Velominati Super Prestige: Le Tour de France, Stage 14

Plateau de Beille has a reputation. It’s long. It’s hard. It’s steep. It’s high. And, because it’s in the Pyrenees, it’s either really hot or really wet.

Although it has only been featured in the Tour four times (1998, 2002, 2004, 2007), it has quickly been placed high on the list of fabled Tour mountaintop finishes for the simple fact that every time the Tour has had a stage finish at the Plateau, the winner of the stage has gone on to win the Tour: Pantani, Amstrong, and Contador have all won here and gone on to win le Grand Boucle. (Of the past winners, Pantani is the only rider whose photo I’m willing to post on a VSP event.)

For those of us who are superstitious, we will, because of this track record, choose the rider whom we hopes will go on to win the Tour. Those of us who are more reasonable might engage in some prognosticating, while others still will inexplicably pick Mark Cavendish or Philbert.

While we traditionally kick off the first intermediate VSP for a Grand Tour on the first mountaintop finish, this time around we waited for this decisive day. The riders have played their cards close to their chest, but surely they will be laid out on the table tomorrow. Get your picks in by 5am Pacific tomorrow morning for the chance to win 3, 2, or 1 points for the podium spots, and 1 point for 4th and 5th places.  Good luck.

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.

View Comments

  • @CJ CJ, your reply is just drivel. I'm not new here. I've been reading the posts here for some time. I know that Frank likes to indulge his feminine sensibilities. He "just likes" some riders rather than others. Like a woman just likes flowers on Thursday, but chocolate on Saturday. A real man has reasons for his value judgments. Frank has none. He's a bitch.

  • @Slash
    And you're manifestly a fuckwit.

    Now, let's all settle down and be nice to each other again.

    Thanks for the talk.

  • @Slash

    He "just likes" some riders rather than others

    Well, yeah - isn't that the point of being a fan? Certain riders will appeal to you and others won't, and not necessarily for fully objective reasons. For example, I must admit to not really knowing who Johnny Hoogerland was before his crash (still getting into the whole racing thing) but now I'll keep an eye on his results. Who do you watch out for and why?

  • @Slash

    @CJ CJ, your reply is just drivel. I'm not new here. I've been reading the posts here for some time. I know that Frank likes to indulge his feminine sensibilities. He "just likes" some riders rather than others. Like a woman just likes flowers on Thursday, but chocolate on Saturday. A real man has reasons for his value judgments. Frank has none. He's a bitch.

    He's also the moderator. Good one einstein.
    Bye Bye now!

  • Hi All, is there a prob with the VSP - I have just logged on again for the rest day reshuffle, and it has been taking an age to upload each page, logon etc - other pages and emails are normal speed....

    Anyway, I see I have also dropped off the VSP for some reason

    Can I be reinstated with my list, which won't appear even though I am logged on

    1. Schleckette
    2. Cuddles (I know he is going to win, but W)
    3. Fronk
    4. Basso
    5. Contador, now he appears to be drug free

  • @Slash
    Nope, you're new here. And noone gives a flying fuck what you think. Maybe share something, build up a profile and personality and someone will. Or fuck off and troll somewhere else.

Share
Published by
frank

Recent Posts

Anatomy of a Photo: Sock & Shoe Game

I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…

7 years ago

Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s World Championship Road Race 2017

Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…

7 years ago

Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s World Championship Road Race 2017

The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…

7 years ago

Velominati Super Prestige: Vuelta a España 2017

Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…

7 years ago

Velominati Super Prestige: Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian 2017

This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…

7 years ago

Route Finding

I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…

7 years ago