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

Netraam says:

Jun 19 2011 at 3:18 am

@xyxax
I can understand he is pissed, but he's mistaking Leopard Trek and Saxo Bank because of the Schlecks. And a whole different thing is at stake here.
ChrisO says:

Jun 19 2011 at 3:29 am

frank:

In the end, I prefer Campa not only because I love the looks, but it's the most quiet - at least the 10spd is (I'm not upgrading to 11spd - more isn't always better, and I hear it's much noisier...and I just don't like the looks of the new levers.)

This is true.

I was back in London a couple of weeks ago and went for a ride on the bike I leave there, with 10sp Veloce, and the second thing I noticed was how much quieter it was than my 11sp SR.

The first thing I noticed was that however bling and fast and beautiful my Ridley is, getting onto a custom-built steel bike is like putting on pyjamas that have been warmed on the radiator.
Ron says:

Jun 19 2011 at 5:39 am

Frank, are you talking about the 2009-forward levers, the kind of swept back ones? I agree that they don't look as nice as others, but I do have to say that they are a functional bonus for dudes with smaller hands, like me. I find them easier to reach than my other Campagnolo levers.

And yeah, Shimano 105 stuff lives on. I used it on my second-hand Cannondale for around seven years, tons of kms, recabled it once I think, and zero issues.

ChrisO - I hear ya on the feel of well-done, well-fitting steel. In February and March I was traveling for eight weeks, no cycling. When I got back I saw my carbon LOOK and my steel Casati hanging on the wall. Grabbed the Casati and the entire ride I just kept on smiling because the bike rode and handled so nicely.
Netraam says:

Jun 19 2011 at 7:57 am

Andy Schleck's time trial is HORRIBLE. Is he trying to hide something before he starts the tour?
Netraam says:

Jun 19 2011 at 8:00 am

Van Garderen had a mechanical problem. Too bad.
LA Dave says:

Jun 19 2011 at 8:26 am

Great ride by Levi... and quite a tank by Cunego....
Netraam says:

Jun 19 2011 at 8:27 am

Nice time trial by Levi Leipheimer.
LA Dave says:

Jun 19 2011 at 8:32 am

Great ride for Fuglsang as well...nearly got a podium.
Sprider says:

Jun 19 2011 at 8:34 am

Tough day for Cunego, but the win couldn't have gone to a nicer guy. Congrats to Levi!
My powers of prediction couldn't have been poorer for this race.
Netraam says:

Jun 19 2011 at 8:35 am

This was a pretty unpredictable tour.