Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de Suisse

A big man playing where little men frolic. Photo: Sirotti

The Tour de Suisse is the last warm-up race prior to the Tour, and the last chance to test your form. As far as Tour rivalries go, we typically see one rival choose the Dauphiné and one la Suisse; it’s unpleasant to ruffle your feathers too much with a pre-Tour head-to-head, you see.

While the Dauphiné has the benefit of previewing some of the Tour’s stages in a race situation, the Tour de Suisse has the benefit of including the only thing more sinister than cobbled bergs: a cobbled mountain pass. This road also holds the distinction of being the only one where I feel more sympathy for the road layers than I do the riders.

Aside from rivals and masochism, the key factors determining which race to ride have to do with the timing of the peak: this race features a full week later in the calendar than does the Dauphiné, and based on the Tour’s parcours and rhythm of the rider’s season, this race may have better timing. But in any case, as with the Critérium, the effort is a dangerous gamble: ride too hard and you could fire off the Guns enter the Tour with little more than starter pistols. Balance, balance.

So, as the Dauphiné winds down, it’s time to start thinking about Suisse, our last VSP before le Tour. Get your picks in by 5am Pacific on Saturday morning. Same drill as usual: Being a week-long stage race, the points on offer are 7 for first, 5 for second, 4 for third, 3 for fourth, 2 for fifth, with the usual allotment of bonus points for getting the rider right but the place wrong. Also, there are no rest days, so no rest day swaps, but we will have our usual approach for riders who drop out. Piti Principle applies as always. Also review the guide, being careful to note that the rules have changed a bit this year, and we may not have completely updated the guide yet, so if there’s a question, ask.

May Merckx be with you all.

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

RedRanger says:

Jun 13 2011 at 8:02 am

The little prince has grown some balls. sure would like to see him do something good.
frank says:

Jun 13 2011 at 8:12 am

@RedRanger, @Jeff in PetroMetro
A+1

Man, I do love to watch me a Schleck climbin'. Cunego is doing what he does best: going after stage wins and one-day races.

It was great watching Di Luca yesterday, by the way. I just can't help but like that guy.
frank says:

Jun 13 2011 at 8:13 am

Man, that really is just a goat path they're riding up, though, isn't it?
RedRanger says:

Jun 13 2011 at 8:27 am

Merckx that Wilier is a sweet looking ride
frank says:

Jun 13 2011 at 8:37 am

Man, that really balled up our points. Sam takes the lead with a whopping 2 points.

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RedRanger says:

Jun 13 2011 at 8:37 am

@frank
And going down. that was proper racing by Cunego. My VSP is shot but wow getting to watch that was worth it. Andy put in a lot of work for his team, just wish Frank was able to take advantage of it.
frank says:

Jun 13 2011 at 8:43 am

The Dutch commentator just got riled up about how big that chunk of cheese is they gave Sagan; "I don't know why they gave him such a big chunk of cheese. That's much too much cheese, and cheese really isn't good for a cyclist."

Funny.
Buck Rogers says:

Jun 13 2011 at 8:46 am

Jeff in PetroMetro :
@snoov I'll tell you my secret for picking riders: wait until after Buck Rogers, ScubaSteve, Steampunk, and Marcus put up their picks. Pick your five from those guys.
Oh, and show up on time. I Delgado'd the Giro. Then no-showed the Dauphine. My season's ruined. Now I'm playing for a bumper sticker. And maybe a colorful jersey icon. And bragging rights. And some self-esteem. And a reason to live.

Ha! Not this time or the Dauphine'! Damn Klode and CVV!
xyxax says:

Jun 13 2011 at 8:47 am

@RedRanger,@frank
Great stage.
Look at this way, RR: you're tied for third.
Buck Rogers says:

Jun 13 2011 at 8:48 am

frank :
@RedRanger, @Jeff in PetroMetroA+1
Man, I do love to watch me a Schleck climbin'. Cunego is doing what he does best: going after stage wins and one-day races.
It was great watching Di Luca yesterday, by the way. I just can't help but like that guy.

I LOVED Di Luca until he came up positive after his Giro 2nd place to Menchov. Sucked the life out of me and really disillusioned me (guess I should not have been so niave). Still have not forgiven him for the time.

But I do love the Little Prince and would love to see him win it all, even if he is not on my VSP list!