Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de Suisse 2013

The Nufenenpass photo:(KEYSTONE/Jean-Christophe Bott)
Descending the Nufenenpass photo:(KEYSTONE/Jean-Christophe Bott)

The mighty VSP generator has been switched on once again. The mil-spec hydraulic fluid has been changed since the Giro. A new power take-off belt has also been installed. And the punch card reader has been refurbished.

Broome and Berti are already riding the Critérium du Dauphiné. The top contenders prefer the Dauphiné for the decent recovery allowed between it and the Tour. The Tour de Suisse provides a chance for everyone else to prove they are worthy to make their Tour team or they are lieutenants who actually would like to win this Swiss tour before they have to work for their Tour de France team leader, who will falter and then they will assume the leadership, the understudy, as it were. No, did I say Cadel’s name? I did not.

Fabian Cancellara is in, he is a past winner of the Tour de Suisse, like Francesco Moser is a past winner of the Giro. Two Passitas if there ever were, winning mountainous stage races of their home countries.  Vlad Karpets won the Tour de Suisse in 2007! What does this mean? It means picking the winner of this race could put you in a spot of bother is what it means. Some are riding to gain fitness, some are not riding too hard to keep fitness and some are racing to win because they have no chance of winning the Big One just weeks later. Clarity on this issue is only achievable from the correct reading of chicken bones stirred with monkey paw, or a life of purity.

This race begins on Saturday so don’t mess around. The provisional start list is here. This is a stage race but not a grand tour so the winner’s prize is not as grand, but the bragging rights are.

[vsp_results id=”23918″/]

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187 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de Suisse 2013”

  1. Anyone watching the live stream today?  I can’t get rid of the buggering ads for the life of me. All the usual methods like clicking the red x in the ad and not the one in the corner or trying to expand the view to full screen aren’t working…anyone got a suggestion?

  2. @the Engine

    @Buck Rogers

    Cool article from cyclingnews.com . Yes, it is about doping but a cool way of looking at the sustained power outputs of the past 30 years’ tdf winners.

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vayer-casts-doubt-over-performances-of-indurain-and-jalabert

    Did you see this? http://digitalepo.com/

    Is that for real?  Does it actually work?  Just one more reason to throw your strava account away.  The only place to really compete on the bike against others is on the road, side-by-side in the peloton, where you can personally watch your advisary crack and be shed out the back.

  3. @Buck Rogers

    @the Engine

    @Buck Rogers

    Cool article from cyclingnews.com . Yes, it is about doping but a cool way of looking at the sustained power outputs of the past 30 years’ tdf winners.

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vayer-casts-doubt-over-performances-of-indurain-and-jalabert

    Did you see this? http://digitalepo.com/

    Is that for real? Does it actually work? Just one more reason to throw your strava account away. The only place to really compete on the bike against others is on the road, side-by-side in the peloton, where you can personally watch your advisary crack and be shed out the back.

    There is a stationary bike at the gym called an Espresso that measures your watts and lets you ride fake courses, like a bicycle video game. (Don’t hate on me for riding at the gym, lately I take whatever I can get). When I try to push it up past 400 watts and make any sustained effort I don’t last long. So, apparently, I’m not doping. On the mutant to normal scale, I think I would fall under Hobbit.

  4. Heinrich DOWN!  Bruises, multiple wounds, fractured pelvis, fractured hip…hair messed up.

  5. Apparently he used his pelvis to protect his palms from the road.

  6. @Buck Rogers Interesting article, thanks.  I’ve seen a few comments flying around questioning how reliable power output data (estimates?) can possibly be.  Vaughter’s has said on Twitter that it’s standardised to 70kg rider weight and more useful as an indication of trends than individual riders.  I know next to nothing about measuring wattage, so I’m learning by the seat of my pants here…

  7. Steamy takes the lead after a cracker of a stage!

    Provisional Race Results

    1. FRANK Mathias
    2. DA COSTA, Rui
    3. KREUZIGER Roman
    4. PINOT Thibaut
    5. MEYER Cameron
    Provisional VSP Standings

    1. Steampunk (15 points)
    2. freddy (12 points)
    3. NoTubes (12 points)
    4. Skip (11 points)
    5. LA Dave (10 points)
    6. erik (10 points)
    7. Dr C (9 points)
    8. strathlubnaig (8 points)
    9. mouse (8 points)
    10. mlambert1us (7 points)
    11. Giles (7 points)
    12. Lukas (7 points)
    13. xyxax (7 points)
    14. sthilzy (5 points)
    15. asyax (5 points)
    16. Mike_P (5 points)
    17. Chica (5 points)
    18. the Engine (4 points)
    19. Mikael Liddy (4 points)
    20. coquito (4 points)
    21. napolinige (4 points)
    22. eenies (4 points)
    23. Duende (4 points)
    24. harminator (4 points)
    25. tony macaroni (4 points)
    26. motor city (4 points)
    27. efguerrero (2 points)
    28. unversio (2 points)
    29. razmaspaz (2 points)
    30. Bianchi Denti (2 points)
    31. Buck Rogers (2 points)
    32. pakrat (2 points)
    33. chrismurphy92 (2 points)
    34. Two Ball Billy (2 points)
    35. CanuckChuck (2 points)
    36. scaler911 (2 points)
    37. San Tonio (2 points)
    38. niksch (2 points)
    39. gino (2 points)
    40. Nero (2 points)
    41. TOM.NELS2120 (2 points)
    42. Daccordi Rider (2 points)
    43. torrefie (2 points)
    44. Simon (2 points)
    45. Adrian (2 points)
    46. V-olcano (2 points)
    47. HeinrichHausslersHairstyle (2 points)
    48. seemunkee (2 points)
    49. RedRanger (2 points)
    50. VeloVita (2 points)
    51. TomC (2 points)
    52. gladoe (2 points)
    53. snoov (2 points)
    54. mbarston (2 points)
    55. Tobin (2 points)
    56. MJ Moquin (2 points)
    57. Rigid (2 points)
    58. Smithers (2 points)
    59. Facetious_Jesus (2 points)
    60. Nate (2 points)
    61. sprider (2 points)
    62. wiscot (2 points)
    63. dancollins (2 points)
    64. VirenqueForever (2 points)
    65. Smithers (2 points)
    66. leadout (2 points)
    67. ChrisO (2 points)
    68. TBONE (0 points)
    69. taon24 (0 points)
    70. Fins (0 points)
    71. piwakawaka (0 points)
    72. Bat Chainpullet (0 points)
    73. anotherdownunder (0 points)
    74. Sauterelle (0 points)
    75. Yannersan (0 points)
    76. jeyrod (0 points)
    77. il ciclista medio (0 points)
    78. Deakus (0 points)
    79. Don Amedo (0 points)
    80. JohnB (0 points)
    81. SimonH (0 points)
    82. simonsaunders (0 points)
    83. Dan_R (0 points)
    84. V-inden (0 points)
    85. oneninefiveninesix (0 points)
    86. Jay (0 points)
    87. eightzero (0 points)
    88. ramenvelo (0 points)
    89. Heihachi (0 points)
    90. starclimber (0 points)
    91. brett (0 points)
  8. @freddy Right you are.

    Provisional Race Results

    1. FRANK Mathias
    2. DA COSTA, Rui
    3. KREUZIGER Roman
    4. PINOT Thibaut
    5. MOLLEMA Bauke
    Provisional VSP Standings

    1. Steampunk (15 points)
    2. freddy (12 points)
    3. NoTubes (12 points)
    4. Dr C (11 points)
    5. Skip (11 points)
    6. LA Dave (10 points)
    7. erik (10 points)
    8. strathlubnaig (8 points)
    9. mouse (8 points)
    10. mlambert1us (7 points)
    11. Giles (7 points)
    12. Lukas (7 points)
    13. xyxax (7 points)
    14. asyax (5 points)
    15. Nero (5 points)
    16. Adrian (5 points)
    17. Mike_P (5 points)
    18. Chica (5 points)
    19. the Engine (4 points)
    20. Mikael Liddy (4 points)
    21. coquito (4 points)
    22. napolinige (4 points)
    23. eenies (4 points)
    24. Duende (4 points)
    25. tony macaroni (4 points)
    26. sprider (4 points)
    27. motor city (4 points)
    28. dancollins (4 points)
    29. ChrisO (4 points)
    30. efguerrero (2 points)
    31. unversio (2 points)
    32. razmaspaz (2 points)
    33. Bianchi Denti (2 points)
    34. Buck Rogers (2 points)
    35. pakrat (2 points)
    36. chrismurphy92 (2 points)
    37. sthilzy (2 points)
    38. Two Ball Billy (2 points)
    39. CanuckChuck (2 points)
    40. scaler911 (2 points)
    41. San Tonio (2 points)
    42. niksch (2 points)
    43. gino (2 points)
    44. TOM.NELS2120 (2 points)
    45. Daccordi Rider (2 points)
    46. torrefie (2 points)
    47. Simon (2 points)
    48. V-olcano (2 points)
    49. HeinrichHausslersHairstyle (2 points)
    50. seemunkee (2 points)
    51. RedRanger (2 points)
    52. VeloVita (2 points)
    53. TomC (2 points)
    54. gladoe (2 points)
    55. snoov (2 points)
    56. mbarston (2 points)
    57. Tobin (2 points)
    58. MJ Moquin (2 points)
    59. harminator (2 points)
    60. Rigid (2 points)
    61. Smithers (2 points)
    62. Facetious_Jesus (2 points)
    63. Nate (2 points)
    64. wiscot (2 points)
    65. Jay (2 points)
    66. VirenqueForever (2 points)
    67. Smithers (2 points)
    68. leadout (2 points)
    69. TBONE (0 points)
    70. taon24 (0 points)
    71. Fins (0 points)
    72. piwakawaka (0 points)
    73. Bat Chainpullet (0 points)
    74. anotherdownunder (0 points)
    75. Sauterelle (0 points)
    76. Yannersan (0 points)
    77. jeyrod (0 points)
    78. il ciclista medio (0 points)
    79. Deakus (0 points)
    80. Don Amedo (0 points)
    81. JohnB (0 points)
    82. SimonH (0 points)
    83. simonsaunders (0 points)
    84. Dan_R (0 points)
    85. V-inden (0 points)
    86. oneninefiveninesix (0 points)
    87. eightzero (0 points)
    88. ramenvelo (0 points)
    89. Heihachi (0 points)
    90. starclimber (0 points)
    91. brett (0 points)
  9. @frank

    Steamy takes the lead after a cracker of a stage!

     Wait, what?  I just called Hell and they report no freezing.  
  10. @xyxax

    Hell has socialized health care: come on in””the water’s fine.

    I guess I’m pulling for Frank to maintain the status quo at the top, and for Spilak and Van Garderen to enter the top five after the TT…

  11. Sensational stage. @all should catch the last 20k if you can.

    I even found myself giving Andy a hearty “C’mon!”

    Rat pack buries himself! And the banner collapse on the frantic descent?

    Crazy stuff!

  12. @Harminator

    Sensational stage. @all should catch the last 20k if you can.

    I even found myself giving Andy a hearty “C’mon!”

    Rat pack buries himself! And the banner collapse on the frantic descent?

    Crazy stuff!

    It was awesome – and yeah, I’ve put all my Frandy memorabilia up on eBay and Craigslist with a giant “FREE” sign, but seeing Andy ride well again and giving it the berries was great. He rides a bike beautifully. Now, if he can stop with the whinging and all that shit and get around to winning a race…there might be some hope.

  13. @Harminator

    yes, I saw that Andy Schleck was only a minute 20 or so back at the finish of the queen stage.

    Think what you like about him but that’s an encouraging sign.

  14. @mouse

    Yep. A good showing for one day. Lets see if he can put a few together including a TT.

    And not insignificant that he lost very little on the long, slightly technical descent.

  15. A further reminder for people disputing your picks; starting with the TDF VSP, it will be your responsibility to verify and dispute your picks through the end of the first stage. After that time, it will be at our discretion as to whether we will honor a dispute.

    This is principally for Piti Principle naming of riders with ambiguous names, but will with decide at the time of the dispute as to whether it should have been caught earlier.

  16. Just need Tejay and Martin to move up a few spots (as well as Kreuziger as well–one can dream, right) in the ITT tomorrow and I’ll be in the money!

  17. @Buck Rogers

    Just need Tejay and Martin to move up a few spots (as well as Kreuziger as well-one can dream, right) in the ITT tomorrow and I’ll be in the money!

    not a bad result then for you.

  18. Costa laid down some hurt today – great win for him, not so much for my VSP.

  19. Final standings updated – sorry, I was offline most of the day yesterday. Dr. C had the lucky charms and takes the win! Strong work!

    And I repeat:

    A further reminder for people disputing your picks; starting with the TDF VSP, it will be your responsibility to verify and dispute your picks through the end of the first stage. After that time, it will be at our discretion as to whether we will honor a dispute.

    This is principally for Piti Principle naming of riders with ambiguous names, but will with decide at the time of the dispute as to whether it should have been caught earlier.

    Final Race Results

    1. DA COSTA, Rui
    2. MOLLEMA Bauke
    3. KREUZIGER Roman
    4. PINOT Thibaut
    5. FRANK Mathias
    Final VSP Results

    1. Dr C (17 points)
    2. tony macaroni (12 points)
    3. NoTubes (12 points)
    4. Skip (11 points)
    5. razmaspaz (10 points)
    6. dancollins (10 points)
    7. ChrisO (10 points)
    8. Steampunk (9 points)
    9. mlambert1us (7 points)
    10. Giles (7 points)
    11. Lukas (7 points)
    12. Chica (7 points)
    13. xyxax (7 points)
    14. freddy (6 points)
    15. the Engine (5 points)
    16. asyax (5 points)
    17. Mike_P (5 points)
    18. Mikael Liddy (4 points)
    19. LA Dave (4 points)
    20. Nero (4 points)
    21. coquito (4 points)
    22. Adrian (4 points)
    23. napolinige (4 points)
    24. eenies (4 points)
    25. erik (4 points)
    26. Duende (4 points)
    27. sprider (4 points)
    28. motor city (4 points)
    29. efguerrero (2 points)
    30. unversio (2 points)
    31. Bianchi Denti (2 points)
    32. Buck Rogers (2 points)
    33. pakrat (2 points)
    34. strathlubnaig (2 points)
    35. chrismurphy92 (2 points)
    36. sthilzy (2 points)
    37. Two Ball Billy (2 points)
    38. CanuckChuck (2 points)
    39. scaler911 (2 points)
    40. San Tonio (2 points)
    41. niksch (2 points)
    42. gino (2 points)
    43. TOM.NELS2120 (2 points)
    44. Daccordi Rider (2 points)
    45. torrefie (2 points)
    46. Simon (2 points)
    47. anotherdownunder (2 points)
    48. V-olcano (2 points)
    49. HeinrichHausslersHairstyle (2 points)
    50. seemunkee (2 points)
    51. RedRanger (2 points)
    52. mouse (2 points)
    53. VeloVita (2 points)
    54. TomC (2 points)
    55. gladoe (2 points)
    56. snoov (2 points)
    57. mbarston (2 points)
    58. Tobin (2 points)
    59. MJ Moquin (2 points)
    60. harminator (2 points)
    61. Rigid (2 points)
    62. Smithers (2 points)
    63. Facetious_Jesus (2 points)
    64. Nate (2 points)
    65. wiscot (2 points)
    66. Jay (2 points)
    67. VirenqueForever (2 points)
    68. Smithers (2 points)
    69. leadout (2 points)
    70. ramenvelo (2 points)
    71. TBONE (0 points)
    72. taon24 (0 points)
    73. Fins (0 points)
    74. piwakawaka (0 points)
    75. Bat Chainpullet (0 points)
    76. Sauterelle (0 points)
    77. Yannersan (0 points)
    78. jeyrod (0 points)
    79. il ciclista medio (0 points)
    80. Deakus (0 points)
    81. Don Amedo (0 points)
    82. JohnB (0 points)
    83. SimonH (0 points)
    84. simonsaunders (0 points)
    85. Dan_R (0 points)
    86. V-inden (0 points)
    87. oneninefiveninesix (0 points)
    88. eightzero (0 points)
    89. Heihachi (0 points)
    90. starclimber (0 points)
    91. brett (0 points)
  20. Hmm, it appears I need a refresher on point accumulation for this race…I.e., how many points for picking winner, how many extra points for selecting riders who end up in top 5, regardless off order…

    I only get 4 points for picking Costa to win and having Mollema and Pinot in my top 5?

  21. @sprider Here’s where you need to look for the scoring guide, what it sounds like has happened is your Costa pick has been mapped incorrectly (as you’ll see Frank allude to above, it happened to a few people). If that’s the case use the dispute button next to his name in your picks.

  22. It’s nice to see the name in the top 20, although the shine comes off it somewhat when you see that you only scored 4 points!

  23. @Mikael Liddy

    A bit like watching Van Garderen destroy the field in the first half of the TT (and therefore be in position to net me more points) only to totally blow up going uphill. Not a good sign for the TdF, unless he’s better when he has company. Meanwhile, his teammate also lays an egg and lets Costa knock him off the top spot. I would have been sitting pretty if Frank had held on and Van Garderen finished as strong as he started. Heigh-ho…

  24. I went through the database and remapped everyone with Da Costa and updated the scoring.

    And I say again – and take note because we have serous prizes on offer for the Tour – check your mappings proactively. I am not going to be this patient about this during the Tour VSP.

    A further reminder for people disputing your picks; starting with the TDF VSP, it will be your responsibility to verify and dispute your picks through the end of the first stage. After that time, it will be at our discretion as to whether we will honor a dispute.

    This is principally for Piti Principle naming of riders with ambiguous names, but will with decide at the time of the dispute as to whether it should have been caught earlier.

  25. @Steampunk

    did you see that?  I had such high hopes until the road turned up and then, boom, pedalling squares.  I kept trying to pick out the Luxembourgish (Luxembourgeois?) for “Teejay looks fucked” from the live feed.  Still a mystery to me.  A day sands…

  26. Hi Frank, I got Pinot in correct 4th spot – 7 points??? Would be Top 10 ???

    Don’t envy your role as adjudicator here!

  27. @asyax

    Scoring (Minor Stage Races):
    Readers who wish to enter shall enter their predictions for the top five placings on General Classification of each Minor Stage Race (less than three weeks) by the time the first stage or prologue begins.

    Regular Points

    Points will be scored in reverse order of finishing order: 10 points for first place, 8 for second, 7 for third, 5 for fourth, and 3 for fifth; plus two bonus points per rider in the top five regardless of the rider’s placing, but riders are not scored twice.

    Tie Breaking

    In the event of a tie, the first reader to submit their predictions will be named the winner.

  28. @Steampunk yeah BMC’s form management looks dicey…both TJ & Cuddles seemed pretty hot in May but they’ve gone about their tour prep very differently. Cuddles avoiding racing & focussing on recovery, while as you picked TJ seems to have tried to stretch the form a little far.

  29. Frank,

    Once again i’m confused. Did you attribute 2 points on the VSP here as I had Rui Costa in 2nd place. One reading of the table says yes, one say no.

    as i’m now sliding down the table (or back into the peloton after being dropped by the breakaway), i wouldn’t want to slide any further!

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