just because I’m prejudiced that way.
@Chris
@Geraint
It seems Porte also hit the deck, looking at his left shoulder here
It was awesome to watch. A large number of crashes on corners on tarmac, I’m wondering if the slipperiness/rolliness of a tub at 60psi is easily handled in the dry, but makes for even more breakaway risk in the wet on the smooth stuff?
@frank wanna know who’d have finished the stage, let alone the whole race? This guy…
@Beers yup, have a look at the additional ventilation his bibs have in the photo above with Thomas…
@wilburrox
At around 80K’s an hour too! That would be crazy….Huge day, respect to all that finished
@Chris I only saw a V on the back, and didn’t have the orange sleeves as per new jersey, so it was probably you. Coverage over here in Oz is fantastic!
@Beers – He did, and so had Eisel, showing road rash in the discussion with Froome at the team car. And my mistake, it was Bak not VdB who cartwheeled over the bars into a ditch.
@il ciclista medio
No chaps it wasn’t the full P-R distance: 152.5km, 3:18:35, ~47km/h. But still fucking awesome.
Wow, had a feeling about Froomy, after crashing yesterday yikes, I don’t like him but I didn’t want that to happen to the poor fucker, thats bike racing. Lots of respect for Nibali.
@Chris
This. Nibbles looked like a man on an absolutely obsessive mission. He realised he had the chance to gain more time and went for it big-time. He knew it was terrain he’s not overly comfortable on, but smashed it up. He has gone up yet another notch in my estimation and is almost overflowing with the V.
What a day! Vast amounts of cowbell from G…I actually fetched mine from the kitchen to rattle as I watched. Nibbles was a revelation. Froome is making a real habit of falling off his bike early in races…didn’t he fall off earlier in the year during the roll out on one of the early season races?
Luckily (because there is certainly no skill at my end) I did not have him in my picks which as rocketed me to top 10 in the VSP (must take a screen print because it will be very short lived I am sure!)
Only thing is, I am wondering if I should have picked Talansky rather than TeejaytheDJ?
need more cowbell from nicemusicltd on Vimeo.
@Mike_P
Totally agree chaps. I did think his sudden improvement in form when he went to Astana was a little suspicious, but I’m over that now and I’ve become a big fan. He smashed the Giro last year, attacking and winning in the maglia rosa in the snow on the penultimate stage, and he’s clearly set out to smash the Tour this year. His attack into Sheffield was impressive in itself, but his ride yesterday was something else. It’s like he said to Vino “look, mate, your version of my national champion’s jersey is a fucking abomination, and an insult to my country, so I’m planning on wearing something else for the next three weeks”.
@LeoTea
Much is being made of the “should they have taken Wiggo to the Tour” question and there are a couple of points probably being missed:
1. Wiggo is in awesome form. It has been hinted that he did not want to ride Domestique, that is his choice. Froome rode for him, so why not return the favour?
2. Froome is the defending champion. For all of hard nosed commercials it would be a brave team that dropped a defending winner (who was also in good form) in favour of another. Wiggo is a big fan of the history of cycling and respects this. He knows he should not depose Froome so he is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
3. Wiggo wants to ride the track at the next Olympics, the new schedule probably works quite well for him.
Personally I love them both…but they are very different. They both have the ability, Froomedog is quieter but his riding is much more exciting to watch, attacks, staring down his rivals and a great climber and timetrialler. Wiggo has panache off the bike, he is brash and has style but he rides to a power meter and rarely does anything that is not calculated. He won the tour by doing the absolute minimum, relying on his team and was clinical in his execution. Awesome…but not as exciting. Having said that calling the press a bunch of cunts was pure genius and I love him for it.
Chalk, Cheese….C’est La Vie.
The question is not if, but when, he will leave Sky. Which team will pick him up?
Wigan Athletic. Sorry, I mean Sharp-Cannondale.
Just trawled back over the last couple of pages and of course, the main talking point is Froome and what may now happen on GC, but holy cow, this guy needs celebrating. What a ride. Boom !!
The thing that struck me most about what state Froome was in was that having got in the car he was unable to close the door himself. He clearly wanted it closed to shut out the cameras but was unable to grip or pull it himself and had to ask for it to be closed.
@Geraint
Thing is though if he is going to train for the Olympics track it’s not really compatible with the requirements for a stage race.
@Teocalli
He almost looked to be in a state of shock. Or maybe he was expecting a minion to do it for him (no offence @minion).