Velominati Super Prestige: Vuelta a España 2012

Nibbles wins the 2010 edition of the Vuelta. Photo: Cyclesport Mag

One of the loveliest things about the Grand Tours is that you get a feel, by the nature of the route, of the country’s landscape and physical qualities. Italy is littered with mountains and coasts, France is bordered by mountains with large swaths of open landscape throughout, and Spain is like Tatooine; mostly desert with some rocky outcroppings. I might be oversimplifying here, but it seems like every edition of the Vuelta features a week or two of riders cutting through open desert on a freeway and then finishing it off with some climbs that require a buzz-saw gear to get up. Of the three Tours, this one is my least favorite, but it’s a bike race and I loves me a bike race.

The Vuelta also stands apart as being the event which generally decides the Velominati Super Prestige GC and the personalized Shop Apron that goes with it; in past editions, we’ve even had newcomers to the event debut at the Vuelta and win the overall, as was the case last year with @Nate’s performance. Unless I have that wrong, in which case I don’t really care. The important point here is that even though there is less interest in this event than others, it matters quite a bit to the year-long VSP, so you better be paying attention, corporal.

No fancy prizes on offer as we did at the Tour, but we do have our customary Symbol Pack up for grabs, in addition to second and third places winning a pair of Handlebar Cufflinks each when they come available in a few weeks. So, check the race details, get your picks in by the time the countdown clock goes to zero (5am Pacific time on Saturday), and buckle in for the ride. Regular GT VSP rules apply. Good luck.

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

Dr C says:

Sep 5 2012 at 2:06 pm

Holy romoly, just watched todays stage - couldn't work out what was happening for the first 10 mins of the last 30K - they rolled in nearly an hour ahead of schedule because they wer rodgering J-Rod so hard from the outside - poor Purito, got a bit of a shoeing....

Chapeau to the COTHO, he was crying like a baby when his team mates came in to see him - I think I have now forgiven him for his sins.....am I mad?
frank says:

Sep 5 2012 at 3:14 pm

Big shuffle. Thanks Tommy for the reminder that the Vuelta is still going on!

Provisional Race Results
1. CONTADOR VELASCO Alberto

2. VALVERDE Alejandro

3. RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin

4. FROOME Christopher

5. MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel

Provisional VSP Standings
1. San Tonio (47 points)

2. ten B (38 points)

3. gaswepass (37 points)

4. Skip (37 points)

5. Heihachi (36 points)

6. Deakus (33 points)

7. tony macaroni (33 points)

8. Steampunk (33 points)

9. Sauterelle (33 points)

10. sthilzy (33 points)

11. meursault (33 points)

12. Rigid (33 points)

13. Nosyt (33 points)

14. harminator (33 points)

15. VeloVita (33 points)

16. Duende (33 points)

17. Blah (33 points)

18. Buck Rogers (33 points)

19. dancollins (33 points)

20. Daccordi Rider (33 points)

21. Markp (33 points)

22. Gino (33 points)

23. RayElVis (33 points)

24. Nate (33 points)

25. Smithers (33 points)

26. G'phant (33 points)

27. Tobin (33 points)

28. Mikel Pearce (33 points)

29. Mikel Pearce (33 points)

30. taon24 (31 points)

31. Skinnyphat (31 points)

32. RedRanger (30 points)

33. imakecircles (30 points)

34. Ankush (29 points)

35. Jay (29 points)

36. pakrat (29 points)

37. scaler911 (28 points)

38. Trobs (26 points)

39. stickyjumper (26 points)

40. Mikael Liddy (26 points)

41. eightzero (26 points)

42. graham d.m. (26 points)

43. King Clydesdale (26 points)

44. ramenvelo (26 points)

45. unversio (26 points)

46. velomihottie (26 points)

47. CanuckChuck (26 points)

48. seemunkee (26 points)

49. VirenqueForever (26 points)

50. drewPjohnson (26 points)

51. Mason (26 points)

52. MJ Moquin (26 points)

53. Bianchi Denti (24 points)

54. xyxax (24 points)

55. Flying Crowbar (23 points)

56. Xyverz (23 points)

57. minion (23 points)

58. Matt (23 points)

59. farzani (23 points)

60. The Oracle (23 points)

61. Chappy McPappystackings (23 points)

62. Chris Schneider (23 points)

63. brett (23 points)

64. blue (16 points)

65. calves (16 points)

66. napolinige (16 points)

67. Giles (16 points)

68. snoov (16 points)

69. TomC (16 points)

70. The Fish (16 points)

71. moondance (16 points)

72. LA Dave (14 points)

73. Cyclops (13 points)

74. Benny (13 points)

75. il ciclista medio (13 points)

76. motor city (13 points)

77. razmaspaz (12 points)

78. itburns (12 points)

79. Lindrop (12 points)

80. Gianni (12 points)

81. Islandbike (11 points)

82. Dashiell (9 points)

83. TBONE (9 points)

84. TOM.NELS2120 (9 points)

85. R00tdown (9 points)

86. mouse (9 points)

87. Fausto (9 points)

88. SimonH (9 points)

89. Noel (9 points)

90. 2000dB (9 points)

91. Grant Henninger (9 points)

92. Simon (9 points)

93. wiscot (9 points)

94. Adrian (9 points)

95. Two Ball Billy (9 points)

96. Roadslave525 (9 points)

97. simonsaunders (9 points)

98. Ron (9 points)

99. Barracuda (9 points)

100. noiyce (9 points)

101. erik (7 points)

102. Oli (7 points)

103. el gato (7 points)

104. Anais Ninja (6 points)

105. Jellybean (6 points)

106. the Engine (6 points)

107. mxlmax (6 points)

108. GProsser (6 points)

109. Dr C (6 points)

110. Enoch (6 points)

111. Jonny (6 points)

112. Gerard (6 points)

113. sprider (6 points)

114. Lepidopterist (6 points)

115. DerHoggz (6 points)

116. Marko (0 points)

117. Lukas (0 points)

118. ChrisO (0 points)

119. Souleur (0 points)
wiscot says:

Sep 5 2012 at 3:19 pm

Cotho won big time today. Not keen on the guy but full credit for riding aggressively. A note on the bright side: the "pistolero" salute was not deployed. Maybe consigned to the old, pre-ban Cotho? We shall see . . .
San Tonio says:

Sep 5 2012 at 3:48 pm

CONTADOR you beautiful bastard you just saved my VSP !!!
ramenvelo says:

Sep 5 2012 at 5:01 pm

I feel really bad that Purito can't seem to close the deal, however, I genuinely like the way Contador races. I can't wait for him to go on a tear next year. Watch out for him at Lombardia, he'll be my top pick there.
minion says:

Sep 5 2012 at 5:23 pm

Something not right here. Six months off then rides away from the peloton? Sure the other riders are tired but something stinks about this.

All the noise about Riis right now isn't helping either. Admittedly I haven't seen the stage and am making some ungenerous assumptions but it's not like there's no smoke.
brett says:

Sep 5 2012 at 6:01 pm

@minion

So by that logic, Purito is on the gear too, as Conti couldn't drop him on repeated stages with repeated attacks. I think it's a sign that Conti is clean(er), but one of the most attacking, persistent riders out there. Can't wait to see him stitch Wiggo up next year in France.
Tobin says:

Sep 5 2012 at 6:10 pm

@minion El Pistolero made a bold, calculated move and it paid off. He has always been a beast in the mountains and I think it was more that J-Rod cracked. Contador has helped perpetuate this sentiment but it still makes me sad to see people assume the dirty rider card on a big performance.
RedRanger says:

Sep 5 2012 at 6:17 pm

@brett

@minion

So by that logic, Purito is on the gear too, as Conti couldn't drop him on repeated stages with repeated attacks. I think it's a sign that Conti is clean(er), but one of the most attacking, persistent riders out there. Can't wait to see him stitch Wiggo up next year in France.

totally agree with everything you just said.
Barracuda says:

Sep 5 2012 at 6:22 pm

Pretty dissappointed to see my name at number 99 on the list...... however just confirms my suspicion that Im shit at picking winners other than ones in my own nose.....

Damn you failed riders of whom I have placed my faith.