Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de Suisse 2013

Descending the Nufenenpass photo:(KEYSTONE/Jean-Christophe Bott)

The mighty VSP generator has been switched on once again. The mil-spec hydraulic fluid has been changed since the Giro. A new power take-off belt has also been installed. And the punch card reader has been refurbished.

Broome and Berti are already riding the Critérium du Dauphiné. The top contenders prefer the Dauphiné for the decent recovery allowed between it and the Tour. The Tour de Suisse provides a chance for everyone else to prove they are worthy to make their Tour team or they are lieutenants who actually would like to win this Swiss tour before they have to work for their Tour de France team leader, who will falter and then they will assume the leadership, the understudy, as it were. No, did I say Cadel’s name? I did not.

Fabian Cancellara is in, he is a past winner of the Tour de Suisse, like Francesco Moser is a past winner of the Giro. Two Passitas if there ever were, winning mountainous stage races of their home countries. Vlad Karpets won the Tour de Suisse in 2007! What does this mean? It means picking the winner of this race could put you in a spot of bother is what it means. Some are riding to gain fitness, some are not riding too hard to keep fitness and some are racing to win because they have no chance of winning the Big One just weeks later. Clarity on this issue is only achievable from the correct reading of chicken bones stirred with monkey paw, or a life of purity.

This race begins on Saturday so don’t mess around. The provisional start list is here. This is a stage race but not a grand tour so the winner’s prize is not as grand, but the bragging rights are.

[vsp_results id=”23918″/]

Gianni

Gianni has left the building.

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View Comments

Deakus says:

Jun 10 2013 at 9:09 am

@starclimber

And....Ryder crashes out. Sigh.

So teejay will ride for the win then right?
erik says:

Jun 10 2013 at 9:14 am

@Deakus

@starclimber

And....Ryder crashes out. Sigh.

So teejay will ride for the win then right?

Looks like BMC is riding for Mathias Frank. He is Swiss. And BMC is Swiss, so, that make sense.
Deakus says:

Jun 10 2013 at 9:18 am

@erik

@Deakus

@starclimber

And....Ryder crashes out. Sigh.

So teejay will ride for the win then right?

Looks like BMC is riding for Mathias Frank. He is Swiss. And BMC is Swiss, so, that make sense.

TJ is looking strong though I suspect he will feature in my tdf picks....
Steampunk says:

Jun 10 2013 at 9:41 am

Those were some beautiful looking roads. Narrow as all get-out, but they looked as though they'd be interesting to ride.
TBONE says:

Jun 10 2013 at 10:01 am

Fucksticks.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/cycling/story/2013/06/10/sp-cycling-canada-ryder-hesjedal.html
Buck Rogers says:

Jun 10 2013 at 10:16 am

@starclimber

And....Ryder crashes out. Sigh.

I could hear the collective Canadian cycling community's groan from here. Man, I hope he is well.
TBONE says:

Jun 10 2013 at 11:17 am

@Buck Rogers

@starclimber

And....Ryder crashes out. Sigh.

I could hear the collective Canadian cycling community's groan from here. Man, I hope he is well.

'twas more akin the sound of a mighty maple tree cracking in a windstorm.
frank says:

Jun 10 2013 at 11:42 am

@TBONE

Speaking of fuck sticks, why did you dispute your pick just because a Ryder crashed out? We abandoned DNF swaps before last season.

Big shakeup on the GC for the race; I forgot Roman even existed.

Provisional Race Results
1. FRANK Mathias

2. KREUZIGER Roman

3. DA COSTA, Rui

4. VISCONTI Giovanni

5. PINOT Thibaut

Provisional VSP Standings
1. napolinige (11 points)

2. the Engine (10 points)

3. eenies (9 points)

4. Duende (9 points)

5. pakrat (8 points)

6. chrismurphy92 (8 points)

7. Mikael Liddy (8 points)

8. sthilzy (8 points)

9. Two Ball Billy (8 points)

10. CanuckChuck (8 points)

11. Nero (8 points)

12. Adrian (8 points)

13. RedRanger (8 points)

14. snoov (8 points)

15. MJ Moquin (8 points)

16. tony macaroni (8 points)

17. Smithers (8 points)

18. VirenqueForever (8 points)

19. Smithers (8 points)

20. Skip (7 points)

21. leadout (7 points)

22. freddy (6 points)

23. motor city (5 points)

24. Steampunk (4 points)

25. LA Dave (4 points)

26. Dr C (4 points)

27. coquito (4 points)

28. NoTubes (4 points)

29. sprider (3 points)

30. ChrisO (3 points)

31. efguerrero (2 points)

32. unversio (2 points)

33. Bianchi Denti (2 points)

34. Buck Rogers (2 points)

35. mlambert1us (2 points)

36. strathlubnaig (2 points)

37. asyax (2 points)

38. scaler911 (2 points)

39. San Tonio (2 points)

40. niksch (2 points)

41. gino (2 points)

42. TOM.NELS2120 (2 points)

43. Daccordi Rider (2 points)

44. torrefie (2 points)

45. Simon (2 points)

46. Giles (2 points)

47. V-olcano (2 points)

48. HeinrichHausslersHairstyle (2 points)

49. seemunkee (2 points)

50. TomC (2 points)

51. erik (2 points)

52. gladoe (2 points)

53. mbarston (2 points)

54. Mike_P (2 points)

55. Rigid (2 points)

56. Facetious_Jesus (2 points)

57. Lukas (2 points)

58. Nate (2 points)

59. wiscot (2 points)

60. Chica (2 points)

61. dancollins (2 points)

62. xyxax (2 points)

63. TBONE (0 points)

64. razmaspaz (0 points)

65. taon24 (0 points)

66. Fins (0 points)

67. piwakawaka (0 points)

68. Bat Chainpullet (0 points)

69. anotherdownunder (0 points)

70. Sauterelle (0 points)

71. Yannersan (0 points)

72. jeyrod (0 points)

73. mouse (0 points)

74. il ciclista medio (0 points)

75. VeloVita (0 points)

76. Deakus (0 points)

77. Don Amedo (0 points)

78. Tobin (0 points)

79. harminator (0 points)

80. JohnB (0 points)

81. SimonH (0 points)

82. simonsaunders (0 points)

83. Dan_R (0 points)

84. V-inden (0 points)

85. oneninefiveninesix (0 points)

86. Jay (0 points)

87. eightzero (0 points)

88. ramenvelo (0 points)

89. Heihachi (0 points)

90. starclimber (0 points)

91. brett (0 points)
Tobin says:

Jun 10 2013 at 12:24 pm

@frank

@TBONE

Speaking of fuck sticks, why did you dispute your pick just because a Ryder crashed out? We abandoned DNF swaps before last season.

Speaking of fuck sticks...that would be me putting Martin and Costa in my picks columns without fleshing out the names. Did I mention that @frank is a just and merciful Keeper?
strathlubnaig says:

Jun 10 2013 at 12:40 pm

Weirdly enough, at the moment Our Ryder was crashing out of the TdS I was T boning a wifie in a Kia at 36km/h as she hung a left in front of me. Coincidence ? I think not.