Velominati Super Prestige:
Giro D'Italia 2013
Velominati Community Profile Archive

Velominatus: Danger

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@Danger's activity:

Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2012

After a winter of long training rides that offered more in the way of numb extremities than it did in acute enjoyment, I have to say that the warming of the air and brightening of the skies have served to remind me that while I love riding in bad weather, I certainly don’t have anything against riding when its nice out.But dont think for...

@Danger's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Basso 2. Scarponi 3. Rujano 4. Frank Schleck 5. Kreuziger »

Velominati Super Prestige: La Fleche Wallonne 2012

I just had to use this pic of Tom Simpson in 1965 wearing the Peugeot kit as the title pic for this year’s VSP for La Fleche Wallonne. Rigid hooked himself up on the Keepers Tour with the same kit he purchased at the Flanders Cycling Museum and it’s Grade A nipple lube. Although victory eluded Simpson in this Classic he still looked dam...

@Danger's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Rodríguez 2. Valverde 3. Vanendert 4. Cunego 5. Gilbert »

Velominati Super Prestige: Flèche Wallonne Femmes 2012

During the Ronde von Vlaanderen, we of the 2012 Keeper’s Spring Classic Tour were right on the Oude Kwaremont climb as the women big-ringed it up the cobbles. Kristin Armstrong (US Women’s Team) was burying herself to get on Judith Arndt’s (Greenedge) wheel. It looked like the winning break was going right in front of our eyes. Se...

@Danger's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Pooley 2. Vos 3. Cooke 4. Johansson 5. Arndt »

Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Roubaix 2012

We rode the Pavé of Roubaix in the dry, and any comforting feelings we might have been carrying about with us that suggested we had somehow prepared for them were summarily vaporized as we hit the first secteur. Riding together in a group, unable to reach for the brakes or the shifters, we all were hit with the same realization: these aren’...

@Danger's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Boonen 2. Pozzato 3. Fletcha 4. Ballan 5. Rast »

Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012

The Velominati Super-Prestige continues with our second Women’s event of 2012, the Women’s Ronde van Vlaanderen. This one is made even more exciting for me by the fact that I now have some small connection to the Women’s Tibco Racing Team, as I watched with envy as they each pulled their bikes off the oversized baggage carrousel...

@Danger's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Johansson 2. Wild 3. Armistead 4. Arndt 5. Pooley »

Velominati Super Prestige: Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012

The Keepers and Rigid rolled into a region in France called Flandres which, without doing any further research into the matter, we assume is the coloquial French term for this region of the world. If its anything like the other regions in Europe, these places have roots that extend way past any modern country’s border and situate themselves i...

@Danger's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Chavanel 2. Spartacus 3. Boonen 4. Van Marke 5. Pozzato »

Velominati Super Prestige: Gent-Wevelgem 2012

Gent conjures up images of the quintessential Flemish city. Age-old medieval architecture rising from the river’s edge is classically Belgian. Gent is also firmly tied to Belgium’s greatest gift to the world, cycling tradition. Many a pro-expat cyclist has relocated to Gent with the hope of testing their mettle in the seat of cycling...

@Danger's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Boonen 2. Blythe 3. Degenkolb 4. Sagan 5. Freire »

Velominati Super Prestige: Milano San-Remo 2012

The Poggio. It’s probably one of the most famous easy climbs in the world; going through old cycling photographs, I rarely come across one where the leaders haven’t moved Sur La Plaque. It has a reputation, however, for being a real leg breaker, mostly because any climb is a big climb once you cross its summit after a paltry 291 kilomet...

@Danger's posts:

  1. Oh, well it still says I am logged in as CanuckChuck but I am not. VSP PICKS: 1. Cav 2. Sagan 3. Spartacus 4. Nibali 5. EBH »

  2. Err somehow I am logged in as CanuckChuck. I am not CanuckChuck. Danger VSP PICKS: 1. Cavendouche 2. Sagan 3. Spartacus 4. Friar Oscar 5. Boomboom (Tom) »

Velominati Super Prestige: Paris-Nice 2012

It’s right around this time of year when the little voice in my head that spurs me on in cold, wet, Rule #9 conditions starts getting overpowered by all my other personalities who at this stage are gathering stones and crowbars and getting ready to enforce their will on him regarding their preference for riding in nice, warm, sunny conditi...

@Danger's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Wiggo 2. Leipheimer 3. Van Garderen 4. Porte 5. Kloden »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Wiggo 2. Leipheimer 3. Van Garderen 4. Porte 5. Taaramae »

Velominati Super Prestige: Strade Bianche 2012

The Monte Paschi Strade Bianchi is happening this Saturday and it is such an interesting race we are putting it into the VSP.  The route is a mix of pavement and white marble sectors that roam through the hilly Tuscan country and finishes in the middle of beautiful Sienna. It seems early to me but that is because the Giro had an epic stage on the...

@Danger's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Gilbert 2. Nibali 3. Ballan 4. Sagan 5. Visconti »

Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

We kick off the first races of the 2012 VSP with a double-header as we open the picks for the VVomen’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Aside from an early hiccup, the new software has been running as expected, though I should have known better than to declare something as “tested”; as the first few picks went in sideways, there was more co...

@Danger's posts:

  1. @Danger It is difficult even getting results for more than a couple of years ago. VAN DEN BOSCH what a name! VDB FTW! »

  2. VSP PICKS: 1. Wild 2. Druyts 3. Verbeke 4. Van Vleuten 5. Van Den Bosch »

Velominati Super Prestige: Men’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

The 2012 Velominati Super Prestige kicks off in proper form this season with the debut of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as part of the series. I’m tempted to stubbornly refer to this race as Het Volk, but I’ll toe the line and refer to the race by its bewildering new(ish) name.This is a tricky race to predict because the big races in April ar...

@Danger's posts:

  1. VSP PICKS: 1. Flecha 2. Van Avermaet 3. Ciolek 4. Breschel 5. Maaskant »

Anatomy of a Photo: Sticks and Stones

It’s no secret that the cobbles are the domain of the big men. Look through the list of winners in Flanders and Roubaix, and you won’t find any flyweights, grimpeurs or probably anyone under 80kg. Ok, maybe lighter than that, but more likely the weight will be compacted in muscle and distributed over a shorter body than Jolly Naughty Wi...

@Danger's posts:

  1. Wiggins finished 25th that year »

  2. @DerHoggz Woah, Matt Busche has really let himself go in the off season. »

A Study in Casually Deliberate: Wait Properly

We spend a small enormity of time waiting. We wait for lights to turn green. We wait for riders to arrive to the ride. We wait for riding partners to finish repairing a flat or mechanical. Due to various practical considerations including the perceived notion that armchairs don’t stuff well into jersey pockets, we generally find ourselves d...

@Danger's posts:

  1. Tom Boonen Cat 5 tattoo @ 15 secs »

Anatomy of a Photo: Awkward Adolescence

Evolution is a slow, gradual process, punctuated by sudden change. For the first 80 years of our sport, riders rode contra la montre on their regular road bikes. For certain, the bikes were carefully cleaned and tuned to remove all possible resistance, but these were their standard, daily machines. Then, in a span of barely ten years came the s...

@Danger's posts:

  1. Look at the chain in the Sparticus Specialized photo! As @bigringriding would say he certainly has his cottage of wattage fired up! »

Tour de France Rule #5 Award: Johnny Hoogerland

Not an absolute; the beauty of Rule #5 is the graduated scale upon which it is measured. Rule #5 means to push yourself beyond the signals your body sends to stop what you’re doing, usually with ever-increasing urgency. It means to disobey reason and to surpass physical boundaries previously considered impassable. This is why Rule #5 stand...

@Danger's posts:

  1. What a race! Johnny Barbed Wire a worthy winner of the Rule #5 award but there were plenty of other hardman incidents, Horner chasing home on his own from 15k out with heavy concussion no idea what was going on or where he was but still being driven by the… »

Doping: The Acceptability of a Method

Performance-enhancing methods. This is a term we hear so often in cycling; it refers to the practice of using products or processes that elevate your performance beyond what you could naturally do. It is a terribly complicated matter for the fans, and I can only speculate as to how complicated it is for the professionals who do or do not participat...

@Danger's posts:

  1. Gentleman if you haven’t heard of Mark Twight, he is worth a google. A Hardman indeed. »

Breaking the Rules: Graeme Obree

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Innovation is ugly, inelegant. By it’s very definition, it is carried out with almost a kind of contempt for The Rules. With no regard for aesthetics, it is a domain ventured into by the casually courageous and mentally frail. It comes in fits and starts, and success is punctuated by devastati...

@Danger's posts:

  1. To be fair to him he looks as though he is going to be overtaken often. He can’t be in breach of Rule #66 because recumbents are not bikes. It would be unfair to judge them on our standards. We are better. »