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

Fausto Crapiz says:

Jul 24 2014 at 5:34 pm

I wouldn't even bother to watch this tour if it weren't for the two Frenchmen beating each other up. I'm bored with the sprints. I like him, but I'm also bored with nibali. I want some real racing. Nibali looks as if he's attacking a women's cat 4 group. Nyehh. Just ranting.
piwakawaka says:

Jul 24 2014 at 7:19 pm

@Fausto Crapiz

I wouldn't even bother to watch this tour if it weren't for the two Frenchmen beating each other up. I'm bored with the sprints. I like him, but I'm also bored with nibali. I want some real racing. Nibali looks as if he's attacking a women's cat 4 group. Nyehh. Just ranting.

glad I'm not racing these chicks.

FRA 2 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ.fr) + 1:10
POL 3 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 1:12
FRA 4 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 1:15
USA 5 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING)
FRA 6 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 1:53
NED 7 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN) + 1:57
CZE 8 KONIG, Leopold (NETAPP - ENDURA)
ESP 9 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 1:59
Rob says:

Jul 24 2014 at 8:13 pm

@piwakawaka

So can TJVG put 2.08 into Bardet in the ITT?

54k, it's possible but Bardet either has to be really bad at tt's or TJVG has to have an amazing ride. If he makes it I will salvage a little of my pathetic VSP Tour...
Teocalli says:

Jul 25 2014 at 1:57 am

Nibles demonstrating a neat elbow flick............

http://zippy.gfycat.com/ImpassionedShamelessCapybara.webm
andrew says:

Jul 25 2014 at 2:23 am

@Fausto Crapiz

Why a women's Cat 4? You don't think he could take the men's? Or is this a personal insecurity? There are plenty of women who could crush you...

Anyway, Nibali's has been a great ride. And he was magic attacking in and riding out of the fog on last year's decisive climb in the Giro. I'm almost ready to forgive him his whining after this year's M-SR.

And I was cheering for Pinot and Peraud when they dropped Valverde yesterday, too. Especially as Pinot paced the group up the climb with TJVG and also managed not to get done on the line by a wheelsucker. I really hope Pinot manages to hold his advantage in the TT. It'd be good for everyone. Except Valverde, of course, and fuck him.
Chris says:

Jul 25 2014 at 3:51 am

@frank

@KW

@frank

@KW

Lots of speculation going on everywhere.

Simple fact is, it doesn't matter.

If you want to win ANY race, you must finish said race.

Nibali's (presumed) win shouldn't be regarded as diminished because Froome and Contador aren't there, any more than it should because Merckx, Hinault, LeMond, etc. aren't in the race.

Froome and Contador had their shot, and they couldn't stay in. That's the way racing goes. I, for one, am having a great time watching Nibali crush the race out of pride.

Froome was bad luck, Contador made a mistake trying to pass a rider at great speed with one hand in his pocket and the other on a handlebar. His own fault he was out, that's just pure racing. Froome's accident(s) was racing too, but that was a bit more being unlucky with where he was at that moment for the first crash.

Agreed, but the Song Remains the Same "...as we go sliding... sliding... sliding through." Out is out.

Totally. Must finish to win.

My favorite part of Nibble's win is that Astana hired Peter Van Petegem and trained hard on the stones, practiced it extensively, really nailed the details and spent time riding them at race pace. That attention to detail really paid off. Shit, even a cobbles master like Sparty couldn't match him because he's not used to riding them in the wet (he's never raced on cobbles in the wet as far as I know.)

@wiscot

Ok, ok, I'll keep the debate going:

1973 Luis Ocana won, Merckx did not start

1976 Lucien van Impe won, Merckx did not start

1980 Joop Zoetemelk won, Hinault retired injured

1983 Laurent Fignon won, Hinault did not start

We could argue from here to eternity if these winners would have won if Merckx and Hinault had started and been healthy. They didn't. Every one of these winners deserved to win, no question. They were great riders with great palmares. At the end of three weeks they had ridden skillfully and smartly and finished with the least time elapsed. Froome and Contador started, didn't finish. End of story. We can debate this forever just like you can so many other situations in other sports. No asterisks on clean wins.

Spot the fuck on. I will note with interest that Fignon was the only one to win another Tour (and come close a third time), not to mention that he nearly pulled off two Giro-Tour doubles.

It should also be noted that no one, apart from the press at the time, would seriously suggest that Merckx's 1971 Tour win was diminished by the fact that Ocana crashed out whilst in yellow with a 7 minute lead.

(Speaking of Ocana, I've just picked up Alasdair Fotheringham's book Reckless - saving it for lazy afternoons in southern France with a cold beer after long dust rides in the Pyrenean foothills)
Fausto Crapiz says:

Jul 25 2014 at 3:57 am

@andrew I don't know about you, but there are enough sandbaggers in the cat.4 here that not only would they have a crack at Nibbles but they could save new Orleans from the next hurricane Katrina.
Teocalli says:

Jul 25 2014 at 4:19 am

@Chris as the saying goes "To finish first, first you have to finish".
KW says:

Jul 25 2014 at 6:07 am

@wiscot

Ok, ok, I'll keep the debate going:

1973 Luis Ocana won, Merckx did not start

1976 Lucien van Impe won, Merckx did not start

1980 Joop Zoetemelk won, Hinault retired injured

1983 Laurent Fignon won, Hinault did not start

We could argue from here to eternity if these winners would have won if Merckx and Hinault had started and been healthy. They didn't. Every one of these winners deserved to win, no question. They were great riders with great palmares. At the end of three weeks they had ridden skillfully and smartly and finished with the least time elapsed. Froome and Contador started, didn't finish. End of story. We can debate this forever just like you can so many other situations in other sports. No asterisks on clean wins.

Great riders with great palmares.

Perhaps a bit lost in all this is the fact that should Nibali go on to win this Tour, he will become only the 6th man to win all three GTs in his career. He'll join the likes of Anquetil, Contador, Gimondi, Hinault, and Merckx. That's pretty good company if you ask me.
VeloJello says:

Jul 25 2014 at 6:26 am

@andrew

I really hope Pinot manages to hold his advantage in the TT. It'd be good for everyone. Except Valverde, of course, and fuck him.

Ditto. Pinot has had a few TT top tens this year, and his "I'm worried about Peraud" talk could just be a bluff to make Peraud feel too relaxed. The weekend cannot come quick enough!