Velominati Super Prestige: Giro di Lombardia 2014

After the leaves have fallen. Photo: Pedale.Forchetta
After the leaves have fallen. Photo: Pedale.Forchetta

I’m getting too old and cranky for all this race schedule changing. I know they already did this last year and presumably I had the same gripings then, but Lombardia is supposed to close out the season and I’m downright angry that Paris-Tours is closing out the books now; it only seems right that one of the most beautiful races should close out the season, not some sprinter’s classic that even The Prophet didn’t bother to win.

Speaking of the end of the year, this season has blown by; it seems only a moment ago that the cobbled classics were in full flight and the whole of the season was stretching out before us. That confirms it: Time is an asshole. On the other hand, time always provides another season so I guess that’s a redeeming quality.

Ok, the caffeine is kicking in and I’m now capable of an emotion other than resentment, so lets get more positive. There’s a beautiful race coming this weekend so get stoked! We have a newly crowned World Champion whose choice of bib shorts color to scrutinize. This is important work, people, and no one else is going to do it. His team has a strong track record for pairing leader and championship jerseys to team-issue bibs, with the glaring exception of Der Panzerwagan’s white (and bloody) skinsuit. My money is on team-issue.

Remember we have some major prizes on offer; @il muro di manayunk has a solid lead, but if he’s out of the points and Der @Steampunk has a good showing, anything can happen. (That might not be true, it might be mathematically impossible but I don’t feel like doing the math.) So prognosticate on the start list and get your picks in by midnight on Saturday Pacific Time (or when the clock goes to zero). Cheers, and good luck.

[vsp_results id=”31190″/]

Related Posts

124 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Giro di Lombardia 2014”

  1. VSP PICKS:

    1. D. Martin
    2. A. Valverde
    3. F. Aru
    4. C.Gautier
    5. M. Albasini

  2. Well picking the favourites hasn’t worked out all that well this year so time for some outsiders

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Warren Barguil
    2. Thibaut Pinot
    3. Nathan Haas
    4. Wilco Kelderman
    5. Roman Bardet

  3. Team shorts.

    Extraneous rainbow decorations on bike and helmet, inspired by Jackson Pollack. Rhyming slang? Well, I suppose Spesh had to make a few bucks out of it.

    http://bit.ly/1x9sruA

  4. argh damned idevices!

    hopefully some French on the podium for this one.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. Valverde
    3. Bardet
    4. Rodriguez
    5. Gallopin

  5. VSP PICKS:

    1. valverde
    2. contador
    3. rodriguez
    4. phil gilbert
    5. Kwiatkoski shows his stripes

  6. VSP PICKS:

    1. phil gil
    2. valverde
    3. j rod
    4. kwiatkowski
    5. aru

  7. no GVA

    VSP PICKS:

    1. ‘Berto
    2. J-Rod
    3. T Dumoulin
    4. Bauke
    5. D Caruso

  8. Dear V

    Although not many races left in the super prestige this season,  I seem to have lost my cobble from this years paris roubaix (sob!)

    What chance it can feature for the leaves?

    VSP PICKS:

    1. phil gil
    2. valverde
    3. j rod
    4. kwiatkowski
    5. aru

  9. VSP PICKS:

    1. phil gil
    2. valverde
    3. rui costa
    4. j rod
    5. aru

  10. @Geraint

    Team shorts.

    Extraneous rainbow decorations on bike and helmet, inspired by Jackson Pollack. Rhyming slang? Well, I suppose Spesh had to make a few bucks out of it.

    http://bit.ly/1x9sruA

    Yup. You have to admit, OPQS do a pretty good job of keeping things restrained and classy.

  11. VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. Ryder H
    3. Rodriguez
    4. Kwiatowski
    5. Martin

  12. VSP PICKS:

    1. Phil gilbert
    2. Valverde
    3. Gallopin
    4. Contador
    5. Rui costa

  13. @starclimber

    “It’s a crazy idea and so it might not be taken into consideration [by the team]. I have suffered and I still suffer physically but I believe that that the head makes the difference.”

    Indeed it does, Domenico, indeed it does.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Pozzovivo
    2. Aru
    3. De Marchi
    4. Hesjedal
    5. Zaugg

    I like your picks, those are my top three favorite riders from 2014. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program and who is going to win on Sunday!

  14. No Gautier, swap him with Barguille

    VSP PICKS:

    1. D. Martin
    2. A. Valverde
    3. F. Aru
    4. W. Barguille
    5. M. Albasini

  15. Ride like hell for leather, boys.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Joaquím Rodríguez Oliver
    2. Alejandro Valverde
    3. Alberto Contador
    4. Philippe Gilbert
    5. Fabio Aru

  16. VSP PICKS:

    1. Philippe Gilbert
    2. Domenico Pozzovivo
    3. Cadel Evans
    4. Alejandro Valverde
    5. Joaquim Rodriguez

  17. Can’t wait, fall is here in North Carolina, USA…gonna be 6*C in the morning when I head out for a ride.

    I’ve been at this awhile, so how come I’m overthinking what I wear tomorrow? Riding early before the race, so a 5* to 15* swing is hard to sort out. When you have been in bibs + jersey for 6 months.

    Enjoy the race everyone! Italy in October…oh boy!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. J. Rodriguez
    2. Dan Martin
    3. Gallopin
    4. Valverde
    5. Albasini

  18. @Ron

    Can’t wait, fall is here in North Carolina, USA…gonna be 6*C in the morning when I head out for a ride.

    17* – 29*C in the Texas Hill Country this weekend. It’s not the same as “up north”, but autumn is a pleasure for riding in San Antonio (v. the typical summertime heat of 35*C plus). There were cyclists all over this morning and tomorrow will be a good day to take out the newly refurbished French steel!

    No coverage tomorrow of the Il Lombardia on Universal Sports?!?! So did cycling coverage stop with the Worlds?!?! No. Wait. They’re advertising some stage race in a country far, far away and known for it’s pollution, incredibly dense population, and lack of cycling culture.

  19. This might change yet, but it’s time to get a marker on the wall. xyxax? dyalander?

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Joaquim Rodriguez
    2. Fabio Aru
    3. Alberto Contador
    4. Daniel Moreno
    5. Alejandro Valverde

  20. VSP PICKS:

    1. Rodriguez, J
    2. Contador, A
    3. Valverde, A
    4. Aru, F
    5. Moreno, D

  21. @Minnesota Expat

    Just finished Heck of the North a few hours ago.  As the official latern rouge of this year’s race, my picks are late, but race-tested.

  22. They have the “internets” in Two Harbors? How were the mosquitoes? Horseflies? See any bears? Pics! We want pics!

  23. @xyxax

    Excellent! You strong like bull. I bet there was a buttload of riders who didn’t finish at all. Sleet, rain, gators, sasquatch, we need reports.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. ryder hesjedal
    2. gilbert p
    3. Alessandro De Marche
    4. Laurens VV Dam
    5. Roger Wilco Kelderman

  24. Coast’s ready.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. R. Costa
    2. F. Aru
    3. A. Valverde
    4. J. Rodriguez
    5. A. Contador

  25. a year of guessing draws to the penultimate stab in the dark

    VSP PICKS:

    1. J-rod
    2. Dumoulin
    3. Valverde
    4. Fabio Aru
    5. Contador

  26. VSO PICKS:

    1. Philippe Gilbert

    2. Dan Martin

    3. Joaquim Rodriguez

    4. Alessandro de Marchi

    5. Daniel Moreno

  27. 1 delgado (curse you Internet gods)

    2. Valverde

    3. Aru

    4. J Rod

    5. Gilbert

    6. Moreno

    There’s always next year.

  28. Damn!  I delgadoed this one.

    I will disclose what my picks would have been after the final results are known…

  29. @Mikael Liddy

    Based on the video OPQS have released there’s no danger of white bibs.

    Kid is growing and growing in my mind.  Soooo, so was mad at him when he SMOKED Sagan at Strade this Spring as I wanted Sagan to win.  Then I was watching the T-A Stage where he blew up and Contador took the lead but and kept going, even though he lost about 8 minutes.  He’s got guts and thankfully has passed the Rainbow Turd test as well.

  30. Favourites carnage in full swing with 10 to go. I’d be delighted if Weening managed to somehow eke this out: properly eccentric and tough as fuck.

  31. Does anyone else long for the days when you had to actually click through to get race results from cyclingnews?  I know that it is a better website than it used to be, but I could find out results by reading the live stream in order to pretend like I hadn’t missed the whole thing.  Now, you log onto a website and you know who won immediately.

    Get off my lawn, you crazy kids.

    Anyway.

  32. 1 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin Sharp 6:25:33
    2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:01
    3 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida 
    4 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol 
    5 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 

  33. 1 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin Sharp 6:25:33
    2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:01
    3 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida 
    4 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol 
    5 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team

    Damn… Exactly as I predicted.  Oh well.

  34. @Erik

    Now, you log onto a website and you know who won immediately.

    The main page of steephill.tv is automatically non-spoiler mode and has a link to the results and news updates. It’s an aggregation site, no original content, but it’s got everything you need or want.

  35. @Jay

    1 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin Sharp 6:25:33
    2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:01
    3 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida
    4 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol
    5 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team

    Damn… Exactly as I predicted. Oh well.

    Good race and finish. I’ve rewatched Martin’s attack 5 times. Wow. It’s always good to see a native of the British Isles win. But, one point?! Dyalander delgado’s and I only score one point?!

  36. @Minnesota Expat

    Good race and finish. I’ve rewatched Martin’s attack 5 times. Wow. It’s always good to see a native of the British Isles win. But, one point?! Dyalander Delgado‘s and I only score one point?!

    Seems like we have a lot of 1 and 2 point showings — particularly among the top 10 in the VSP overall standings.

  37. Dan’s got to be one happy little mofo finally taking his big win this season! So close, so much heartbreak! The Valvecap has to be getting pissed off about getting close. Mr. Consistency this year for sure.

    @plynie takes the win

    Final Race Results
    1. MARTIN Daniel
    2. VALVERDE Alejandro
    3. DA COSTA, Rui
    4. WELLENS Tim
    5. SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel
    Final VSP Results
    1. plynie (12 points)
    2. tony macaroni (9 points)
    3. JohnB (8 points)
    4. girl (8 points)
    5. wiscot (7 points)
    6. Wardy (7 points)
    7. Wardy (7 points)
    8. BatDan (7 points)
    9. TheVid (6 points)
    10. Kevin (6 points)
    62. Gianni (0 points)

    The GC with one race left to go:

    [vsp_gc year=”2014″/]

  38. Great finish. Chapeau to Danno, great way to end the season after the ‘mare he had in LBL.

    Sammy Sanchez descending is scary to watch, I thought he was straight in the wall in that archway. Nutter.

  39. Meant to say: Chapeau to Danno, great way to end the season after the ‘mare he had in LBL and Il Giro

  40. @il muro di manayunk

    @Minnesota Expat

    Good race and finish. I’ve rewatched Martin’s attack 5 times. Wow. It’s always good to see a native of the British Isles win. But, one point?! Dyalander Delgado‘s and I only score one point?!

    Seems like we have a lot of 1 and 2 point showings “” particularly among the top 10 in the VSP overall standings.

    Too much watching wheels. Not enough attacking.

  41. So three or even two years ago how many laughs (or what odds) would you get for saying that the Monuments score would be Dan Martin 2, Peter Sagan 0?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.