Velominati Super Prestige: Women’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
We kick off the first races of the 2012 VSP with a double-header as we open the picks for the VVomen’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Aside from an early hiccup, the new software has been running as expected, though I should have known better than to declare something as “tested”; as the first few picks went in sideways, there was more confusion and hysterics than in a kiddie pool when an unaccounted-for deuce floats by.
The VVomen’s racing calendar appears to be a bit more open than the Men’s, and that likely means we’ll see more of the same names competing for the win on Saturday as we will at de Ronde in a month’s time. A cursory glance over the start list reveals that my sure-bet countrywoman Marianne Vos is still chilling the guns after a wicked ‘Cross season and won’t be racing. Back to the drawing board, then. Here’s a super secret tip: in Dutch and Flemish, “women” is spelled with a “V” – vrouwen. Let that be your guide.
With that we continue the 2012 VSP; 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. Picks close at 5am Pacific on Saturday, so watch the countdown clock to make sure you get your picks in on time.
Good luck.
Can’t find a starting roster, Vos is out, I know dick about women racers other than Nicole Cooke.
VSP PICKS:
1. Eddy
2. Eddy
3. Cooke
4. Eddy
5. Eddy
~ sigh ~
VSP PICKS:
1. Emma Silversides
2. Elisa Longo Borghini
3. Tiffany Cromwell
4. Lucy Martin
5. Martine Bras
@Cyclops
Start list:
http://women.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjI5NDY
(Its also linked on the word “start list” in the article, genius.)
Here we go. Go the girls! Although it’ll be mildly embarrassing if I get better results with my random picks than I do with the men.
VSP PICKS:
1. Liesbeth De Vocht
2. Ellen Van Dijk
3. Chantal Blaak
4. Emma Vom Trott
5. Elisa Longo Borghini
Tiffany Cromwell shares a last name with actor James Cromwell, who played Dr. Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek. He invented the warp drive. Hence, I will now refer to her as Tiffany Warpdrive, and am moving her up in my picks.
VSP PICKS:
1. Tiffany “Warpdrive” Cromwell
2. Emma Silversides
3. Elisa Longo Borghini
4. Lucy Martin
5. Martine Bras
Reading that start list is like reading f*@k’in Greek to me. Here are a few names I have heard before, along with a few that I have never even dreamed of before.
Start list: http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjI5NDY=
VSP PICKS:
1. Trixi Worrack
2. Van Dijk
3. Chloe Hoskin
4. Loes Gunnewijk
5. Liesbet De Vocht
VSP PICKS:
1. Suzanne De Goede
2. Loes Gunnewijk
3. Regina Bruins
4. Elisabeth Armitstead
5. Elisa Longo Borghini
@Calmante
Tenuous. Wasn’t that one of those occasions when the inventor only managed to invent whatever it was because someone came back from the future to help out?
Whenever I see the name Tiffany, I either come out in a cold sweat as it means Mrs Chris is taking revenge for some unauthorised cycle related expenditure or I start singing “We’re running just as fast as we can, Holding on to one another’s hand. Trying to get away into the night”
Thea Thorsen has Thor in her name, it stands to reason she is a cert to win.
VSP PICKS:
1. Thea Thorsen
2. Laura Van der Kamp
3. Emma Silversides
4. Tiffany Cromwell
5. Romy Casper
Was going to go with the narrow minded American approach and pick all homers, but uh…
VSP PICKS:
1. De Goede
2. De Jong
3. Armitstead
4. Confalonieri
5. De Vuyst
VSP PICKS:
1. Ellen Van Dijk
2. Thalita De Jong
3. Edith Van Den Brande
4. Loes Gunnewijk
5. Evelyn Arys
VSP PICKS:
1. Bosman
2. Van Vleuten
3. Johansson
4. Blaak
5. Druyts
VSP PICKS:
1. Bosman
2. Van Vleuten
3. Verbeke
4. Blaak
5. Druyts
VSP PICKS:
1. De Goede
2. De Jong
3. Armitstead
4. Confalonieri
5. Grace Verbeke
Ride VVomen Ride!
VSP PICKS:
1. Grunnewijk
2. Colclough
3. Gilmore
4. DuVuyst
5. Druyts
No Vos, no Johansson, and no real knowledge of Pro women’s racing. Hopefully we’ll all learn something this year.
VSP PICKS:
1. GUNNEWIJK Loes
2. BLAAK, Chantal
3. LONGO BORGHINI Elisa
4. KANIS Janneke
5. CROMWELL Tiffany
Who is Emma Johansson and why the hell isn’t she racing something she’s won 2x in a row ?
VSP PICKS:
1. Suzanne De Goede
2. Emma Trott
3. Katie Colclough
4. Regina Bruins
5. Thalita De Jong
VSP PICKS:
1. DE JONG, Thalita
2. GUNNEWIJK Loes
3. COLCLOUGH Katie
4. ARMITSTEAD Elizabeth
5. DE VUYST Sofie
@frank
I cannot be bothered by such things.
Names chosen pretty much at random.
VSP PICKS:
1. DE VOCHT Liesbeth
2. VAN DEN BROEK Irene
3. LAMBORELLE Nathalie
4. VAN DEN BOSCH Carolien
5. BONDARENKO Alina
Two names I’ve heard of but the others not. Going to have to pay more attentiona me’thinks.
VSP PICKS:
1. Lizzie ARMITSTEAD
2. Emelia FAHLIN
3. Nathalie NIJNS
4. Irene VAN DER BROEK
5. Jet WILDEMAN
Speculation, pure speculation. But hopefully I’ll learn something as the season rattles on. Hopefully…
VSP PICKS:
1. Loes Gunnewijk
2. Lizzie Armitstead
3. Grace Verbeke
4. Elisa Longo Borghini
5. Jet Wildeman
As I see it there are two approaches here:
1. Take flyers on women I’ve never heard of based on the severely limited amount of information available re: the women’s race (couldn’t even find betting lines to guide me, yet lines for “Floorball” and “Pesapallo” are readily available), OR
2. Limit the downside (and upside) by picking the same women as everyone else.
Decisions, decisions…
VSP PICKS:
1. JOHANSSON Emma
2. COLCLOUGH Katie
3. GUNNEWIJK Loes
4. DE JONG Thalita
5. DE VOCHT Liesbeth
I don’t think you guys are taking this seriously…
VSP PICKS:
1. GOOSSENS Joline
2. GASS Daniela
3. GOSS Belinda
4. GRAUS Andrea
5. GRASSI Giuseppina
Alea jacta es
VSP PICKS:
1. Ludivine Henrion
2. Noemi Cantele
3. Loes Gunnewijk
4. Kirsten Wild
5. Lizzie Armitstead
@brett
Hey, your alphebetical order is screwed up!
@al
Pro tip: Emma isn’t racing or I’m guessing we’d all pick her ftw.
Alright, how many of your picks were based on the profile pics?
Definitely will learn a lot this season.
VSP PICKS:
1. BRAS Martine
2. GUNNEWIJK Loes
3. HENRION Ludivine
4. MARTIN Lucy
5. LONGO BORGHINI Elisa
@scaler911
Yep.
VSP PICKS:
1. DE VOCHT Liesbeth
2. VAN DEN BROEK Irene
3. DE GOEDE Suzanne
4. VAN DEN BOSCH Carolien
5. BONDARENKO Alina
I mean, really, Van Looy, I can’t help but pick
VSP PICKS:
1. De Vocht
2. Armitstead
3. Henrion
4. Ven Der Broeck
5. Van Looy
VSP PICKS:
1. Blaak, Chantal
2. Gunniwijk, Loes
3. Longo Borghini, Elisa
4. Silversides, Emma
5. Bras, Martine
No freakin’ clue, picked at random. Hopefully news coverage for the bigger races is done, so I can actually read and learn about some of these athletes before the races…
VSP PICKS:
1. WORRACK Trixi
2. HÄUSLER Claudia
3. VAN DEN BROEK Irene
4. ARYS Evelyn
5. GATTO Viviana
Here goes nothing.
VSP PICKS:
1. Blaak
2. Bosman
3. LONGO BORGHINI Elisa
4. DE VOCHT Liesbeth
5. VERBEKE Grace
More exposure for the VVomen: BRR
VSP PICKS:
1. DE GOEDE Suzanne
2. TROTT Emma
3. VERBEKE Grace
4. DEROOVER Eline
5. WILDEMAN Jet
totally random
VSP PICKS:
1. Trott
2. Deroover
3. Verbeke
4. Gatto
5. De Vocht
VSP PICKS:
1. Loes Gunnewijk
2. Sofie De Vuyst
3. Trixi Worrack
4. Lizzy Armistead
5. Kelly Druyts
Trying to pick this makes me realize how little I know …. but with a name like this, FTW!!!
VSP PICKS:
1. Jet VVildeman
2. Regina Bruins
3. Loes Gunnewijk
4. Martine Bras
5. Kelly Druyts
VSP PICKS:
1. Lizzie Armistead
2. Rochelle Gilmour
3. Emilia Fahlin
4. Tiffany Cromwell
5. Svetlana Bubnenkova
Blooming eck, it’s like grand National Day at the Tote on here.Not that I’m comparing the women to horses or owt, but it’s apparent non of us have a bloody clue about womens racing.
We should be ashamed, most of us would have our lungs hanging out of our arses if we tried to roll with this lot.
VSP PICKS:
1. Daniela Gass
2. Joan Boskamp
3. Lisa Bogaert
4. Emma Trott
5. Alexis Rhodes
How do you say “crap-shoot” in belgium-ese?
VSP PICKS:
1. Chantal Blaak
2. Tiffany Cromwell
3. Grace Verbeek
4. Martine Bras
5. Sofie Vuyst
According to this website, Johannson will be riding again… it also gave me my top three picks
http://www.omloophetnieuwsblad.be/en/elite-women/news/2011-02/26/emma-johansson-will-defend-her-title
God, I love the internet.
VSP PICKS:
1. Emma Johannson
2. Liesbet de Vocht
3. Grace Verbeke
4. Lizzie Armistead
5. Edith Van den Brende
@roadslave525
Well, that seals it for me as well (although I will say that the dartboard approach had already netted me De Vocht, and De Goede is a past winner, as well).
VSP PICKS:
1. JOHANNSON Emma
2. DE VOCHT Liesbeth
3. VERBEK Grace
4. DE GOEDE Suzanne
5. VAN DEN BOSCH Carolien
@roadslave525
don t love the internet too much. their English page is not really up to date, the article is from the 20th, today she decided not to start.
@Skinnyphat
@The Oracle
@JC Belgium
and @others who picked Verbeke… DNS because of a virus. actually, she wont be riding the Spring Classics at all.
@JC Belgium
Thanks.
VSP PICKS:
1. BLAAK Chantal
2. Bosman
3. LONGO BORGHINI Elisa
4. DE VOCHT Liesbeth
5. Loes Gunnewijk
Come on, how can I not pick Kneteman?
VSP PICKS:
1. De Jong
2. Armitstaed
3. Bruins
4. Kneteman
5. Johansson
VSP PICKS:
1. Wild
2. Druyts
3. Verbeke
4. Van Vleuten
5. Van Den Bosch
Damn, should’ve been more up to date.
VSP PICKS:
1. De Jong
2. Armitstaed
3. Bruins
4. Kneteman
5. Verbeke