Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France
The inaugural Velominati Super Prestige continues the with Tour de France edition, on Saturday July 3rd in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, just kilometers from the start of the Giro d’Italia in Amsterdam (Dutchland is a small country). This will be the second Grand Tour of the series, and at this stage the Grand Tour rules and regulations are fairly well-defined, so take a moment to review them on the VSP Page.
The Tour is, of course, a major event. My personal preference lies with the Giro, but there is no denying the magnitude of the Tour and the appeal it holds. For three weeks, the world pays attention to our sport, and – provided the Tour doesn’t coincide with the World Cup football matches – this is the biggest sporting event during this time of the year. (An interesting observation: the last time these events coincided, the winner was eventually stripped of his title.)
Having run the VSP Giro edition where we tested the ruleset for Grand Tours, we’ve managed to set up a scoring system that seems fair and helps to close down the competition to afford newcomers the ability to catch up with some good picks; the Giro proved that lineup switches and the associated penalties kept the point gains pretty small while allowing strategy to play an interesting role. There is a full overview of the rules and standing at the VSP Schedule, Rules, & Results page, but here is the ten-second overview:
Every contestant is to choose their top five General Classification picks of the race. The final podium of le Grande Boucle is worth 15 points to the winner, 10 points for second, 5 points for third, 3 points for fourth, and 2 point for fifth. Given the effect crashes can have on a tour, we’ve set up some guidelines around making changes to your lineup during the race: you’re allowed to change your lineup if any rider in your pick list drops out for any reason without any penalty; rest days will allow contestants to make changes to their lineup, however those changes will come at a point penalty. (Visit the VSP Schedule, Rules, & Results page for a complete breakdown of these points.)
Every day, the leader in the points standings will have the honor of wearing the Yellow Jersey when posting on the site; the overall winner will wear the Yellow Jersey for the remainder of the season and will also earn an “Obey the Rules” bumper sticker. All reader’s points qualify towards the final prize of the free Velominati Shop Apron. As always, if you are inclined to enter, simply post your predictions for the top five placings.
New to the Tour de France edition is the addition of naming the winner of the Green and Polka-dot jerseys for the Tour. There will be no points awarded towards these two jerseys, but the leader of the competition of these jerseys will have the honor of commenting with a Green or Polka-dot jersey badge throughout the competition and the winner will earn the right to comment with that badge until next year’s Tour. The contestant who picks both the final Green and Polka jersey winners correctly will win a Velominati Logo bumper sticker. Tie-breakers will go to the first contestant who posts their entire lineup (all 5 GC picks plus Green and Polka-dot jersey winners). Given that this sub-competition has no points, pick substitutions will only be granted under the DNF regulations of the VSP; no rest-day substitutions are allowed.
Sub-competitions will be conducted while the Tour is underway for specific stages. These stages will be chosen a few days prior to the stage being held and will be selected based on the current race conditions with the aim of choosing the most decisive and exciting stages of the race, so check back often to make sure you don’t miss out. Sub-competitions will be held in separate editions.
Good luck!
Head rules the heart:
1.Contador
2.Basso
3.Armstrong
4.Wiggins
5.Schleck (F)
@brett
Is this the Josh that was waffling on buying the Red Ladies (Red Sidi MTB Ergo 1’s)? If he didn’t buy them, and still loves Georgieporgie, then I think we have a consistency problem.
@Geof, @david
Spot on. The following convention will be adopted: if you are making changes to more than one rider based on one of your picks DNF’ing, you will have to justify your reasons for doing so. The panel will consider whether this is justified based on reason and other participant’s input via the posts.
The reason for being allowed to change the whole lineup is to allow people to readjust due to the major shift in the dynamics of a race if a contender – particularly a top favorite – is expunged from the race. Simple as that; we’re just trying to have fun here. We are encouraging fair play, so don’t take a piss.
@frank
so that means if bad cadel does show up we can switch him out, as the rider we’d (i’d) picked had been totally expunged from the race, right? right??
Some of you may be interested in such a thing: VeloLouisville Fantasy Cycling League @ Velogames
@ben
Somebody is putting a hell of a lot more thought into this than we are. Looks pretty cool and probably a hoot to play. Are you regestered?
@ben
Nice looking site!
Cunning idea….the green jersey could be based on points awarded for individual key stage results…or is that diverting too far from the betamax ethic of the current system ;)
Um, no, I don’t know who that is! But KiwiJosh really has a good sense of the ridiculous, hence the George comment. (i.e. he knows George is a plonker.)
Wow. I thought picking Basso #2 was kind of out there. But, a majority have him on the podium, and Frank has him #1. Ex-doper or not, current doper or not, I like him. Cool. Mellow. Damn good.
@brett
I like this word, “plonker”, please provide a definition.
@david
Agreed. Basso is good shit.
From Wikipedia:
Plonker is a slang term of British or Australian origin whose meaning has evolved over time. Partridge in the third edition of his A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English in 1949 recorded the term as “low” slang for penis, “since ca. 1917”. The term remains in recent use with that meaning.
By 1966, the term had also acquired the meaning of a man who let his girlfriend sleep with his male friends,[1] and in the 1980s had a new meaning of a stupid or inept person. This meaning gained very wide circulation through its frequent use in Only Fools and Horses, and has entered common usage.[2]
But aside from the intellectuals… it is broadly interchangeable with wanker, dick, twat, pratt, knob, Contador, Armstrong, and fuckwit (although, I really do like the word ‘fuckwit’)
Basso is really coming out of left field. Who’d’ve guessed, huh?
@roadslave
thanks for the definition. My views are as follows:
In terms of this website, douche is probably a more pejorative term than plonker. I think of douche as implying some sort of evil or nasty trait – think of Cavendouche or Armstrong.
But a plonker, as you say, is more stupid/inept than mean, and is invariably overweight, but almost a little lovable – ergo the term “Fat English Plonker” (close to a tautology) to describe the Pommy tourist with a handkerchief on his head.
As far as cycling and the Velominati go, a Plonker may well be seen to be a Rules-Unaware very slow and ordinary cyclist (but quite possibly a nice fellow), eg. I passed this fat (probably English) plonker on the road today. He had a fucking flag on the back of his bike and almost brought me down with his weaving about on the road. But he greeted me with a cheery hello, unaware of the uncertainty behind him, so I felt compelled to give him a cursory nod.
In terms of pro cyclists, I would say that Plonkers are probably few and far between. An early season Ulle might have qualified (see what I mean about lovable?), eg. “Ulle ate so much black forest gateaux in the off season that when he turned up at Paris-Nice we mistook him for an fat English plonker on a cyclo-tour.
Of today’s riders, the fat plonkers are harder to find, but maybe, just maybe, Hincrappie could be described as riding like a plonker when he underwhelms in the classics – this almost makes him lovable.
Not sure if this helps or hinders. For the record I am currently riding like a plonker with an expected peak of 2.5 months from now.
@Marcus
Likewise, in New Zealand “plonker” connotes eminently forgiveable inadequacy of a probably embarrassing but not otherwise material kind. Your ageing father forgets to get changed out of his slippers before heading out the door to the opera? You say “Dad, you plonker, put your shoes on”. Your son leaves his shoes outside so they get rained on? You say “Oi, son, you plonker, your shoes are wet.” But some leering pissed oaf tries to stick his hand up your missus’ dress? You don’t say “Hey, don’t be such a plonker”. Some arsehole in a red Porsche deliberately cuts you off and leaves you risking your new 404’s in the gutter? You don’t say “Gosh, what a plonker”. Down this way, “plonker” is a substitute for “twit”, “dork” and “wally” – not for “wanker”, “fuckwit”, “arsehole”, “COTHO” or “whimpering house eunuch”.
1. Contador
2. Evans
3. Schleck A
4. Phamastrong
5. Wiggins
@frank – thanks. my first foray into Tumblr – despite the fact that I am web developer, I am also at the stage in my life where hold dear my time and love a good out-of-the-box solution. Tumblr has some hella nice RSS import gadgets…
@Marko
Velogames is buggy, unreliable and slow to update- but the only game in town when it comes to cycling fantasy leagues – the developer in me says “you could totally write something better than that!” but the new father in me says “beer. couch. no thoughts. no freelance.”
I love his wacky scoring system! You get points for breakaways and intermediate sprints and jerseys and “assists”. And yes, I am registered and I am hosting a mini-league – everyone is free to join: http://bit.ly/buqxAX
Re cycling fantasy leagues, for those keen to spend even more time this July thinking about TdF see below copy of post from Crossy – comment 226 (?) to TdeS VSP. (Me, I’m gonna be hard pressed to keep up with the race itself and Velominati. If I start signing up for fantasy leagues as well I may as well tell ‘er indoors to file the divorce papers now. And knowing my lucjk I;d end up playing against Frank and so getting smoked twice. But best of to those who do sign up.)
“On another topic. Not sure if any of you lot caught up with this TdF Fantasy game last year http://sbs.com.au/tdf/fantasy
I have set up a mini-league, happy for all and sundry to join.
Go to the game http://sbs.com.au/tdf/fantasy ,pick your team then use the ‘mini-league admin’ option to join my mini-league.
The details you need are:
League Name: Super Domestique
League password: jens01
It doesn’t cost anything – plus there are some great prizes to win!”
Weatherbug. 40% chance of drizzle for Stage 2 in the area around Lille. There’s a chance the cobbles will be wet on Stage 3. Outstanding. But, so as not to leave anything to chance, let us pray . . .
Great, almighty cycling gods, we come before you humbly asking for a deluge of rain on Tuesday, July 6 in Northern France. We promise to ride double our weekly miles–after the Tour is over–if you would bless us our request. In His name, Amen.
Greg Lemond, today in an article posted at Cyclingnews: “My Lance Armstrong prediction? Either he will not start or he will pull out just before the race enters France. I have a feeling the world of cycling is about to change for the better.”
WTF. Greg’s as loopy as Landis.
@david
“In His name, A-Merckx”
slight fix to an otherwise +1 post.
Now can we get a Halleluja from the cogregation!?!?!
@david
LeMelvis is back at it. However, the WSJ is fixing to print an indepth article tomorrow on the Roid stuff. (literal and figurative Roid stuff)
When I was out visiting with Frank we were talking about this and I said something to the effect of “just wait, something huge is going to come out about this right around the start of the tour.” Not to say I called because it hasn’t happened yet but we shall see.
I thought for sure that would be understood.
@david Oops. I read that too quickly. O.K, “A-Merckx.” Very nice.
@Marko When I read Lemond’s comment, I’m thinking, “It’s so bizarre it sounds like he’s got some juicy inside info on something about to break wide open.” Maybe the WSJ story is what he had in mind. Still, a big WSJ story has got to go a good ways beyond the evidence presented so far, I think, to force LA out of the Tour. I’ll be looking for the story with some interest.
@david
I couldn’t find the Lemelvis article you referene but saw the WSJ comment in the article about Kimmage I was reading this morning. You’re right about the WSJ article needing to go deeper and I’m not sure elaborating on Landis is deeper. That said, WSJ is not L’Equipe and will surely cause some ripples.
Cyclingnews, “The Art of Peaking: An Exlusive Blog with Greg Lemond”. On my screen, it’s at the top of the highlited stories list in the black box.
True, a WSJ story by itself will be big news. They had better have more than Landis’ own “testimony”, or else I’ll never read the thing again.
@david, @Marko
A-Merck added to the Lexicon. Brilliant work on all counts there, lads.
(You can check our Twitter feed for the article as well.)
In a Cyclingnews article titled, “Kimmage calls for UCI Transparency”, Kimmage says that Wiggins and Vande Velde are barometers for how clean the TdF will be this year. So, if Contador, Armstrong, Basso, Evans, A/F Schleck, Gesink, Menchov, etc, drop them, then we have evidence they are doping. Really? That’s just plain fucking stupid, Kimmage.
1. How is it you know that Wiggins and Vande Velde are clean? Oh, I see, they are on teams that publicly declare they are really clean and don’t do drugs at all and none of their riders have ever tested positive. Hmmm.
2. Supposing they are clean, how do you know they are in the first rank of clean GC riders, such that any rider that is clearly superior can be suspected of drug use? Wiggins–a pursuit rider for Christ’s sake–has only one GC campaign under his belt. “Oh, but look how much weight he lost!” In fact, given Wiggins’ background, and the fact that he hung fairly well with AC and LA in his first GC campaign, I’d say his 4th place finish is evidence that he microdoses along with the rest them rather than that he’s a first rank, clean GC rider. Vande Velde has had only one first class GC campaign. So, unless you can say all of the opponents that beat him soundly are dopers but he is clean, you have no reason at all for thinking he’s a first rank, clean GC rider, and hence a barometer for anything. The environment is so polluted, there is not a single person you can point to and say they are riding clean–except Chris Horner. He’d never do it.
I assume all the big GC guys are microdosing. Do I know it? No. But, I just don’t care. I do however get annoyed with the irrationality spewed so frequently on the drug issue. It gets in the way of my enjoyment of the sport. You’ve got some subsection of cycling journalists who, apparently, think they are covering politics. They seem to think something is rotten in Denmark, and it is their God-given duty to expose it. Yet, they lack the evidence to really make the case. Because they are activists in some cause–honestly just their own pocket books or else indulging their Armstrong-hatred–they won’t shut up about it until they get sufficient evidence. No, they’re just going to keep flogging us with insinuation, cynicism, fallacies, and non-sequitors. God I hate journalists.
Kimmage buys what Landis says hook line and sinker, despite the fact that Landis’ claim that Armstrong bribed the UCI to overlook his 1999 AFLD lab results has been shown to be conclusively false. Landis made the sheeit up. The dude is certifiable. Of course, Kimmage is going to endorse it just because he’s on the warpath against Armstrong.
The only evidence really against LA is Frankie Andrieu’s confession. I can find no reason for the guy to lie. His wife made him do it. He stood to gain nothing from doing it. In fact, he lost his job as a director just afterwords. LA is so lucky Andrieu is going to say nothing more about it and so lucky Andrieu’s wife mistimed forcing the confession from her husband. Andrieu to wife: “I did it once for you. That’s it. Not again. I seemed to have found an extra-ball down here.”
And what the fuck is Cyclingnews doing posting an article on what Kimmage thinks the UCI ought or ought not do anyway?? And, why are they letting Greg Lemond write blog articles for them, when it’s clear he just wants to grind an axe. Here’s Lemond’s first installment, in essence: “Peaking is really hard. In 92 people started doping seriously; that’s why I wasn’t as good. I started 92 with no sleep. Oh, did I mention that Armstrong is going to get kicked out of the Tour? God the sport will be great then!”
Just shut the fuck up and cover the actual sport until you make a decent case for Armstrong or Contador doping. Cycling isn’t politics.
Holy shit, some crazy ass posts and picks so far. Amazing to see how often Pharmstrongs name comes up…no frickin way I see him on the podium. He has a better chance of taking the Green Jersey than finishing top three in GC.
Here are the goods – no debate, no bullshit:
1. Contador – he will survive the cobbles after his phot op- tutoring session with Van Petegem, and will destroy the field…shoudl be fun to see if Veino will actually work for him.
2. A. Schleck – what does this guy weigh anyway? He looks like he could give Chicken Rasmussen a run for his money in the skinny department..at least Schleck does not crash multiple times in TT’s though.
3. Basso – after his solid performance at the Giro, he should be able to grab third…he has a great team who “should” work for him..would love to see him take the double!
4. Wiggins – 4th again..if he loses those fukkin super tall black socks he may be able to crank out another bit of horsepower on the climbs.
5. Menchov – unless he falls off his bike, breaks his wrist putting Nutella on his bread, or has some other freak accident.
Dots: Gesink..if he does not crash into Menchov
Green: Frick..I dunno, I will go with Cav, then Farrar, then Hushovd.
Bring it on beeotches!
Another Brazilian trying his luck:
1 – Little Schleck
2 – Contador
3 – Armstrong
4 – Wiggins
5 – Basso
Green: Hushovd
Polka: Kreuziger
1. A. Grimpeur
2. Contador (I hate this pick so much. I would almost rather leave AC out and take the loss)
3. Armstrong (a team result if ever there was one)
4. Wiggins
5. Basso
Green: Cavendish
Dots: Egoi
@Daniel
Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that you are about to exact revenge for your loss in the World cup with a devastating blow in the VSP?
@Joshua
Egoi for the pois rouges!! It’s ingenious!!
@all
Big news! We just ordered the first run of t-shirts. I’m so excited I can hardly sit still; we’re accepting pre-orders now! I begged and pleaded to get the screener to make it a rush, so they’ll be in-stock by the end of next week (July 9). Free shipping inside the USA, $7.00 world-wide.
http://www.velominati.com/gear/
We’re using Perch Graphics, the most sought-after screen printer in Seattle. This will be a masterpiece!
@david
Dude. That is a keyboardful right there. Well said. Aside from hating Pharmstrong more than you, I’m completely on the same page.
Bottom line: Great racing comes from Rule #5. And you can’t dope for Rule #5. I was watching footage of Virenque mashing some monstrous gear up some heinous climb today and I loved it, knowing he’s juiced to the gills. Drugs or not, that guy was all Rule #5 (aside from his willingness to cry at finish lines).
And Rule #5 makes great racing. End of.
@frank
Sweetness! But since I’m numerically challenged when it comes to numbers between 11 and 53, can anyone provide some help on these chest sizes? How do these numbers relate to circumference? Just multiply by two or is there more to it?
@Steampunk
Ha! I thought about converting all the measurements to metric to comply with the essence implied by Rule #24, but didn’t do it (yet).
Oh, and circumference, I think, is just twice the width because I think they measure from edge to edge on a flat shirt.
Of course, as long as we have sizes in stock, we’ll do exchanges if yours don’t fit. (Worst case is you may have to wait until the next run if we’re out of stock on that size.)
@Steampunk
Two pie arr
@frank
To be honest, I’m not so sad with the loss in the World Cup, but I sure expect the revenge and get the yellow jersey! And given the results of the Giro, we know the right picks!
@Daniel
That’s for sure! Brazil has a perfect record in GT predictions!
@all
If the VSP is anything to go on, Contador is the heavy favorite. Here is a summary of the number of contestants who picked the various potential winners:
Contador 13 picks
Armstrong 5 picks
A. Schleck 2 picks
F. Schleck 1 pick
Basso 1 pick
Eddy 1 pick
@frank That’s cool. The bookmakers have the odds on AC at like 1 to 1.8. That seems to me about right. AC is the clear favorite, with greater than a 50% chance of winning. Interesting is this. The pundits at Velonews did not have LA on the podium, except for John Wilcockson. JW picked LA to win. Worse than that, Neil Rogers, et. al were mocking JW for his pick. Who the fuck is in Neil Rogers, anyway? Last year, the same pundits did not have LA on the podium either. But, the bookmakers did. And, there he was on the podium. So, should LA get on the podium, the Velominati, who have LA with 5 picks to win, should send a message to Velonews. You fuckers don’t know what you’re talking about.
A-Merckx – love it,
A-Merckx, who art in Belgium,
Hallowed be thy frame….
….let our legs burn
forever turn
up hills or into headwinds
give us this day, our daily attack
and forgive our weaknesses
as we forgive those that do not HTFU
and lead us not into the douchery
but unto a stage long breakaway
for thine is the legend
not pharmstrong or bertie
forever and ever…
A-Merckx
@Joe
I done gots me religion!
Love this blog. 1st attempt at super prestige. Hoping to figure highly!
1. Bertie
2. Grimp A
3. Good Cadel
4. Kreuziger
5. VDV
Leaky Gas are on song, so will stir things up in race with less responsibility. Sky to all fall down as a team together on pave and wIggo to show his flaky temperament in full. Lance is old and under pharma-scrutiny where they know what they’re looking for and won’t figure.
Green = Farrar. Douche has weaker train than 09 and worse form. And is a douche. Thor not quick enough.
Dotty jumper = Levi. Following the grand tradition of dodgy blokes winning this title after lAnce drops out of GC contention.
@Joe AWEsome!! ++1 Has to be the official Velominati prayer – wish I had that when I was on the line of a big race.
@Daniel Sorry mate I am going for the double and though our top 3 are the same – different order, I am confident that Armstrong is such an ego maniacal, anal compulsive, control freak that he has timed his drug fueled, tunnel visioned, hardman, one race focused peaking to the final TT and will get his never to be broken 9th or is it 8th, I’ve lost track, win.
Good luck!
@Hawkeye
“Dotty jumper” I love it. Never heard that, it sounds so spritely. And to pick Levi for it nonetheless.
Welcome to the VSP tjw. Nice to have you on board.
1 Contador
2 F Schleck
3 B Wiggins
4 A Schelck
5 C Sastre
Green: Cav
Hills: John Gadret
Jarvis out: Will check back in a couple of months…
Bollocks, completely forgot about Evans