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

Steampunk says:

Jun 10 2011 at 11:32 am

@Ron
You do actually need to enter some names to get started. Posting to say you haven't forgotten to post your entries is akin to talking about the ride you should have gone on...
ramenvelo says:

Jun 10 2011 at 11:35 am

VSP PICKS:

1. Kloden
2. F. Schleck
3. Leipheimer
4. Tejay Van Garderen
5. Hesjedal
xyxax says:

Jun 10 2011 at 11:48 am

I am in Chad for a few days, at the ass-end of the worldwideweb, so I can't consult my numerologist like usual.
allez...

VSP PICKS:

1. KlÃ¶den
2. Franc Sheckel
3. Eggtimer
4. Andy Schleck
5. Funky Cold Mollema
drsoul says:

Jun 10 2011 at 12:18 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. F. Schleck
2. A. Kloden
3. Tejay Van Garderen
4. A. Schleck
5. L. Leipheimer
RedRanger says:

Jun 10 2011 at 12:20 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. Faboo
2. Kloden
3. Ryder
4. Gorka
5. Frank
Dr C says:

Jun 10 2011 at 12:21 pm

Nate :
@Dr C We like to call those the "Belgian aerobars." Aside from practicing in a safe place, it works a lot better if your bike fits well in regard to frame size, saddle placement and bar reach/drop in the first place. Also, there is no shame in asking for learned advice around here.

Thanks for the tip - shall practice on the turbo (I presume that is what it is for, cos riding indoors seems otherwise rather pointless)

By the way, (new to VSP obviously), do I get any bonus points if Cav takes out half the peleton again this year?
Durishin says:

Jun 10 2011 at 12:32 pm

VSP PICKS:

1. Peter Sagan
2. Matti Breschl
3. Maxime Monfort
4. Ben Noval
5. Ryder Hesjedal
sgt says:

Jun 10 2011 at 1:13 pm

@Nathan Edwards
What he said. this is a tough one, becuase you've got to consider who's riding for form and who's riding to win. Here goes.

VSP PICKS:

1. Levi
2. F Grimp
3. TJ
4. Greipel
5. Swifty
Steampunk says:

Jun 10 2011 at 1:29 pm

Dr C:

By the way, (new to VSP obviously), do I get any bonus points if Cav takes out half the peleton again this year?

Won't happen, according to Cav himself. He tweeted this about an hour ago:

Just saw race handbook for #TourDeSuisse. No chance of another..ahem..mishap between Haussler & myself. BECAUSE THERE'S NO FUCKING SPRINTS.
Buck Rogers says:

Jun 10 2011 at 1:52 pm

@Steampunk
I really do LOVE what Cav brings to the sport. At least he is not too PC or anything. Refreshing these days.