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.
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VSP PICKS:
1. contador
2. schleck jr
3. cuddles
4. basso
5. cunego
@Mikael Liddy
Really? Wow...
I, like Steampunk, believe it's a bit too early to know who's going to go for it and who is going to continue to watch the race unfold. I do know this: Frank S. has way better form right now than Andy S. and Contador is absolutely toast from the Giro. But he will not go down without fighting. As much as everyone here seems to love Evans, I'm simply not feeling him. True, he's acting more like a leader and a winner, but I'm not convinced. It's more than just legs that win's this tour.
Though my overall picks say otherwise, I really like F. Schleck to win Le Tour right now unless Contador destroys the field over the next couple of days. I'd say the likelihood of that happening is about as high as seeing Oli's picks come in as he has predicted here.
VSP PICKS:
1. A. Contador
2. F. Schleck
3. C. Evans
4. I. Basso
5. A. Schleck
VSP PICKS:
1. F Schlek
2. Evans
3. Basso
4. Thomas
5. A Schleck
Contador's going to try to light something up with an impressive attak, but he's going to remember his legs are still on the tarmac in Italy.
Meanwhile, Basso's got a little taste of glory on his lips filling his guns with some extra V powder, and Evans is going to ride an inspired shotgun as he's probably having a great Skype session with his dog tonight. They will ride past, grimaces showing, as AC peters out.
VSP PICKS:
1. I. Basso
2. C. Evans
3. A. Contador
4. A. Schleck
5. F. Schleck
I think it is too early in the tour for this stage to be really predictive of who will ride to glory in Paris
VSP PICKS:
1. Sammy Sanchez
2. C. Evans
3. Ivan Basso
4. F. Schleck
5. J. Hoogerland
VSP PICKS:
1. Simple Jack
2. Basso
@wiscot
Couldn't agree more. Disgraceful stuff"”and a disaster of a Tour for Radioshack.
Word is Poulidor's not racing"”I still think he'll finish second. But I'll slot in A. Schleck. I'll spot Contador more than a minute and the rest will come in together"”not looking blasted, but scared shitless that the Spaniard dropped them so easily. This is the point, mind, where I think we'll be sorry not to have Wiggins and VDB in the race. The latter, especially, seemed to show some nice acceleration on the climbs at the Dauphiné, and it would have been fun to see what he could manage here.
I'd also dearly love to see another defiant version of this.
VSP PICKS:
1. Contador
2. A. Schleck
3. Cuddles
4. Sammy Sandwich
5. Basso
VSP PICKS:
1. Simple Jack
2. Basso
3. Andy
4. Frank
5. Evans
@drsoul
I'm with you, man. I'm not feeling him neither. Not his dog, either. Like the guy and wish him a good result, but it's all those hardened criminals from Oz that talk him up like he's the Third Coming.