Velominati Super Prestige: Le Tour de France 2013
The early eighties saw the tide change in the European Peloton. Components were taking on a new, curvy shape as they left their boxy forms behind. The glint of toe clips in the sun would become a rarer sight as the move towards clipless pedals would take hold in 1985. English speakers were winning the big races classically won by continental Pros.
The 1984 Tour could be my favorite edition of the race. In 1983, the rookie Laurent Fignon had won in the absence of Le Patron, Bernard Hinault. The 1984 race saw the two go head-to-head, with Fignon becoming the one and only person in history to have laughed at Hinault and lived. He did more than live, he won. The new guard was here, and they were making their presence known.
This photo is from the stage to l’Alpe d’Huez. LeMond was riding in support of Fignon, and Robert Millar, in his second Tour, was leading the King of the Mountains competition, which he would eventually win. Millar wrote an account of this stage in Issue 13 of Rouleur, which everyone should make an effort to find a copy of. He describes the attacks that come fast and furious on the penultimate climb in such vivid detail, it makes my guns ache. But worse than that is his and LeMonds effort to hold on to Fignon and Hinault’s wheels in the ride through the valley to Le Bourg d’Oisans and the base of the final climb. It is the perfect description of the suffering of the Cyclist. LeMond, in service to his leader, is on the front one moment as he reels Hinault in after an attack, before being cast into the gutter and the back wheel a moment later when the next attack comes.
Just as 1984 was a watershed moment in the Pro peloton, 2013 is a watershed year for the VSP. This year we are offering five amazing prizes from five amazing partners.
Prizes
First prize is a Veloforma Strada iR road frame, painted in an exclusive Velominati color scheme with the newly-designed Velominati Super Prestige logo. Please note that this is a brand-spankin’ new frame for Veloforma. The geometry can be reviewed here.
Second prize is a pair of Café Roubaix carbon tubular wheels. The winner of this prize will be given the choice between the sub-1000g Haleakala wheels or a road version of my beloved Arenberg wheelset. As an additional incentive, anyone who enters their picks in the Tour VSP will get a $200 discount on any wheelset at Café Roubaix.
Third prize is a pair of Bont cycling shoes. The winner of this prize will be assisted in selecting the size, color, and model of shoe.
Fourth prize is a Flandrian Best kit from DeFeet consisting of a wool U-D-Shirt, Arm Skins, Kneekers, Slipstreams, and a pair of V-Socks.
Fifth prize is a wool jersey from our Keepers Tour tour partners, Pavé Cycling Classics.
Many thanks to each of our sponsors for providing such exciting prizes.
Rules
Enter your picks for the top five riders on G.C. by the time the countdown clock goes to zero; Grand Tour scoring rules apply. Check the mapping of your picks by the end of Stage 1 and use the dispute system should it be mapped incorrectly.
We will be enforcing Piti Principle rules much more closely. We will be accepting pick disputes through the start of Stage 2. After that, it will be at The Keepers’ discretion as to whether or not we allow the dispute. If your pick is ambiguous and we map them to the wrong rider, make sure you check your disputes before the deadline; we may reject the dispute after that time. For example, should both Tony and Dan Martin take the start and you enter “Martin” as your pick, we will pick one for you and you will have to live with it if you forget to dispute it before the deadline.
Good luck, and Merckxspeed.
Update: This is the same paint scheme that the winner will have, except the VSP Winner’s Badge will be replacing the V-Lion.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/[email protected]/Veloforma/”/]
[vsp_results id=”24179″/]
@frank
Outstanding example for all of us!
He’s over 40.
He’s over 6′
He’s over 165 pounds.
Jens is a shining example of what us non-frenchies like to call Joie De Vivre. Hopefully he stays in the sport after retirement.
@brett
Guess I’d better cancel that Super Record EPS order…
@strathlubnaig
Pretty sure Britain and Spain are on the same continent…
@Bianchi Denti
I don’t think so…
Good ride fellas, til next time
Wow, that was a hell of a stage and a hell of a week and a hell of a Tour.
Congratulations to the new kids on the block. Enjoy the prizes. You all really had to wait until the end to find out.
1. spoderman (41 points)
2. Oblewis (38 points)
3. Al__S (37 points)
4. MbM (37 points)
@Gianni
Even better than the real thing? It’s been a great 3 weeks, team. We’ve had highs and lows. Thank Merckx we have 11 months to recover for the next one. Congrats to all the winners.
@brett
true, but the feller was born and raised in kenya, so it is pretty dang close.
Schlekette in Cyclingnews:
“Froome is a normal rider like all the others,” Schleck said. “Everybody said he flew on the Ventoux but no, he didn’t ride any quicker than I did two or three years ago [2009 – ed],” Schleck said. “Even from Bedoin to the top, we were 12 seconds quicker than him. Not just me, but Contador, Armstrong, Frank and Wiggins. So maybe it’s more that the others aren’t on the level to beat him.”
Hmm…
Good god almighty – Sagan has apparently dyed his goatee green. Please let this not be true.
My friend’s boss has some primo seats this evening, here’s who he’s sat next to…..
Wowza, Cav almost went down there after hitting that hole. Seems he’d have taken the win otherwise, but Kittel takes another stage! Awesome!
And with that we also finalize our standings in the VSP. Massive congrats to newcommers @spoderman and @Olblewis for taking the Veloforma Strada iR and Cafe Roubaix wheels, and to long-timer @Al__S for winning the Bont shoes, and newb @MbM wins the DeFeet Flandrian Best kit, and @AndyH takes home the Pavé Cycling Classics Malteni jersey.
I hope the prizes made the race a little more fun for you all, it certainly did for us. Thanks for helping make this a fun Tour to watch!
With the results being finalized, we now also have an update on the overall VSP GC with @dancollins taking the overall lead. Nice one!
[vsp_gc year=”2013″/]
@ped
I totally agree; at least he raced like he cared about the jersey. I loved that he was on the fucking rivet on the last climb and attacked anyway. Quinatnaroo came by him and he fucking blew. He didn’t need to attack that close to the finish – it was just for the glory of the race and the maillot jaune.
He showed the jersey respect, rode like a motherfucker, and kept his cool under constant media badgering on doping.
He proved to be a class act at least in his public conduct. He has my respect.
Sagan just gave his interview. Fucking beautiful. Not exactly a bright bulb and the interviewer was really using complicated sentence structure in his questions.
Not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, though.
Mixed emotions. 7th – b*gg*r. So close.
@frank +1 here
The +1 was regarding Froome
@frank
@dancollins
+1 for Froome
+1 for @dancollins
That’s another tour shikenan.
That podium presentation was totally dope. Love the nighttime finish!
I’ve really enjoyed this tour, far far better than 2012.
@Keepers thanks for laying on the VSP, its much appreciated.
Great race, great prizes! Thanks to the Keepers and the sponsors for making this more fun than normal.
1 place/ point out of the prizes. Story of my life. Ah well, it was fun to wear yellow for 1 day.
My cable was shitting the bed at various moments during the final hour, very frustrating. One thing that was cool, though, was that it froze on a head-on shot of Cav as he hit that hole. The amount of flex in the frame and wheels at that moment was mind-blowing. Seriously looked like the whole magilla was ready to shatter into a million pieces. Wild looking.
Chapeau dancollins and keepers for brilliant VSP. Loved the tour again this year.
oh sorry, and spoderman
Regardless of the doping or not discussion surrounding Froome. I wasn’t a fan. I didn’t like how he looked on his bike and unfairly I guess I had bad feelings towards Sky resulting from last years Tour ( get over it, I know) . In spite of all this I softened to him whilst listening to his podium speech and watching his emotions on the podium. Seemed like class to m.
Also thank you Keepers and event sponsors. Keepers, we know you give a lot to keep this community running and awesome. Cheers
@graham d.m.
Agree with the above sentiment 100%
Had a great tour and having my hands on a sweet set of Dan’s wheels on the penultimate day made it even more exciting.
Having said that .”ALberto, you are now dead to me !” Snatching defeat for me from the jaws of victory.
Well played all.
Chapeau to our winners! I thought it was a great tour this year.
I miss the last stage, but I am happy to hear that Kittel pulled another win. That guy has great hair. As for me, I was locking horns with the Man with the Hammer at the 24 hours of adrenalin in Canmore. Needless to say, I got pulverized.
Now to get some wheels ready for @Oblewis!
Done and dusted for another year. Looking forward to returning to normal sleep pattern.
Well done and thank you to the Keepers. Great community spirit throughout the Tour, a compliment to you all. Amazing prizes offered and won. To all the recipients- enjoy!.
Loved the banter and the running community commentary throughout, really helped me understand some of the tactics, planning and goings on. Thanks everyone. Same time, same place in 11 months and 1 week’s time?
@Dan_R
I’m hoping we hear a word or two from our winners!
@girl
And, in all likelihood, we’ll do a Keepers Tour during the Tour, so there will be a handful of us getting shitty over there real-time.
Can’t wait!
@Dan_R Chapeaux to the sponsors as well!
@frank
Colour me intrigued…VMH has dropped hints relating to something cycling tour related for the 30th later this year.
@girl
And miss everything else ?
If you are only watching the Tour it’s like going to Paris just to see the Louvre – yes it’s great but there’s a whole load of other, different stuff out there.
The Spring Classics season is my favourite time of year for bike racing and the other grand tours in recent years have offered better racing than Le Tour, although this year was pretty good.
@ChrisO meant as an expression only. I keep up with things all year round round but there is not a lot of coverage easily accessible here and i dont have an abundance of free time. Being relatively new to the world of cycling, by way of the sport that shall not be mentioned, I can only take on so much new information. I am enjoying both the education, experience and spectacle of it all.
Oops the above post should be from me. But hey look first time post under that name and I was already a level 2!
@Mikael Liddy
Could she be thinking this???
Mind you, I did a tour in the Baltics years ago. Best ride while under the influence!
@sthilzy
Where the hell did you find that photo of @Mikael Liddy’s #1?
@Daccordi Rider
It can’t be @MikaelLiddy’s. The stem’s too long.
Fantastic VSP and enjoyed all the comments during. Great job Keepers and Community!
Despite Froome being so far ahead, the fight for podium places, White and the Dotty Jumper meant that for me this was one of the best Tours in a while.
I have to say this years Tour for me was pretty dull. The best day by far was the day when the wind decimated the field and the riders had to either grab the right wheel or suffer the consequences. By comparison the Giro and last years Vuelta were far better and the fact that the GC and Green Jersey were pretty much done and dusted in the first week left me a little flat. Funnily enough last years tour I found less then enlightening too…maybe big is not always best.
The Paris stuff in the twilight last night was awesome but nothing could take the shine off the fact that someone else has that Veloforma frame….I am not sure I will ever recover!
Looking forward to the Vuelta alot! Nibbles will be back to shake the shit out of everyone and Valverde looked pretty solid in the Tour, even JRod came good towards the end.
My suggestion for Prudholme next year…..remove the ITTs….they have a disproportionate effect on the GC. They did it when Indurain became too dominant and it’s about time the removed them again. the TTT is fine because it is balanced out by the teams depths and strengths but the ITTs are boring TV and squew the results..
@frank
Why do I now have a mental image of a hugely pissed, mankini adorned @frank trying to realise his lifelong fantasy of dirty schleck love, humping Frandy’s leg halfway up the Hautacam?
@Daccordi Rider @Skip @sthilzy ha bloody ha
@Chris
Need brain bleach to get that image out of my mind.
Congrats to the winners of the tour and the VSP and to dancollins for taking the VSP lead. I’m still on the podium, so I still have a shot at getting the lead back.
And thanks to the keepers for all their efforts.
Congrats to all: the prize winners, the Keepers and the sponsors. Made a very interesting tour even more so.
Congrats to Froome too. To go n as big favorite, win the race and win three stages (two mountain-top_) and race aggressively was a joy to see. Green jersey competition was dull as Sagan had it in the bag early. Other competitions were great. Night-time finale was spectacular.
Worries. Crowds on climbs are getting a bit crazy and not in a good way. I fear it is only a matter if time before a rider is taken out by a dickhead who ants to be on TV. Success is one thing, but when you have yahoos showing up who just want to party, nothing good will come of it.
Stage winner trophies? Worst. Trophies. Ever. Like Sevres would/couldn’t have done something classy and appropriate if asked. They were ASO = Aesthetically Sucky Objects.
You got to love those dirty spaniards….Angliru is back on the Vuelta for 2013 and there are only 6 flat stages and 1 individual time trial….roll on August!
http://www.lavuelta.com/13/en/recorrido/vuelta.html
Big thanks to the keepers for putting on the VSP and letting a first-timer play with the same chances as everyone else. I’d given up winning anything pretty early on after Cadel and Van Garderen were dropped; crazy to have the penultimate stage jumble work out in my favor. I’m with everyone else on this tour being a much better one to watch than last year’s and Froome being a class act.
I was fortunate to get to visit France and see the breakaway and peloton shoot by on stage 11 (something I’ve wanted to do for years now) and now you’re giving me free kit because of some good luck. I’ll be sure to sport it on the next Cogal in the mid-Atlantic area.
Thanks again fellas.
Also many thanks to DeFeet as well. Pretty much all my socks are DeFeet already, but you’ve got a lifetime customer now.
Thanks to everyone for supporting the VSP and congrats to the lucky prize winners! It’s a pleasure to be able to give something back to the community who make this all worthwhile.
Here’s something from the tour that you may not have noticed happening but is pretty rad…
And the original Dave Watson attempt here
So now we have 2 @Ron(s) and 2 @ChrisO(s)? That’s gonna get confusioning.