The inaugural Velominati Super Prestige makes an unscheduled stop this week at the Tour de Suisse. Originally left off the VSP roster, it was decided among the Keepers that the ‘fourth Grand Tour’ is indeed worthy of inclusion in our humble tipping competition. As one of the final hit-outs for many Tour de France contenders, the Swiss race shows who might be ready to step up in July, who’s needing to pull their finger out, and who might be targeting this race as a worthy addition to their palmares. With a couple of TT’s, stages that could go to the sprinters or a daring breakaway, and some of the most picturesque mountain passes in Europe, it has something for everyone, and anyone could win.
Can Motorcus find an ‘extra gear’ and back up his 09 victory? Will the EgoTesticle show signs of his old self on the bike, or just behave like his old self off it? And are the Brothers Grimpeur finally going to do something, anything?
Let us know your thoughts, and make your picks to pick up a sweet Obey The Rules bumper sticker, in the posts section on this page. For a full rundown on the competition scoring etc, visit our VSP Schedule, Rules and Results page.
Good luck!
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@Guy
Couple things:
I cannot believe you get to go to the Rapha Cycling club. As a devout Rouleur fan, Rapha is kind of Zues to me.
Having ridden in the region quite a bit, Marie Blanque is very steep, but not long. The second climb, the Soulor you will feel, and the Tourmalet is brutishly long but not that steep. The notion that "you're ok" after the first climb and with two big ones to come is a tad optimistic, I'm afraid.
When we did L'Etape in '03, there were 8000 starters and 3000 finishers. Brutal. And taht's just another stage for the boys doing the Tour. They'll have done it the day before and they'll do it again the next day.
Time for a new German breakaway specialist?
@frank It's a very nice place indeed.and I walked out with their new ltd edition Tourmalet jersey which was nice.
I'm well aware that the other 2 aren't a walk in the park, but the 5 doing the talk have all ridden the last 5 etapes so have some basis. What they were getting at was that the toughest climb is the first, so mentally you know you can do the other two if you feed and drink well. I'm a useless climber so if I go there expecting to get beaten I may as well stay home. I'm trying to be a little positive.
@Andy. I know that some people think Rapha is pretentious but the people running it just love cycling and their attention to detail is amazing. The club is a great place, albeit only open for 3 months. Those questions weren't mine by the way!
@Guy
HA! That is brilliant. Good tactic. Stay positive. Well done.
Man, I'm jealous - such a cool experience!
In '03, looking at the profile, we thought it was 80km downhill to the finish from the top of the last pass; turned out it was 50km of riding over undulating farm roads, with another 1km of vertical covered on steep climbs. Started to rain at the end, and as we entered the town, those steep climbs turned into cobbled climbs. Epic.
@frank
Damn, I didn't realize until now I made the Lexicon. I am humbled. I never understood "Spartacus" anyway.
In the word(s) of Wakko Warner: http://rafiki100.tripod.com/faboo.wav
That's easy: (220 - (Your Age) - (Rear Cog)) * (1 + % gradient)
(220 - 32 - 27) * (1.10) = 177 BPM for a 10% gradient. SOLVED!
@guy: the Etape, how do you get around to doing one and qualifying?
or better yet, being from the USA and having to go through the difficulty of travel, which event would you recommend for a travel/destination. I know its off topic, but something I have considered doing.
thanks!
@frank. It's the only way I'll finish ;)
@Ben do you think I'll be able to calculate that on the Tourmalet :D
@souleur. Most of the places go to French riders. My folks have a place out there so we had an address to use but the friend Im riding it with runs a Trek dealership. He emailed the MD of Trek UK to see if he had any contacts and the next thing we knew he'd got us places, a hotel, free Trek kit and access to the Trek Travel feed zones (that could be a huge benefit on the day as we can avoid the bedlam in the public ones). We fly out on the 14th (I'm shooting a wedding in Paris on the 10th so its a busier weekend than I'd like). We meet up with the Trek lads in Lourdes on the 17th and stay together that night, then ride and back to the hotel on the 18th, flying home on the 20th.
in the UK you can only enter through a company like Sporting Tours otherwise. Quite costly. I hear the Italian Gran Fondos can be easier to get into.
@Souleur, @Guy
You can only get the entry form in the French Velo magazine, I think. It used to be you could get it online and enter, which is what we did. But it's a mess now, unfortunately.
There are other cool Cyclosportives in Europe and I can't encourage you strongly enough to do one, it is a life's memory. I did LBL one year, and there is one for Flanders, too. I'm sure there are more.
The Keepers are doing a week in Belgium next year around the cobbled classics - so you could always join us there, too!
That would be awesome.