Velominati Super Prestige: Milano-San Remo

RDV wins La Primavera in 1973

The second annual Velominati Super Prestige kicks off with La Primavera, Milano-San Remo on March 19. The first Monument of the year, MSR is the first true showdown of the year where all the big names will be en forme and willing to sell their mothers to notch this prestigious win.  Although known for its famous climbs including the Cipressa and the Poggio, it isn’t the terrain that poses the greatest challenge in this race, but it’s distance.  At almost 300km, this race is a monster. Without having ever ridden it, I can tell you with zero confidence that the Poggio is not a steep or difficult climb, but with a big pile of kilometers already ridden, even its moderate gradient will weigh heavy in the legs.

MSR often finishes in a bunch sprint, but not always. With a well-timed attack on the Poggio and more than a handful of seconds buffer before starting the descent, riders with technical descending skills (sorry, Les Freres Grimpeur, never gonna happen) can stay away and spoil the day for the fast men.

We find ourselves with a pile of data gleaned from watching Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico, but La Primavera happens to be enough of a wild-card that all that data will only serve to cloud judgement. Our advice? Take out the radio earpiece to and vote on feel.

The winner of this VSP edition will earn an “Obey the Rules” bumper sticker  and all reader’s points qualify towards the final prize of the free personalized Velominati Shop Apron.  This year we’ve enhanced the entry mechanism; if you are inclined to enter, simply post your predictions for the top five placings in the designated area above the posts section, bearing in mind that entry/modification of picks closes at 5am Pacific time on the day of the race.  Check the Super-Prestige main page for rules and scoring information.

Good luck.

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236 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Milano-San Remo”

  1. picks in. Can’t wait! Gotta admit, I’ve not completed enough pre-season training so my picks are likely to be a bit inaccurate this early on…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. the god of thunder
    3. matt goss
    4. spartacus
    5. robbie mcewan

  2. Just to check, Frank, If i want to change any of these picks before the cut off time, I should just fill out the boxes again and your magic software will do the rest?

  3. VSP PICKS:

    1. Ballan (by a few secs)
    2. Hushovd
    3. Freire
    4. Renshaw
    5. Goss

  4. @andy
    That’s right. Updating your picks does nothing except that in an event of a tie, the first reader to post the picks wins out, based on the last update.

  5. Can’t wait for Saturday. Talk about a who’s who of a start list.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. Friere
    3. Sauceler
    4. Sagan
    5. Thor

  6. what ever happened to the results of the previous race we did this with?

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Faboo
    2. Boom Boom
    3. Goss
    4. Freire
    5. Haussler

  7. Going for the Garmvelo sweep!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Heinie Hauler
    2. Thor me a new one
    3. FarRAWR
    4. Boom Boom – out go the lights
    5. Cave and douche

  8. @Cyclops
    FarRAWR. Love it. I imagine a little cat-claw gesture with that one, which then serves to completely emasculate him.

    So far, so good with the software it seems. One more comment: as with the last edition, a free symbol pack goes to whomever identifies the most significant bug or makes the best suggestion on how to improve the system.

  9. The real season begins now!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. Hushovd
    3. Friere
    4. Goss
    5. Cancellara

  10. VSP PICKS:

    1. Oscar Freire again
    2. Robbie ‘wild card’ McEwen
    3. Third Hushovd
    4. Tyler Farrar ‘force’
    5. Eddie ‘not merckx’ Boasson Hagen

  11. Now that it counts, let’s see if I can keep the streak alive.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Heinrich Hauler
    2. Mark Crashvendish
    3. Friar Oscar
    4. God of Thunder
    5. Spartacus

  12. I just really want to see Garmin deliver Haussler to the line with Farrar and Thor giving it everything for teammate. Then we know that the team really is going to work for each other in the classics.

    Of course, truth be told it will probably be Cavendish.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Haussler
    2. Freire
    3. Mighty Thor
    4. Farrar
    5. Bennati

  13. First post from a short time follower of the V.

    Gilbert to do another cheeky run down the barriers and profit from the Garmvelo Lead Out.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. Haussler
    3. Hushovd
    4. Freire
    5. Cancellara

  14. I think that Garmin/Cervelo has their shit together, and it’s time to show such. Thor has been putting the hammer down in the sprints as the lead out guy, but this will be his time in the Rainbow. He and Tyler can make it over the climbs and the distance, and the fifth place rider is simply for props…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Thor: The God of Thunder
    2. Gibby Gilbert
    3. Ty Ty Farrrrarrrrr
    4. Spartacus
    5. Pat Bulger

  15. Boy am I psyched! I’ll be up early, awaiting messages from our boy riding bitch in the team car; maybe he’ll even tease us with some photos. He’ll also be doing a post-race retrospective. Awesome.

    Some great photos over at Cycling News.

  16. Alright, here we go! Again, pulled out of my ass… but I’m hoping Tyler will be in good form and surprise folks with a first-place win.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Tyler Farrar
    2. Mark Cavendish
    3. Thor Hushovd
    4. Fabian Cancellara
    5. Tom Boonen

  17. VSP PICKS:

    1. Haussler
    2. cavendish
    3. freire
    4. hushovd
    5. boonen

  18. VSP PICKS:

    1. Heinrich Haussler
    2. Oscar Friere
    3. Thor Hushovd
    4. Philipe Gilbert
    5. Mark Cavendish

  19. The Douche’ll do ok, but his Dish’ll get Fried by Friere and Heinrich will set the House On Fire… Bring it Garmvelo.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Heinrich HouseOnFire
    2. Oscar Fryer
    3. CavenDish
    4. Gilbert
    5. Boomin’ Boonen

  20. Back on the road, spring classics – life is good!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Hushovd
    2. Gilbert
    3. Haussler
    4. Farrar
    5. Boasson-Hagen

  21. Woo-Hooo! Nuthin’ like a 300km death march to start the season off right. Merckx, that’s a long haul. I can’t tell if Cavendish is being cagey or if he’s not on form yet. If one of the three GarVelos doesn’t win this one, that will be a big let down. Wouldn’t want to be on that team bus if it doesn’t go their way.

    Delivered in my best French:

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Tor Hush Ahvd
    2. Free Air
    3. Ah Les Jett
    4. Hine Reeek House Lerr
    5. Kahv Un Deeesh

  22. I’m not good at this
    nevertheless it’s really funny to partecipate

  23. I’m really rooting for Farrar but I don’t think he’s up to the distance this time of year.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Hushovd
    2. Boonen
    3. Haussler
    4. Boassan Hagen
    5. Freire

  24. @ramenvelo

    Yeah I like the guy quite a bit, but he seems to be a bit of a wild card in terms of getting first-place positioning… but you never know! Nothing to lose here, so may as well make some wild-ass bets.

  25. You know Cancellara wants this one, but is anyone going to let him pull more than an inch off the front? But what they want and what they can prevent: two different things? In January, he claimed that winning all five Classics was a goal, not a dream. MSR and the World Road Championship this year. And just about every TT in between””by like five minutes each. Beast is back. And after Thor, is there a better descender on the start list? (Thor’s looking good, but I think he’s saving marbles for next month). I can also see Thor and Pip Gilbert busting up the Poggio and staying away, though.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Cantchapartacus
    2. God of Thunder Rainbows
    3. Giblets
    4. Double H
    5. Freire

  26. @Steampunk
    I was just about to ridicule the chances of Fabio winning, and then I saw the yellow jersey on your icon.

    Nevermind.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Thor: The God of Thunder
    2. Gibby Gilbert
    3. Ty Ty Farrrrarrrrr
    4. Spartacus
    5. Pat Bulger

  27. VSP PICKS:

    1. Cancellara
    2. Gilbert
    3. Hushovd
    4. Caven-can he-dish?
    5. McEwen

  28. VSP PICKS:

    1. Tyler Farrar
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Lars Boom
    4. Spartacus
    5. Big ‘Hoss’ler

  29. Where can I pick up the Leader’s jersey on Saturday please? :)

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Thor Hushovd
    2. Tyler Farrar
    3. Alessandro Petacchi
    4. Fabian Cancellara
    5. Philippe Gilbert

  30. VSP PICKS:

    1. Faboo
    2. Thor de Rainbow
    3. CavenitsabouttimeIpullmyfingerou
    4. Tomeke
    5. Friar Gomez

  31. Just about the hardest classic to pick a winner because you know every sprinter wants it (along with many a puncheur) – so many options to pick from – but stupid patriotism has influenced my picks once again…

    My dream finish:
    Too many strong and motivated sprint teams control the early attackers and a big bunch hits the finishing straight that isn’t the via Roma anymore.
    Cookie revives his career by firing the afterburners – but a touch too early, gets passed by a few and hangs on for fifth.
    As Cav has stopped to buy some cannoli on a certain hill (CavwontgetoverthePoggiodish?), Goss is riding the Reckshaw to the line and is right in the mix, coming past Cookie ends up snagging a 4th.
    And the Howitzer is firing cannons next to Alby Davis both going neck, neck and neck with Gossy edging him as the get closer to the line.
    Then out of the afternoon sun we suddenly see a Radioshack jersey for the first time since Hincrappie snapped his forks on the Cipressa – that’s right, the Little Bogan has his one last day in the sun and takes it on the line with no team supporting him.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Oscar Freire
    2. Thor Hushovd
    3. Heiney Howitzer
    4. Alby Davis
    5. Matthew Goss

  32. packfiller:
    @Steampunk
    I was just about to ridicule the chances of Fabio winning, and then I saw the yellow jersey on your icon.

    What can I say: I did some research on Clenbuterol last year. To steal a line from that old Monkees song, “I’m a believer.” Yellow jersey be damned, though. This was the big prize.

  33. Awesome! Time to have some REAL fun!!!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Heinrich Hustler
    2. Thor Thunder Shorts
    3. Cavendouch
    4. Tomeke
    5. Philip “Hard as nails” Gilbert

  34. VSP PICKS:

    1. THOR
    2. Matty ‘The Aussie’ Goss
    3. The Hussler
    4. FarRRRRRar
    5. Ballan

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