Velominati Super Prestige: La Fleche Wallone 2014
Midweek in Belgium in Spring is a wonderful thing. Hordes of people come from seemingly nowhere to fill the bars and line the roadsides when presumably they’d usually be working, or at school, or some such. That the only ones who appear to be working are the bartenders and frites dispensers reinforces my belief that Belgium is the greatest country in the world.
You can bet your bottom dollar that the town of Huy will once again be heaving on Wednesday when the riders of La Fleche Wallone tackle the horrible, beautiful Mur de Huy three times in the afternoon (whether you regard the climb as horrible or beautiful largely depends if you’re on a bike or in the pub). While three times up the Mur is never going to be fun, the last ascent has to be one of the most brutal finishes to any race, on any climb, anywhere. It truly is horribly beautiful.
I guess the talk will now centre on Dr Phil and whether he can repeat, threepeat or maybe even Steve Peat his way into the history books after his wins in Brabantse Pilj and Amstel Gold in the last week. The way he’s riding, the only surer bet you could make is that Abandy doesn’t show up. So with that thought, get thee to the start list, watch the timer (if we’ve managed to work it out) and get your picks in to stay in GC contention for the greatest prize pool in internet based cycling related tipping competitions.
First place overall wins a Veloforma Strada iR Velominati Edition frame in addition to the customary VSP winner’s VVorkshop Apron.
Second place overall wins a set of hand built CR Wheelworks Arenberg wheelset in a custom Velominati paint scheme laced to orange Chris King hubs. (CR Wheelworks is Café Roubaix’s new wheel goods brand.)
Third place overall wins a full Velominati V-Kit with accompanying custom orange Bont Vaypor+ road shoes.
Good luck and bottoms up!
[vsp_results id=”29637″/]
@Chui
Scrap Gerrans for Valverde
VSP PICKS:
1. Gerrans
2. Gilbert
3. Kwiatkowski
4. Moreno
5. Costa
VSP PICKS:
1. Valverde
2. Gilbert
3. Kwiatkowski
4. Moreno
5. Costa
VSP PICKS:
1. Philippe GIlbert
2. Rui Costa
3. Kwiatkowski
4. Alejandro Valverde
5. Vincenzo Nibali
…
VSP PICKS:
1. Gilbert, P
2. Kwiatkowski
3. Costa
4. Nibali
5. Moreno
VSP PICKS:
1. Phil Gilbert
2. Kwiatkowski
3. Nibbles
4. Costa
5. Moreno
VSP on a Wednesday fucks up my working while at work. That’s why I love it so much!
VSP PICKS:
1. Phil Gill
2. Moreno
3. J Rod
4. Valverde
5. Kwiatkowski
VSP PICKS:
1. Michal Kwiatkowski
2. Alejandro Valverde
3. Philippe Gilbert
4. Carlos Betancur
5. Tom Jelte Slagter
VSP PICKS:
1. Gilbert
2. Moreno
3. Martin
4. Valverde
5. Diego Ulissi
VSP PICKS:
1. Kwiatkowski
2. Gilbert
3. Martin
4. Nibali
5. Costa
VSP PICKS:
1. Moreno, Dan
2. Gilbert, Phil
3. Kwiatkowski, Mike
4. Valverde, Al
5. Vandendert, Gel
VSP PICKS:
1. P Gilbert
2. M Kwiatkowski
3. S Gerrans
4. A Valverde
5. B Mollema
@scaler911 Thinking to ask you about top 3 race helmets to consider — 250 under range.
Seems a very open race. Normally not a race for Gilbert, but I don’t see any of the expected rivals (Purito, Dan Martin, Betancur) in a real position to take him on. Sammy Sanchez as a dark horse??? After Amstel they may be more reluctant to chase him down as quickly and keep watching Phil. Will he be given enough rope??? He has done well here in the past…
VSP PICKS:
1. P Gilbert
2. D Moreno
3. A Valverde
4. J Vanendert
5. TJ Slagter
Having a rough time getting the women’s VSP page to open for me, it shows 129 posts but directs me to a blank page so I am listing my picks here. Sorry, maybe I’m just sleep depraved but my computer just does strange things with this site.
1 Vos 2 Borghini 3 Stevens 4 Armistead 5 Johansson
Sorry for the hassle, hopefully someone can help me out. Thanks.
VSP PICKS:
1. Gilbert
2. Moreno
3. Martin
4. Valverde
5. Diego Ulissi
VSP PICKS:
1. Philippe Gilbert
2. Michal Kwiatkowski
3. Alejandro Valverde
4. Daniel Moreno
5. Bauke Mollema
VSP PICKS:
1. Gilbert
2. Valverde
3. Kwiatkowski
4. A. Schleck
5. Moreno
@Island Bike
Thank goodness for that – you’re doing quite well this year, and a Delgado from you is exactly the break we all need.
+1 for “sleep depraved”, you lucky bastard.
Fleche Wallone
VSP PICKS:
1. Philipe Gilbert
2. Michal Kwiatkowski
3. Vincenzo Nibali
4. Alejandro Valverde
5. Daniel Moreno
Oops. Scratch Gerrans for Mollema.
VSP PICKS:
1. Valverde
2. Mollema
3. PhilGil
4. Kriatkowski
5. Costa
VSP PICKS:
1. Michal Kwiatkowski
2. Philippe Gilbert
3. Daniel Moreno
4. Simon Gerrans
5. Alejandro Valverde
VSP PICKS:
1. Fast Phil
2. Kwaitkowski
3. Valverde
4. Dan Martin
5. Betancur
VSP PICKS:
1. Diego Ulissi
2. Phil GIlbert
3. Valverde
4. Moreno
5. Vanendert
Oops, apparently Geschke’s not riding.
VSP PICKS:
1. Philippe Gilbert
2. Tom Jelte Slagter
3. Michael Kwiatkowski
4. Rui Costa
5. Alejandro Valverde
VSP PICKS:
1. Moreno
2. Rodriguez
3. Valverde
4. Gilbert
5. Vanendert
VSP PICKS:
1. Moreno
2. Gilbert
3. Valverde
4. Gesink
5. Dan Martin
Once again….tossed pieces of paper in the air with names on each one…prayed for guidance from the Prophet and ended up with these picks-
VSP PICKS:
1. Kwiatkowski
2. Gilbert
3. Valverde
4. Vandenert
5. Gerrans
That last pick is a Hail Mary but he’s been on the form of his life.
VSP PICKS:
1. Moreno
2. Gilbert
3. Kwiatkowski
4. Valverde
5. Arashiro
VSP PICKS:
1. gilbert
2. nibali
3. hesjedal
4. valverde
5. rui costa
Will I never learn …
VSP PICKS:
1. Gilbert
2. Valverde
3. Moreno
4. Nibbles
5. Gerrans
How can I get to this age and be still finding things that I’m hopeless at?
VSP PICKS:
1. kwiatkowski
2. Gilbert
3. nibali
4. slagter
5. moreno
Let it be.
VSP PICKS:
1. Gilbert
2. Kwiatkowski
3. Malmerde
4. Moreno
5. Costa
VSP PICKS:
1. D Moreno
2. A Valverde
3. Dan Martin
4. J Rodriguez
5. P Gilbert
VSP PICKS:
1. Gilbert
2. Kwiatkowski
3. Valverde
4. Daniel Moreno
5. Carlos BETANCOUR
I’m already way off the pace for the Veloforma GC – now re-aligning to low percentage solo raids.
Alba to go one better than 2012.
VSP PICKS:
1. Albasini
2. Kwiatowski
3. Gilbert
4. Vanendert
5. Westra
Revised pics
VSP PICKS:
1. Gilbert
2. Martin
3. Moreno
4. Kwiatowski
5. Valverde
@Island Bike
Island, it’s hard to do it that way. Try logging out and back in or try another browser. If no luck we will consult with Herr Director to award points as you have made your picks, all be it in an unconventional way.
@Island Bike
I cannot get to the women’s VSP , either. (In fact it’s been happening quite a bit with the VSP, particularly when I log in on my iPad.) While it is inconceivable that my presence or absence in a VSP would result in a materially different outcome, either for me or for the future ownership of the Veloforma, I nonetheless like to play, and accordingly propose to follow in the wheel-tracks of Island Bike via the following non-conforming submission for the women’s VSP:
1 -Vos. 2-Johansson. 3-Stevens. 4-Bronzini. 5-deVries.
Have not actually checked the start list, so am not sure if all of them are riding. But, if one is going to be a non-conformist, there is little point in being half-hearted about it.
@Gianni We crossed. Will try logging out. Thanks. And, obviously, if I am unsuccessful, feel free to ignore my non-conformance entirely. That’s generally the best way to deal with non-conformity anyway.
Heart over head. Except Gilbert.
Aargh damn, missed it.
This was going to be the moment I attacked too, just been lulling you all into a false sense of security up to now.
Bugger, Delgado’d…
Gotta hope that an early break stays away then, and no-one gets any points.
A train crossing would be good.
@Gianni Thank you for your extra effort, I really love this website but my computer seems to have a real problem with it. For example I pulled it up this morning and the banners read that I still have a day to pick for Fleche Wallone, and trying to access the thread for the women’s race is an exercise in frustration. I haven’t heard of anyone else having problems so I’m sure it is all on my end, any suggestions would be appreciated.
1. Moreno
2. Gilbert
3. Valverde
4. Kwiatkowski
5. Martin
pow….. that just happened….
@Island Bike
Have you tried clearing the cache on your browser?
Can’t get any of the streams to work. Anyone got a link?
@Island Bike I noticed some slightly screwy behaviour yesterday while trying to access the site on my iPad. The latest comments section on the sidebar was about 12 hours out of date, and when I clicked though to the VSP for the women’s Fleche, there were no comments showing up. Also, after I logged in, the top of the page still said “Log In”. I logged in again, and when I went back to the front page, I then saw the “Log Out” text. I could then see the comments on the VSP page, plus the latest comments in the sidebar were then up to date.
@LeoTea
Yeah, me too. Missed my picks with the timing (still says its open now…) but anyway. Love all the work that Frank does so I’ll cut him a lot of slack before I throw the toys out of the cot.
Europcar digging