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!
Oops, the link didn’t work
http://thestar.blogs.com/photodesk/2010/07/2010-tour-de-france-photos.html
@Cyclops
The last one of Lance & Alberto deserves a caption.
@Cyclops Now that is a photo record of carnage.
“Ooh, Bertie, do you use Baxter? I could just gobble you up.”
Or not.
@frank
He’ll have a really sunburnt neck now, too.
@cyclops, those photos are great!
God, I hate my job…. takes me away from the Tour, and I have to catch up late at night, watching reruns. SO: @Nof Landrien – we obviously aren’t going to be friends yet, as you clearly have no taste; @all – yes, I am pro-Brit.. and that is VERY different to being pro-English: the day Andrew Murray wins a Tennis Major, he will be an amazing British Tennis Pro… up until that date, he is a wannabe scottish arriviste. Geraint Thomas may have only come second yesterday (to an angry Thor), but fuck me, he is in the white jersey…. and he rode a ballsy stage… I’m really happy to celebrate his 2nd place…. he may be welsh, but he’s also our road race champion. That white jersey can never be taken away from him, and is a pointer to future pedigree… and the guy can ride. Yes CAVENwetDISHrag (that one’s mine, by the way) is having a shocker… but you shouldn’t fuck with the fates. Quote MotorMouth last year: “When I win the green jersey, I’ll treat myself to an Audi R8″… he then DOESN’T win the green jersey, but argues “I was disqualified for a facile reason [the stage narrowed, and I was deemed to be naughty – fair cop], and should have won by the 14 points I was disqualified, so why shouldn’t I buy a flash car anyway?”… and then does by an R8…. and look what happens – shit performance, tooth infection, bad PR, poor legs: a) you focus on cycling, cycling, cycling. Rules #5 and #10, nothing else… not flash cars, not girls, not dosh; b) you don’t fuck with the gods of mount olympus…. that’s why this year is not going Cav’s way…. Talking of which, I’m loving Thor… no accident that Nordic god had a hammer….. do you remember that stage last year where he dug deep, buried it over the lumps, and came in to reclaim the green jersey?… and this year… awesome: really classy. Last word of my rant: Contador – a ‘broken spoke’ slowed me down. He rode really well on the cobbles, so well done… but see my earlier post on what it would be like for him taking the wheel of Vlad… broken spoke, my arse… on the rivet the entire day, being bounced around like a mannequin, more like. Thanks for all the photos of yesterday… a truly iconic stage. Today, me thinks, a tad anticlimactic.
On a related note, I’m still reeling at Spartacus’s oh-so-cool-wrists-resting-on-the-bars as he powered over the cobbles while everyone else held on for dear life. I suppose it was the only way to make sure Andy kept up.
@Kermitpunk How can the Schlecks even think of leaving Saxo, when they have the most loyal and dedicated teammates in the entire peloton?? Did you see that photo of Jens standing over F. Schleck on ground? Jens probably holds himself personally responsible, and wishes he could have taken the fall for Frank. And, Cancellara’s work for Andy was some of the finest and most effective domestique work I’ve ever seen.
Here’s a long term prediction. The Schlecks on their own Luxembourg team will never be as good as they were with Riis.
@david
Dude, my thoughts exactly. There are some riders who fail to appreciate the network in a team – the DS, the riders, the support staff – and place far too much value on their own ability to pedal their bikes.
I’m personally shocked to read these stories, although I hope they are just rumors. If not, however, they will likely go the way of the Hamiltons of this world and disappear as soon as they depart from the structure that their mentor – in this case Riis – has put in place. That picture, and the “Murderers” quote from Jens just puts him one notch higher on the Awesomeness Ladder. It must be scary all the way up there where that guy is.
Watch this clip and it will make your day: Cavcanttakealosslikeamandish?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro2nDhJ6Wp8
Hmmm…I sense a disingenuously manipulative substitution from Pont there… Knowing (as I do) that he is a character of dubious moral value, I think this should invoke the Piti Principle. As he was not specific anyway, I suggest that the substitution is only ratified on the basis that Pont has substituted in ‘Bad Cadel.’
As such, on the days where Team BMC are nowhere to be found, where journalists encroach on his dogs personal space and when he was good, good, good and then he wasn’t, Pont shall accrue the benefit of our mangina chinned, hero.
Time gains made by ‘Good Cadel’ can be set aside….
Great caption to this photograph:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/on-the-startline-in-epernay/129713
@Kermitpunk
If I were a pro, there are three guys I would not want to have angry at me:
3. Faboo: nice chap but I suspect when he turns, it’s over.
2. Voigt: common wisdom has it that people cannot be turned into powder spontaneously. Voigt would find a way.
1. Hushovd: he wouldn’t even notice that he killed me for a while. He’d just look at me at some point and go, “Oh. Are you dead already?”
@frank
Don’t you think the Schlecks’ll just bring Faboo and Jens along with them?
As far as the Douche is concerned (I love the new names, but he will always be the Douche to me – I’m a sentimental bloke), no George, and Hansen out early (Chapeau for Hardest on Tour riding out Stage One and pulling it along at the end with a broken collarbone AND sternum!!!) means his train just isn’t as good as it was. And the aura of invincibility is long past, so he’s not as winning as he was. And he’s a douche of supreme douchitude.
@frank
I’ve been thinking about this for awhile. Sadly, I think this is Saxo’s last year in its current iteration, which is a shame. I mean: O’Grady, Jens, Spartacus, Sørensens, Grimpeurs… It’s such a great outfit, and there’s not one single guy there I don’t like. But there is no team from Luxembourg without the Schlecks. If Bjarne is having a tough time finding a sponsor, he may well be happy to jettison some of the bigger names and bank on success from his younger stars. And he has plenty of them. Porte was a revelation at the Giro; Fuglsang is a stud; Breschel is equally impressive. Moving forward, you risk losing these guys if they have to ride for the Schlecks. Bjarne knows young talent and he develops it fairly well. He might have an easier time getting a sponsor to commit less money if the Schlecks have left. Cancellara is more likely to go to BMC, I would think than any new team.
The bigger tragedy in all this is that I can assume this is likely the last Tour for Jens and O’Grady. And with Frank out, I don’t see Jens going in any breakaways so that he can conserve energy for Andy. In all, I agree with the sentiments above: I suspect the Schlecks will miss Bjarne more than the other way around. Unless, of course, there is no sponsor and a full-on mutiny takes place.
ARGGGH!! Cavendouche finally gets one. :(
Classic! Quick addendum: Thor would kill you and eat you for breakfast (raw) without even noticing. Don’t fuck with the bull from Grimstad.
Impressive, but hardly dominant sprint today””it was strangely chaotic without any of the trains really getting going. This is probably good for the Tour to have a number of contenders in the race for green. Another good sprint from Hagen; he could be a threat if he keeps pipping Hushovd at the line. And good to see Farrar in the mix; out of form and clearly still a little timid, but at least he went for it. A sign he’s on the mend. Whether he decides to hang as they start going uphill or not remains to be seen, but tomorrow’s sprint could be fun if everyone’s on song.
Speaking of awesome photos you guys should take a look at the photo I submitted to Astana’s photo contest last year.
http://cyclosis.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/astana1.gif
Agreed. Lucky duck of the day is Ciolek, who broke right before Cavendish did, with Cav “holding his line” by swerving to his right… right in front of Ciolek. I was much more impressed by EBH. Garmin’s lead out might be fast (as evidenced by yesterday) but they need more speed to hold off Renshaw. THOR didn’t have a soul going into the last 250 meters… Hoping for another impressive single-day ride from Thor like last year to sew things up.
What a crock of fucking shit.
He rides shit yesterday and you all cane him (rightly). He rides a demon finish today and killed everyone by 6 ft and you still cane him.
All the bollocks about HTFU. Well he HTFU today didn’t he? The easiest thing would have been to pull out citing poor form after yesterday. But no, in a huge display of Rule #5 he comes out and wins and it’s still not enough.
I understand people not liking him, but credit where it’s due. Seriously people, it’s a bit too one-eyed right now.
Agreed Guy, he blew great yesterday, today he hardened up and rode like he is paid to.
@Guy, @Souleur
Agreed absolutely. He’s still a fucking prick, but that was a well-deserved win today. I’m even a little bit (a very, marginal, little bit) happy for him. Well done, that’s for sure. It’s much easier to buckle under this pressure than it is to rise above it.
If he could just be less of a douchebag, it would be much easier on all of us.
Farrar! What a stud doing that with busted bones!
Good, emotional salute, and some good, genuine tears on the podium. Well done.
@Guy
Indeed you’re right, Guy. Not a huge Cav fan, but I’m always impressed when he lays it down and I’m interested to see what this does for HTC. Rogers stepped up in the final 5K today, but the lead-out wasn’t perfect. Can’twinwellIjustdidish still put the hammer down and made it happen. If you’re HTC, you have to have confidence now that if you can get your ducks in a row you have one hell of a horse running at the end. Not that these guys need it, but that’s good incentive to get their shit together and dominate the front end toward the end of the race with a little more authority in the days to come. If Le Grand Douche Qui Ne Port Pas Vert would start putting in a little effort for the intermediates, he might even compete for green…
I just looked at the points distribution for the final sprint for the first time. I’ve never much cared about the green jersey. 35 for 1st. 30 for second. 26 for 3rd. 24 for 4th. I don’t know, but first place doesn’t seem weighted highly enough. And, only two points less than 3rd place for finishing off the podium in 4th. Worse than that, you get 10 points for 16th place. Near one third of the points of the sprint winner for rolling across the line on sprinter’s wheels! Here’s my suggested distribution.
1-26
2-18
3-15
4-10
5-8
6-5
7-4
8-3
9-2
10-1
11-fucking nuthin’
Apparently, the points winner would be the one who could win outright once or twice and get few podium finishes, which is about what you’d want I think.
@david
Interesting. Would you alter the points for the intermediate sprints? Thor seems to cagily keep up with his closest rival and make sure not to lose points in the overall. Under your schema, I guess he’d also be a little more pissed off about losing points for Stage 2. And, Frank will tell you what happens if you cross him.
I don’t know about intermediate points. It depends I guess on what you want the winner of the green jersey to be? The best sprinter? If so, I think you’d want to de-emphasize intermediate sprints somewhat. If you wanted the green jersey winner to be just a damn hard strongman and competitor, then you emphasize them more. So, if you had int. sprints at 8 for first, 4 for second, and 2 for third, a strongman like Hushovd or Boonen could really put pressure on the sprint specialists like Cavendish or Petacchi buy going after significant points in the middle of the stage. Thus, Cavendish would either have to contest them, or send members of his team out to take points away from Hushovd or Boonen, wearing them all out. Hmm. I kind of like this. We could change the jersey color to black, and call it the hardman competition–a point that would be doubly emphasized by wearing black in the July heat.
@david
That’s an interesting point, but historically, the competition runs pretty tight – which is good for entertainment purposes – so I’d be inclined to leave it as is. Also remember that it’s a misconception that this is the “Sprinter’s Competition”. It’s actually intended to be awarded to “the most consistent daily finisher”; meaning the rider who places on the stages most consistently. It’s skewed towards the sprinters because the majority of stages are flatish to then extent that a number of them make it to the finish inside the points. (I also think they may have started giving less points on mountain stages, but I can’t remember, and looking it up would be too much “work”.)
With consistency in mind, you’d want to keep the points as evenly distributed as possible, because it’s important to finish consistently, which is what makes the competition so hard – the riders who go after it can’t just win a bundle of stages and sit out the rest, they have to fight for points from start to finish, and even get over some mountains to get to the intermediate sprints. Zabel gets a tip o’ the hat for how he’d pull this off – sometimes without a single stage win. Now that McEwen has lost some of his top-end, he’s really well positioned because he’s been in it every day despite not winning (yet).
Cav, after finishing out of the points twice, is largely out of the running, unless he makes an amazing comeback. And, based on consistency, to finish so far down twice and to win once is not deserving of the jersey, at least at this point with how many stages have been contested.
I have never been able to keep track of all the Giro competitions, but I think one of them is actually skewed more like you’re suggesting, and the spinsters tend to clean up on it. Again, I’d have to research that to make sure I’ve got that right.
@david
Ha! I love it!
Was that a typo or deliberate? Either way, I love it!
Yeah, I just don’t see the value of the awarding consistency, unless it’s consistent podium places or winning. Since the TdF on whole is largely a contest of climbers who can time-trial, or vice versa, you might make the TdF also the premier sprinter’s contest by more heavily weighting winning as I have suggested. Or, you might make the green jersey an award for ultra-competitive hardmen by also heavily weighting intermediate sprints. In either case, something (more) admirable, in my opinion, is valued: speed in the first case, hardness/competitiveness in the second case.
@david
I quite like the idea of two separate competitions – green for “real” sprinters (Cavenmaybegettingmymojobackdish, Aleoldbastardbutstillscreaminglyfastjet, etc) and black for “consistent hardmen” (Thor – and EBH?) – but on balance prefer things the way they are. Having two competitions would take away from the current competition the tension between the claims of those two groups, and I like the uncertainty and tension that provides. The fact that Thor can take green by being there or thereabouts all the time and then pulling off an awesome ride over the bumps – but only once Cavendoesntholdalinedish gets himself penalised depite winning six stages outright – makes the whole thing more intriguing than separate competitions would. And it’s not as if the pure sprinters get nothing out of it. They get stage wins. (Anyone think Caventearsofreliefandjoydish went unnoticed last year?)
@david
Please name a green jersey winner – with the exception of Thor winning last year over the Douche – who wasn’t the best sprinter in that particular tour (and who finished the race)? I suggest there aren’t many and certainly my thirteen seconds’ consideration of this question couldn’t come up with one.
The green jersey competition is there, as Frank says, to maintain interest and reward consistency on the flat stages. Keep in mind the points are weighted to those stages and not to the mountains (unlike the Giro this year which saw Cadelephant win the fucking points jersey).
As Geof says, the actual stage win is the thing that rewards that day’s stage win.
The Giro competitions are fucked. There are too many.
good on cavencanacutallywinastagewhenshitgoesrightbutisstill50pointsbehindthorandsowhythefuckdidipickhimforgreenthisyeardish for owning it today. I still hope he doesn’t sack off the rest of the tour now. Its still possible he can win green (and if he went for it, it’d prove he is not the huge tossbag he tries to be). I’m still backing the chap. Even if he is gonna ride for the isle of man at the commonwealth games (and therefore get them their only medal)
@Geof No, I’d definitely not want to see two comps. I’d just like to see something clear and admirable denoted by the green jersey. I don’t think it is. It rewards consistency?? What’s that?
Anyone can win stages. A green sprinter’s jersey would reward sprinting per se.
@Marcus Do we need more examples than the one? MCav wins six stages and doesn’t win the points comp!? With that many wins, even with the BS relegation, he ought to have won. What’s really being assessed or measured in the competition? I’m not sure I can identify it in this case. Consistency of what? Consistency of finish placings? Why’s that valuable or worthy of a jersey? I haven’t done the math, but it would seem to me someone who got 4th every flat stage or transition stage could win the jersey under the right circumstances. It would be a notable achievement, especially for a rookie. But worthy of a jersey?
Then, again, it may be that the circumstances needed to produce something embarrassing like that are just too rare. Cause, you’re right, mostly the green jersey winner is an admirable rider with great sprinting skill.
@david
Lest we forget, Thor was not only consistently second or third, but also proved he could sprint uphill. Remove the disqualification and you can bet the Thor would have pushed things in Paris and stayed on Cav’s wheel for another second. I, for one, don’t see anything tainted about Hushovd’s green jersey from last year and don’t really have a problem with the way it’s scored. Frankly, the more I think about it, altering the scoring rewards sprinters who finish first one stage and then don’t show for the second over the guy who’s always fighting for the line. I have a lot more respect for the latter.
@Kermitpunk Just a fundamental difference of opinion there, I think. The who’s always fighting for the line but failing is, . . . well, failing.
@david
My question which listed the Douche as an exception necessarily meant I requested more than one example.
So please try to name another rider who was the best sprinter in a particular tour (who finished that tour) who didn’t win green?
If you can’t do that, then your whole argument fails as there is no need for an alternate award or changed points system.
@david
Thor failed??
@Marcus Ha! That’s a convenient way to look at the argument. (Are you a lawyer?) My failure so far to cite another case may not reply to your challenge, but replying to your challenge isn’t necessary for the soundness of my argument. The one case of Hushovd winning green even though Cav astoundingly won six stages is enough evidence for changing the points system–in my view.
You could argue the six wins were so freakish they’re not likely to happen again–Cavendish himself has said so–and then rest conservatively on the good results of the current system. I’d not have any sharp disagreement with that. I’m not lobbying for changing the system. I’m not trying to start a movement here. I’m just contemplating what other systems might look like.
I would be interested in hearing from any historians of the Tour about when the current system went into place? Was it always there? If not, what was in place before?
@Kermitpunk Well, obviously he failed in numerous sprints unless you want to say he was intentionally sprinting for second, third, or fourth. I don’t think you want to say that, since today he said the best way to the win the green jersey is to win sprints. (I wonder if Thor wasn’t embarrassed to wear green last year. Might that not partly explain his solo escapade? I think he honestly wanted to lay the hammer down and win that stage. A huge solo effort like that would make his green jersey legitimate.)
Not to take anything away from Cav’s six wins””which is unquestionably phenomenal””he had only two other top 10 finishes. In comparison, Thor had 10 top 10 finishes last year (this not counting his brilliant solo effort). 10-8 is hardly overwhelming, but given the disparity in leadout trains, I think it is somewhat telling.
@david
Wow! I wouldn’t ask Thor is he’s embarrassed about how he won green last year; you feel free to go right ahead. The solo escapade was a calculated strategy to ensure he had the necessary points to clinch the jersey. It was one of the most impressive and memorable rides of last year’s Tour. He climbed like a beast, exhibited some of the best descending in pro racing, and sat up once he had secured the points. That’s smart and able riding if you ask me. Of course: winning sprints nets the greatest number of points, but Thor also knows that he needs to compete each and every one of them.
@Kermitpunk I’m a big fan of Thor Hushovd, absolutely.
@david
good guess
Jens Voigt asked about today’s stage this morning:
“If they listened to me we’d go flat out and then see how far we could go. They don’t want to listen to me. I suggest it every now and then though.”
It goes without saying, but Jens is a god among men.
Jeez, Renshaw and Cavendish were pure class there.
@Joe
Yeah, Renshaw is a hero today. Wow. Well played.