Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2017

Favorites ascending. Photo: Gruber Images.

As many of you know, I write a monthly column for Cyclist Magazine where I answer Dear Abby-esque questions, and the most recent query pertained to whether I consider the Tour the best race of the year, or whether it’s an over-publicized circus. The question made me realize something about myself: I have a weariness around the Tour de France not unlike a romantic whose heart has been broken one too many times.

The fact is, as much as I prefer a race like Paris-Roubaix or the Giro d’Italia to the mid-summer shit show that is the Tour de France, nothing gets my anticipation going quite the way the Tour does, which is undeniably the pinnacle of the season; all the classifications and stages are prestigious enough that racers of all sorts are all arriving at the start in peak form. There is a promise of hard racing from day one, but the first week consists mostly of me worrying about the big favorites crashing out. As soon as we get through that mess, my heart is usually broken on the first day in the mountains, when the favorite takes a decisive lead and the rest of the race is most about stages than the GC.

At least, these are the dreads of a man who lived through the Indurain and Armstrong eras of racing.

Nevertheless, the Tour always manages to seduce me, and this year is no different. Maybe this year, she won’t be such a cruel lover. And, maybe this year, I won’t make horrible picks in the VSP. Just maybe, just maybe. You know the drill; get your picks in by the time the clock goes to zero, and you get some swap options on the rest day. Good luck!
[vsp_results id=”104413″/]

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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View Comments

JonnyG says:

Jun 28 2017 at 2:33 pm
litvi says:

Jun 28 2017 at 3:47 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. FROOME Chris
2. PORTE Richie
3. QUINTANA Nairo
4. ARU Fabio
5. CONTADOR Alberto
Quadzilla says:

Jun 28 2017 at 4:00 pm
Nice open Tour by the look of things,

Potre best on paper at this stage but has a habit of loosing time when he shouldn't.

Valverde I good form too - might light it up and make it interesting!

Hard to leave El Pistola off this list but too many guys i the mix!

VSP PICKS:
1. Richie "1 bad day" Porte
2. The faces of Nairo Quintana
3. Froomacil
4. Pinot Noir
5. Valverde
Flak says:

Jun 28 2017 at 4:37 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Porte
2. Chavez
3. Froome
4. Quintana
5. Valverde
T-Benz says:

Jun 28 2017 at 4:51 pm
Here goes nothing

VSP PICKS:
1. Quintana
2. Porte
3. Froome
4. Aru
5. Bardet
Phillip Mercer says:

Jun 28 2017 at 4:52 pm
I would love Richie to win but I think for him to win his team has to be perfect and I just don't think BMC have it...

VSP PICKS:
1. Nairo Quintana
2. Richie Porte
3. Chris Froome
4. Fabio Aru
5. Romain Bardet
VirenqueforeVer says:

Jun 28 2017 at 5:31 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Aru
3. Bardet
4. Porte
5. Contador
Ccos says:

Jun 28 2017 at 6:40 pm

@wiscot

@Ron

Hmm, I’ve very curious to see how I personally react to the Tour this year. With a 14 month old on hand, job, wife, grad school, etc. I barely have time to ride, much less watch cycling. I hardly paid attention to the Giro. I almost feel guilty that I’m not that into watching pro cycling these days. But, I’ve always been a person who tries out new things, can become immersed, then moves on. I hope this never happens with my joy of riding, but I wonder if the Tour will lure me back in. We’ll see. Kicks off on Canada Day, nice one for our northern buddies! I was on Prince Edward Island five years ago on my honeymoon. Damn, I loved the Gentle Island.

0

Ron, if you don’t know about it, steephill.tv sounds like your answer. Lots of clips, highlights, photos, links to articles. The best place to go for one-stop Tour coverage. You could fit it in to your crazy scheduler somewhere!

0

Also, technically you are in the breeding and blimping stage of life so...
BacklashJack says:

Jun 28 2017 at 7:39 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Quintana
3. Porte
4. Bardet
5. Aru
freddy says:

Jun 28 2017 at 7:51 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Froome
2. Porte
3. Quintana
4. Contador
5. Aru