Velominati Super Prestige

Velominati Super Prestige: Milano-Sanremo 2016

Milan Sanremo. I know we’ve been watching the men and women crush the cobbles already, and that’s the spiritual beginning of the season, but La Primavera is the longest Classic of them all, and the first race of the season that will be a genuine target for all the gunslingers. Which makes this the symbolic start to the season and, typically, the first event of our annual Velominati Super Prestige.

Please don’t call it a fantasy cycling game; the VSP is based on the old season-long Super Prestige (and later the World Cup) which awarded points to riders for how they finished in the qualifying races. The points were tallied and whomever held the most points at the end of the season was declared the winner, was showered in champagne, got epic bragging rights, and presumably got the girl. During the year, the leader earned the right to wear the white leader’s jersey with verticalized rainbow stripes.

Our series is based on the same principle, where you select the riders you think will be in the top five, in order of finishing. Points are awarded for getting your picks right, and bonus points are on offer for getting close. The leader of the event gets a little white jersey as their posting badge, and those who win the events for the Monuments and Grand Tours get to post with a commemorative badge for the ensuing year.

For the last several years, we’ve also been offering some crazy prizes; a custom road frame to the winner, hand built wheels to the runner-up, and a full v-kit to the runner-up-runner. This year, we’re delighted to announce that our friend Dan Richter of Café Roubaix will be offering up another of our collaboration Velominati-CR Wheelworks wheelsets. The V-Kit is the same as last year, with the addition of the possibility to choose the new VLVV design should you so choose.

The big news is that Don Walker of Don Walker Cycles and the head honcho of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show is going to be offering one of his hand-built, custom road frames. I was introduced to Don through @Haldy, who owns something like five of his bikes. There is no denying it when you meet a fellow Velominatus: instant friendship. I had him build me a track bike for The Improbable Hour on Festum Prophetae, and now we’re flirting about my first custom road frame because my other bikes just seem so impersonal now.

Don is the quintessential small frame builder; he only take 6 customer orders per year so you won’t be rolling up to the local group ride only to find four other riders on the same steed. The rest of his bikes are for his team and for the therapy of working with his hands. Working with him on the bike design is an incredible experience; delving into riding style and position and fine-tuning every detail of the build. And then it quickly devolves into shit-talking and teasing. I am so excited to share this experience with the lucky winner.

With that, start prognosticating on your picks and check the scoring guidelines. I know some of you are doing some intense analysis, and recall that last season we had a tie which we had to break by going back to see which of the two were entering their picks in earlier on average. Also don’t Delgado it; we have been known to have the odd timing glitch and even though that’s not your fault, I’m still not going to manually enter your picks because you waited around and the window closed earlier than you thought it would. The kids probably have an emoji for that.

Good luck, and may the V be with you. VLVV.

  • Café Roubaix's CR Wheelworks Arenbergs

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459 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Milano-Sanremo 2016”

  1. I’m so exited, this is my first entry. Vive la Vie Velominatus!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Fabian Cancellara
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Geraint Thomas
    4. Greg Van Avermaet
    5. Zander Kristoff

  2. late change, Tom Dumoulin out with flu.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter Sagan
    2. Edvald Boasson Hagen
    3. Greg Van Avermaet
    4. Mikal Kwiatkowski
    5. Fabien Cancellara

  5. Since I only have first place available in the form, I’ll try here

    1. Sagan
    2. Cancellara
    3. Gallopin
    4. Stybar
    5. Van Avermaet

  6. Ahhh, compatibility mode.

     

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Cancellara
    3. Gallopin
    4. Stybar
    5. Van Avermaet

  7. VSP PICKS:

    1. Micheal Mattews
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Alexander Kristoff
    4. GV Avermat
    5. Fabian Cancellara

  8. VSP PICKS:

    1. Fabian Cancellara
    2. Greg van Avermaet
    3. Peter Sagan
    4. Michael Matthews
    5. Edvald Boasson Hagen

  10. VSP PICKS:

    1. michael matthews
    2. nacer bohanni
    3. alexander kristoff
    4. fernando gaviria
    5. peter sagan

  11. VSP PICKS:

    1. Michael Matthews
    2. Alexander Kristoff
    3. Peter Sagan
    4. Fabian Cancellara
    5. Edvald Boasson Hagen

  12. @Buck Rogers

    @wiscot

    What’s interesting is that no-one is giving Cav a chance. In previous years he’s always been listed as a contender. Maybe this year, with no pressure, he’ll surprise? He was going pretty well in Qatar.

    Yup, him and Tommeke are ghosts on the lists. I do not see either of them showing in the top ten but who knows what will happen after nearly 300 k’s in the legs.

    I read somewhere that Cavendish is riding in support of Boasson Hagen. For sure, Boonen is riding in support of Stybar and Gaviria.

  14. @frank

    @Minnesota Expat

    Hmmmm….

    Need another bike, mister? Just like @steamy needs another set of wheels! Which I hold in my possession at the moment, as a matter of course.

    Ha! Wheels maybe, bike no. In the meantime, the Jaegher has been measured, cut, assembled, and was being painted just last week..

  15. It begins again – the season-long agonising over who’ll whether a rider will finish third or

    fourth in a race, then the frustration and disappointment when they actually finish second instead. Great to have the VSP back!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Matthews
    2. Kristoff
    3. Sagan
    4. Boasson Hagen
    5. Cancellara

  16. VSP PICKS:

    1. Fabian Cancellara
    2. Greg Van Avermaet
    3. Michael Matthews
    4. Zdenek Stybar
    5. Peter Sagan

  17. @Steampunk

    So want to go with the kid, Gaviria, to win it all. Because that would be a story. But too far and too soon. His turn will come.

    He’s hot, but yeah, not enough seasoning. Perfect form and a good team are the minimum requirements, but the last 30K are too tactical and favor experience.

    Got to go with Cancellara and the Trek Multi-stage Spartacus Launch Machine. But he’ll have to go early (before the Poggio?) and power to a solo finish, otherwise Sagan, Nibali, Van Avermaet, et al. will catch him on the descent.

    After Cancellara, there are about six-seven possible winners and everyone here is picking a variation of those six-seven. Watch the VSP winner score 20-21 points.

  19. I know I’m a bit out on a limb with this one but I think Greipel has a MSR win in him. I thought last year was his year but he had an unlucky early season. This year hasn’t been that different so far, having broken his rib – but maybe, just maybe, the rest will have him in top form, I think he’s got the endurance to deal with the distance and to get over the climbs with the other sprinters, and he’s undoubtably got the pace to beat them to the line on his day, he just needs it to stay together enough to end in a selective sprint.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Kristoff
    3. Matthews
    4. Greipel
    5. Cancellara

  20. VSP PICKS:

    1. Fabian Cancellara
    2. Greg Van Avermaet
    3. Micheal Matthews
    4. Alexander Kristoff
    5. Edvald Boasson Hagan

  22. VSP PICKS:

    1. Fabian Cancellara
    2. Peter Sagan
    3. Greg Van Avermaet
    4. Geraint Thomas
    5. Zdenek Stybar

  23. Now I’m second guessing myself…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Fabian Cancellara
    2. Alexander Kristoff
    3. Greg van Avermaet
    4. Peter Sagan
    5. Edvald Boasson Hagen

  25. Greipel’s out

    VSP PICKS:

    1. MATTHEWS Michael
    2. GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando
    3. CAVENDISH Mark
    4. KRISTOFF Alexander
    5. BASSOON Hagen Edvald

  28. Had my list in my head, looked at Guy’s directly above me and went back to the drawing board.

    Still stuck with Bling to win, Sagan back in his traditional spot. Then it becomes a crap

    shoot

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Matthews
    2. Sagan
    3. Stybar
    4. Cancellara
    5. Kristoff

  32. VSP PICKS:

    1. Peter Sagan
    2. Fabian Cancellara
    3. Michael Matthews
    4. Greg Van Avermaet
    5. Edvald Boasson Hagen

  33. @Gianni

    @Ron

    @Buck Rogers

    @Wietse Verbrugghe

    “First time entering, I’m exited!”

    This has to be one of the better typos I’ve seen in a long time. Sounds like it would fit right in with Talking Heads song lyrics.

    Speaking of them…Just realized what Byrne is likely singing about in “Swamp.” As a U.S. historian with training in nuclear history and a trip to Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 50th anniversary…can’t believe I never picked up on the “pika pika”…pikadon, A-bomb explosion. Amazing when you can sing along to a song for years and not even realize.

    What’s a pikadon? I’ve never heard of that.

    The Hitchhiker’s guide has this to say: “PIKADON is a word that has been integrated into the Japanese vocabulary as a result of the atomic bombs. Translated, PIKA means brilliant light and DON means boom, representing what was seen and heard when the bombs were detonated”

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Kristoff
    2. Sagan
    3. Michael Matthews
    4. Fernando Gaviria
    5. Bohanni

  36. Conflicted between picking a Faboo solo and the usual bunch finish. Going for the latter, which means Faboo will probably solo to the win…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. KRISTOFF Alexander
    2. MATTHEWS Michael
    3. THOMAS Geraint
    4. BOASSON HAGEN Edvald
    5. CANCELLARA Fabian

  37. VSP PICKS:

    1. Fabian Cancellara
    2. Greg Van Avermaet
    3. Peter Sagan
    4. Fernando Gaviria
    5. Michael Matthews

  40. VSP PICKS:

    1. MATTHEWS Michael
    2. KRISTOFF Alexander
    3. SAGAN Peter
    4. CANCELLARA Fabian
    5. KWIATKOWSKI Michal

  41. Man, this is amazing!

    Frahnk, do you know the record number of entrants for a VSP in the past?

    We must be close on this one, eh?

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Greg Van Avermaet
    3. Cancellara
    4. Bosen Hagan
    5. Stybar

  44. @Buck Rogers

    Man, this is amazing!

    Frahnk, do you know the record number of entrants for a VSP in the past?

    [ Darth Vader voice ] *Only then will I control the VSP. I have felt it. No disintegrations. All too easy.*

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