Velominati Super Prestige

Velominati Super Prestige: Amstel Gold Race 2012

Joop and Steven break clear in Amstel Gold

When people think of the The Netherlands, they generally think of flat lands, windmills, and a topography where people claim to “live at elevation” when their home on the third floor of a building. Never the less, this is not entirely true as The Motherland does, in its most southern reaches, boast quite hilly terrain; the province of Limburg juts out into the Ardennes region which is famous in Belgium for the short, steep climbs typical of a geography hewn from high plains by flowing water. Its the perfect place for a bike race.

This Sunday marks the official end of the Cobbled Classics, and the begging of the Ardennes Classics. The big, heavy riders who go well on the cobbles will take a back seat to lighter but powerful rouleurs who can go uphill quickly for a few kilometers. A Grimpeur may be able to gain the upper hand, but only if they go climb quickly enough to shed the stronger riders with fast finishes. Last year we saw Philippe Gilbert use the Amstel Gold Race to start his astonishing streak of wins, finishing off all the Ardennes races with his fast finish. However, if a Lexicon entry is enough to condemn a rider’s chances, then the recent addition of Gilbackwards should seal his fate. Valverde is back from suspension and going as well as ever, and he could well be the man for this season.

The Ardennes Classics also serve as an indicator for the Grand Tours. The Giro is just around the corner, and the Tour de France only a few months away. Riders will be eager to measure themselves against one another and see who is ahead and who is behind schedule (I’m looking at you, Grimplette). Then there are the upsets and the kamikaze breakaways to consider; Jens Voigt has been close in these hills before, can he close the sale this year?

Check the start list and watch the countdown timer as picks close at 5am Pacific on Sunday; up for grabs is the personalized Velominati Shop Apron to the contestent who wins the season-long competition. Check the Main VSP page for scoring guidelines and rules. Also don’t be alarmed if your post doesn’t show up in the sidebar; in an effort go cut down on the noise caused by the VSP, we’re now filtering out the posts that only contain someone’s picks and no further content; don’t worry – they still count and they’ll still show up in the main feed; they’re just being filtered out of the “Recent Posts” feed.

Good luck.

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262 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Amstel Gold Race 2012”

  1. I’m not sure if either Schleck will ever be in any VSP pick this year Not that I have anything wrong with that.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. Chavanel
    3. Sagan
    4. Lars Boom
    5. Voeckler

  3. VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. Sagan
    3. Valverde
    4. Chavanel, Silvain
    5. Boom

  4. I hope these riders will do it for me coming sunday :)

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter Sagan
    2. Lars Boom
    3. Philippe Gilbert
    4. Johnny Hoogerland
    5. Nikki Terpstra

  5. Sweetness

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Chavanel
    2. Gilbert
    3. Boom
    4. Van sumeren
    5. Appollonio

  7. VSP PICKS:

    1. Chavanel
    2. Greg Van Avermaet
    3. Jurgen Van Den Broeck
    4. Nibali
    5. Johan Vansummeren

  8. Gilbert is having a real poop this spring. I’m sure he’ll give a mighty push this Sunday but it won’t be enough

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Purito
    3. Valverde
    4. Nibbles
    5. Gerro

  9. The finish has slightly changed, the last two hills are now closer together to offer more chances to attackers. I’m still thinking the winner wins a la Gilbert, only it will not be Gilbert.

    I’m not even counting in Evans, Hesjedal, Freire, Cunego, Schlecks, Nibali, Sagan, Visconti, Albasini, Rojas, Gilbert, Voeckler, Sylvain Chavanel, Peter Velits, Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Jelle Vanendert, Martens, Breschel, Kruijswijk, Henao, Carrara, Poels, Ruijgh, Marcato you know what nevermind and so on, and I’m still having a hard time deciding.

    Also, SamSan is going to ride but is not mentioned on the starting list.

    Why are the servers still out so often? Did traffic to this site suddenly increase tenfold again?

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Rodriquez
    2. SamSan
    3. Gerrans
    4. Valverde
    5. Mollema

  10. VSP PICKS:

    1. Joaquim Rodriguez
    2. Damiano Cunego
    3. Sylvain Chavanel
    4. Simon Gerrans
    5. Samuel Sanchez

  14. Good to be back on board, i got thrown off this good ride due to stinkin work and a crashed computer at home

    I for one, see the Amstel Gold as a beginning of a wierd funk, where I slam the mug down in a slobbering drunken rage realizing my cobbled queen has gone…for a year, and I will miss her

    Thank Merckx for the Maglia Rosa

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Jurgen VanDerBroek
    2. Fast Phil
    3. Hot Rod Joaquim
    4. Sammy Sanchez
    5. Matti B

  16. VSP PICKS:

    1. Alejandro Valverde
    2. Samuel Sanchez
    3. Peter Sagan
    4. Joaquin Rodriguez
    5. Frank Schleck

  18. VSP PICKS:

    1. Greg Van Avermaet
    2. Thomas Voeckler
    3. Eddy The Boss
    4. Gilbert
    5. Valverde

  20. 6->12
    Hoogerland
    Veuckler
    Sagan
    F.Schleck
    Gilbert
    Van Avermaet
    Freire

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Valverde
    2. Samuel Sanchez
    3. J.Rodriquez
    4. Mollema
    5. Westra

  21. VSP PICKS:

    1. Phil Gil
    2. Terpstra
    3. Sagan
    4. Van Den Broeck
    5. Freire

  22. VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. F Schleck
    3. Chavanel
    4. Samuel Sanchez
    5. Valverde

  24. VSP PICKS:

    1. L. Boom
    2. S. Sanchez
    3. P. Sagan
    4. E. Boasson Hagen
    5. J. Hoogerland

  26. VSP PICKS:

    1. Alejandro Valverde
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Simon Gerrans
    4. Damiano Cunego
    5. Joaquin Rodriquez

  27. Throw them up in the air and see who wins. Although Piti is pretty motivated.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Valverde
    2. J Rodriguez
    3. Sammy Sanchez
    4. Gilbert
    5. Van Avermaet

  28. VSP PICKS:

    1. Joaquím Rodríguez Oliver
    2. Phillipe Gilbert
    3. Sylvain Chavanel
    4. Andy Schleck
    5. Larm Boom

  29. VSP PICKS:

    1. Joaquím Rodríguez Oliver
    2. Phillipe Gilbert
    3. Sylvain Chavanel
    4. Andy Schleck
    5. Lars Boom

  30. Sagan went down hard in Brabantse Pijl, and is bruised. Don’t know if it will affect him at all. Andy Schleck went down and hurt his hand, but maybe not badly. Like that would matter as he is dropped off the back anyways.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Gerrans
    2. Valverde
    3. Rodriguez
    4. Freire
    5. Mollema

  31. This VSP event doesn’t seem to get as much contenders as last events. Is that due to servers, the short time in which I decided this or are people genuinely less interested in the AGR? (I can imagine it of course, but I’m Dutch so this is the most important race of my season)

  34. Wow, these races come so fast and furious at this stage of the year. Very challenging one to pick for sure.

    That lead photo is incredible. Everyone needs a flash steel tubed, shallow rimmed steed like those!

  36. I don’t get why a lot of people choose Boom. He is relatively fast, he can climb for a bit, but until last year he couldn’t even ride 260 km in a race and he never even featured in shorter, less heavy races.

    He only climbed well (for his weight) once, in the Vuelta 2009.

  37. VSP PICKS:

    1. A. Valverde
    2. J. Rodriguez
    3. T. Voeckler
    4. R. Hesjedal
    5. T. Dekker

  39. VSP PICKS:

    1. Philippe Gilbert
    2. Vincenzo Nibali
    3. Fränk Schleck
    4. Alejandro Valverde
    5. Johnny Hoogerland

  40. VSP PICKS:

    1. SAGAN Peter
    2. CHAVANEL Sylvain
    3. GILBERT Philippe
    4. VALVERDE BELMONTE Alejandro
    5. GERRANS Simon

  42. VSP PICKS:

    1. Dirty Sammy
    2. Dirty J-Rod
    3. Dirty Valverde
    4. Peter Satan
    5. Grimpeur the elder wheelsucking

  43. Was tempted to pick good cadelephant, but he’s just missed the cut.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Rodriguez
    2. Valverde
    3. Sagan
    4. Gerrans
    5. Sanchez

  44. VSP PICKS:

    1. Simon Gerrans
    2. Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez
    3. Vincenzo Nibali
    4. Oscar Freire Gomez
    5. Lieuwe Westra

  45. Vincenzo!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Vincenzo Nibali
    2. Simon Gerrans
    3. Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez
    4. Oscar Freire Gomez
    5. Lieuwe Westra

  50. VSP PICKS:

    1. P Gilbert
    2. J Rodriguez
    3. S Gerrans
    4. P Sagan
    5. S Sanchez

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