Velominati Super Prestige: Trofeo Alfredo Binda 2016

What's got two thumbs and makes grown women weep? This chick!

There are a couple things you need to know about the Women’s Racing Scene. First of all, they’ve been racing the fuck out of Belgium and Italy, and staying well clear of the warmer climes. They are also busy kicking off their first-ever WorldTour. No surprise in who the current leader is; Lizzy Armitstead has gobbled up every race of value so far on the calendar, resplendent in her very Rule Compliant Rainbow jersey and black bibs. What’s not to love about her?

Well, she was forced to wear white bibs with her leaders’ jersey, so there’s that, I suppose. I remember when Tom Boonen was leading the WorldTour when riding in the rainbow bands, he petitioned the UCI to let him wear a hybrid jersey because he felt the bands were more valuable than the stale while WT leaders jersey. I’m not sure if Lizzy is thinking anything similar, but at least the jersey is a beautiful one.

The Trofeo Alfredo Binda kicks off on Sunday, and it is a nasty, hilly little bugger and will be sure to see the usual womens fireworks, which is another way of saying these girls race aggressively as shit. But how do you beat a hardwoman who can climb and sprint? Spoiler alert: you don’t. My money’s on Queen Lizzie.

Remember people, there is a Don Walker on offer. It might even get displayed at the best bike show in North America: NAHBS. And if you are the first loser, you’ll get a set of Café Roubaix CR Wheelworks wheels. Which might also be at NAHBS. Epic. Bragging. Rights.

So start prognosticating on your picks and check the scoring guidelines. Don’t wait too long as these are early VSPs and there have been some glitches in the systems on the MSR event; I don’t want to hear any complaining about Delgado’ing the event because something went catywampus at the last minute.

Check the start list, read the preview, and then pray to whatever you think will help make a difference. Personally, I’m rubbing my lucky Kapelmuur cobble.

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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

chris says:

Mar 17 2016 at 4:56 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Armistead
2. Emma Johansson
3. Anna van der Breggen
4. Evelyn Stevens
5. Annemiek Van Vleuten
Lukas says:

Mar 17 2016 at 5:08 pm
Darts on the wall.

VSP PICKS:
1. Armistead
2. Evelyn Stevens
3. Longo Berghini
4. Emma Johannson
5. Cromwell
Quadzilla says:

Mar 17 2016 at 5:17 pm
With Lizzie not feeling the greatest I expect her rivals to really throw down and make this a very interesting and hard fought race.

VSP PICKS:
1. Anna Van Der Breggen
2. Emma Johansson
3. Tiffany Cromwell
4. Lizzie Armitstead
5. Trixi Worrack
GoldenGorilla says:

Mar 17 2016 at 5:27 pm
Lets go with that.

VSP PICKS:
1. Prevot
2. Armistead
3. Cromwell
4. Van Vleuten
5. Stevens
Yagerbomb says:

Mar 17 2016 at 6:04 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Lizzie Armistead
2. Emma Johansson
3. Pauline Ferrand Prevot
4. Anna Van Der Breggan
5. Trixi Worrack
Steampunk says:

Mar 17 2016 at 6:05 pm
I'm pleased to see a growing number of contenders in these races--and much more media coverage for the women's races. This is big in terms of growing the sport.

VSP PICKS:
1. P. Ferrand-Prevot
2. A. Amialiusik
3. C. Blaak
4. A. Van Der Breggen
5. L. Armitstead
dancollins says:

Mar 17 2016 at 6:07 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. E. Armitstead
2. A. Van der Breggen
3. E. Johansson
4. M. Guarnier
5. L. Brennauer
paris says:

Mar 17 2016 at 6:21 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. Anna Van Der Breggen
2. Elizabeth Armitstead
3. Pauline Ferrand Prevot
4. Jolanda Neff
5. Annemiek Van Vleuten
brett says:

Mar 17 2016 at 6:30 pm

@Mikael Liddy

@brett

“Warpdrive”?

Tiffany Cromwell. Someone came up with it a couple years ago, because of this:

James Cromwell later played Cochrane in the 1996 feature film Star Trek: First Contact and the 2001 Star Trek: Enterprise pilot, "Broken Bow". Footage of Cromwell from Star Trek: First Contact was used in the Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly (Part I)", along with new footage of an identically-dressed actor whose face is not shown.

As established by the events of Star Trek: First Contact, Cochrane is the first human to create a warp drive system, and in 2063, his successful light-speed flight draws the attention of the Vulcans, leading to humanity's first official contact with an alien race.
Kevin says:

Mar 17 2016 at 6:37 pm
VSP PICKS:
1. ARMISTEAD, Elizabeth
2. RIVERA, Coryn
3. VAN DER BREGGEN, Anna
4. BRENNAUER, Lisa
5. VAN DIJK, Ellen