Velominati Super Prestige: La Clásica San Sebastián 2015

For anyone who has just witnessed the Tour de France, the single most amazing point is, these guys are super-human freaks of nature. A few thousand kilometers, untold meters gained climbing, all at an average speed us mortals could not do for an hour, on the flat. Six days after Paris and there are only going to be two pairs of guns available for install: the fried ones and the mint ones. To be sure the winner will be someone who rode the Tour. Who is going to have the mint legs on come Saturday that is the real question. The soigneurs may be the best inside information people for San Sebastián.

Phil Gil is the designated leader for BMC but the wiley old local boy Samu Sanchez is the one on that team to keep an eye on. He was a monster on the Tour. To think this guy couldn’t get a contract for 2015, someone is not paying attention. Purito’s guns will be two smoking cigar stubs. I’d like to count out Malmerde but I have to grudgingly admire what a stud he is and he can never be counted out.

Here is a provisional start list. Do with it as you wish. Don’t Delgado. These are some quality points here. Good luck and good picking.

[vsp_results id=”33343″/]

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98 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: La Clásica San Sebastián 2015”

  1. Sorry for the accidental post. (w/ only 2 entries)
    I’ll be riding tomorrow and all the while looking forward to seeing the results.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Valverde
    2. Alaphilippe
    3. Gilbert
    4. Sanchez
    5. Stybar
  2. I’m not in contention, having Delgadoed the entire spring, followed up with poor TDF picks.  For what it’s worth (nothing), here’s the list of who is guaranteed to crash out, given my psychic ability to fuck up my VSP picks.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Rodriguez
    2. Valverde
    3. Bardet
    4. Pinot
    5. P Gilbert
  3. VSP PICKS:

    1. Valverde
    2. Phil Gil
    3. J Rodriguez
    4. Dan Martin
    5. Tony Gallopin
  4. I can only guess. My dark horse is Moreno.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Tony Gallopin
    2. Alejandro Valverde
    3. Daniel Moreno
    4. Philippe Gilbert
    5. Bauke Mollema
  5. VSP PICKS:

    1. Greg Van Avermaet
    2. Mikel Landa
    3. Adam Yates
    4. Daniel Moreno
    5. Roman Bardet
  6. VSP PICKS:

    1. Alejandro Valverde
    2. Joaquím Rodríguez Oliver
    3. Samuel Sanchez
    4. Dan Martin
    5. Romain Bardet
  7. After channeling my inner Christophe Peraud in this year’s TdF, I am hoping for something more Adam Yatesey for this race.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Valverde, Al
    2. Rod, Jay
    3. Gilbert, Phil
    4. Mulema, Baulky
    5. Samchez, Sanny
  8. VSP PICKS:

    1. Valverde, Al
    2. Rod, Jay
    3. Gilbert, Phil
    4. Mulema, Baulky
    5. Sanchez, Sammy
  9. I’d be cheering for Gallopin if he was riding. His absence allows my picks to be more head than heart. I hate myself nevertheless.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. A. Valverde
    2. J. Rodriguez
    3. J. Alaphilippe
    4. D. Martin
    5. A. Yates
  10. VSP PICKS:

    1. Alejandro Valverde
    2. Julian Alaphilippe
    3. Philippe Gilbert
    4. Bauke Mollema
    5. Dan Martin
  11. I’m not in the least bit familiar with this race so my picks are completely clueless. Who is this Al Valverde dude everyone is picking? Yahhnnn… Cheers all

    VSP PICKS:

    1. KENNAUGH Peter
    2. FUGLSANG Jakob
    3. KELDERMAN Wilco
    4. STYBAR Zdenek
    5. CHAVANEL Sylvain
  12. VSP PICKS:

    1. A. Valverde
    2. P. Gilbert
    3. A. Yates
    4. J. Rodriguez
    5. T. Gallopin
  13. @xyxax

    After channeling my inner Christophe Peraud in this year’s TdF, I am hoping for something more Adam Yatesey for this race.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Valverde, Al
    2. Rod, Jay
    3. Gilbert, Phil
    4. Mulema, Baulky
    5. Samchez, Sanny

    OUCH!

  14. @ped

    Serves me right to mention him crashing out of the lead group in 2014 and he wins, unchosen.  Good on him though, strong work for the next generation.

  15. @ped

    GVA tweeted that he was going to win the race but he got knocked off by a moto.  That must be why Yates didn’t know that he won. What a fuck up.

  16. @xyxax

    @ped

    GVA tweeted that he was going to win the race but he got knocked off by a moto.  That must be why Yates didn’t know that he won. What a fuck up.

    From the sound of it, the plane providing race updates had a problem, and then when he was trying to actually TALK to the DS via the CAR WINDOW it was too noisy for him to understand.

    Honestly, I have no love for the Yates bros (Three Point System Violation on the helmet-wearing) but MASSAIVE props to the boy who just put the pedal to the metal irrespective of the radios and just raced. When in doubt, fucking Rule #5, son. He is on my list now, I tell you.

  17. I had GVA pegged for the win, so if that moto driver costs me the overall VSP, I will hire Hinault to get all puncheur on him.  Man, what a mess.

  18. So, according to BMC, “This was not a sporting incident. This was caused by pure negligence, which cost the team millions of dollars on lost publicity. Therefore, we plan to explore every legal… blah blah”

    We might could agree on the negligence part yes. Uhhh, the millions in lost publicity?? Seriously? There might in fact be even more publicity as a result.

  19. @frank

    @xyxax

    @ped

    GVA tweeted that he was going to win the race but he got knocked off by a moto.  That must be why Yates didn’t know that he won. What a fuck up.

    From the sound of it, the plane providing race updates had a problem, and then when he was trying to actually TALK to the DS via the CAR WINDOW it was too noisy for him to understand.

    Honestly, I have no love for the Yates bros (Three Point System Violation on the helmet-wearing) but MASSAIVE props to the boy who just put the pedal to the metal irrespective of the radios and just raced. When in doubt, fucking Rule #5, son. He is on my list now, I tell you.

    This is why race radio needs to be banned and only race officials giving race info on radios.

  20. It’s all well & good BMC claiming the moto cost GVA the win, but Yates was right behind those two motos when they took him down, so it’s not like it was in the bag.

  21. @Mikael Liddy

    It’s all well & good BMC claiming the moto cost GVA the win, but Yates was right behind those two motos when they took him down, so it’s not like it was in the bag.

    So how did Yates not know he’d won? He must have ridden past GVA lying on the floor?

  22. @Barracuda

    This is why race radio needs to be banned and only race officials giving race info on radios.

    David Millar made an interesting point at the weekend that radios should be limited to just the team leader so that it would introduce more emphasis on rider/team communication on the road and also result in more uncertainty that would produce more variety vs the current situation whereby things are somewhat over controlled from the team car.

  23. @RobSandy

    @Mikael Liddy

    It’s all well & good BMC claiming the moto cost GVA the win, but Yates was right behind those two motos when they took him down, so it’s not like it was in the bag.

    So how did Yates not know he’d won? He must have ridden past GVA lying on the floor?

    That climb was pretty crazy what with all the fans and BMC riders and motos lying around. Must have been pretty confusing. I’m guessing he just saw a gap and decided to get the hell out of there and escape the chaos. Great win but gutted for GvA. That moto was too close and driven by what looked like an inexperienced driver.

  24. @Teocalli

    @Barracuda

    This is why race radio needs to be banned and only race officials giving race info on radios.

    David Millar made an interesting point at the weekend that radios should be limited to just the team leader so that it would introduce more emphasis on rider/team communication on the road and also result in more uncertainty that would produce more variety vs the current situation whereby things are somewhat over controlled from the team car.

    Very interesting!

  25. Late to check on this. Damn, what a crazy incident. I can’t imagine the surprise of suddenly have a moto clip your rear wheel. Jeez.

  26. Wow! I come back from a vacation to find I’ve won a VSP! Looks like this is one of the 2 times a day my carbon ball is right.

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