Velominati Super Prestige: Giro d’Italia 2014
For the simple reason that the Cobbled and Ardennes Classics are behind us, I have not alternative but to get back on my soap box about the Giro being the best of the three Grand Tours. Well, usually, at least. Last year’s race sucked the big one (even if it was supremely Rule #9), but for the most part it is the race that is the most closely contested of the three. There are mountains everywhere Italy meaning there are less bunch sprints, the weather is completely unreliable, and the slightly lower calibre of rider seems hungrier. Or maybe the reduced pressure means riders aren’t quite as stressed out and are able to funnel that extra energy into the race.
My favorite Giro is a hard one to pick out, but its either the 1988 Giro when Andy Hampsten took the win after freezing himself stiff with Erik Breukink on the Gavia or when Pantani took his in 1998. I’ve been watching the ’98 Giro during my morning turbo sessions and Merckx-oh-me, that was an All-Drugs Olympics nail-biter. ’98 is also an interesting contrast to ’88; in just a decade, the technology had changed so much but more than that, the doping atmosphere in the sport transformed completely. From Hampsten’s Giro, EPO went from just being dabbled with on the fringes to being abused by leaders and domestiques alike by the time Pantani won. Hampsten wrote a nice piece about racing against dopers in Tyler Hamilton’s book, The Secret Race. He described the various side-effects that the popular drugs of his era had, such as bloating and a tendency to make the user over-estimate their abilities. Amphetamine made the riders do stupid things, cortisone made them retain water, and steroids made them heavy; a clean rider could use those factors to their advantage. A far cry from the rocket fuel that allowed humble domestiques to big ring up major alpine passes.
Why am I talking about drugs? There’s a race starting in a few days, people! This is our first Grand Tour, and the picks are worth more points, not to mention that strategy starts to play into things with the chance to swap your picks out on either of the rest days – at a certain point penalty. Remember that points are not accumulated; the standings on the last day of the race are what kinds, so keep the long game in mind.
Any points you win count towards the overall prizes plus the winner of this event also gets to post for the rest of the year in the pink jersey badge. So check the start list, review the VSP Grand Tour Scoring Guidelines and get your picks in by the time the countdown clock goes to zero at midnight PDT on Friday, May 9th. If you think we mapped one of your picks wrong, use the dispute system and we’ll review it. Also remember to be precise enough in your description so we know which rider you mean; in other words, if you enter “Martin”, we will use our discretion (read: wild guess) to decide if you mean Tony or Dan – and that choice will not be negotiable once the the countdown clock goes to zero. There has also been a recent scourge of people putting a rider in more than one place. Two words: Piti Principle, people! Don’t make me do a bunch of extra programming to keep you from being allowed to submit such an obviously unsportsmanlike set of picks. We will mercilessly clear out all your entries should we find you have attempted this.
Also don’t forget we’ve got three major prizes for the season-long VSP:
- First place overall wins a Veloforma Strada iR Velominati Edition frame in addition to the customary VSP winner’s VVorkshop Apron
- Second place overall wins a set of hand built CR Wheelworks Arenberg wheelset in a custom Velominati paint scheme laced to orange Chris King hubs. (CR Wheelworks is Café Roubaix’s new wheel goods brand.)
- Third place overall wins a full Velominati V-Kit with accompanying custom orange Bont Vaypor+ road shoes.
Good luck, have fun with it, and don’t lose your Rule #43 spirit.
[vsp_results id=”29781″/]
@Pedale.Forchetta More of this, please!
BMC Not so happy about race organizers it seems:
Tuesday’s stage of the Giro d’Italia was a complete travesty, as teams were given an official communication at the top of Stelvio Pass that the race would be controlled for safety reasons on the downhill due to road safety and other factors.
All but two teams respected this official communication. The UCI and the race organization have a responsibility to see that the rules are respected. In addition to disrespecting the race instructions regarding race neutrality, several teams pre-determined that they alone would be allowed to have more than the designated two follow cars in the peloton, which showed complete disrespect for the other 20 teams in the race.
We take no position against the three riders that rode together to the finish. However, the UCI and race organizer RCS have a responsibility to maintain fair racing conditions, which we believe did not take place. We also believe that teams which disregarded the caravan follow car rules acted in an unsportsmanlike and totally unacceptable manner.
Respectfully,
Jim Ochowicz
President/General Manager, BMC Racing Team”
http://www.bmc-racing.com/fr-en/athletes/bmc-racing-team/news/team/giro-ditalia-stage-16-statement/
@Steampunk
pffft, how exactly can you claim to have gravitas, when you happily appear in public in those ridiculous rubber toe shoes?
Same stage, different people, and with those scars is not difficult guess who he is. Photo by me.
@Mikael Liddy
That IS gravitas: the ability to wear them with aplomb. It’s the whole wearing pink Lycra with shaved legs without surrendering an ounce of masculinity kind of thing. Gravitas simply is. You either have it or you don’t (and I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that if you have to ask…). Also, too, the moustache plays a pretty critical role. Capt. Fawcett’s wax in lavender. It’s like Baxters, but for your Rule #50 violation.
Great stage with Quintana making a decisive move. But quietly weeping as I review my ever dwindling VSP points
@Pedale.Forchetta beautiful photos as always, any chance we could get you to provide a translation for this?
http://www.cycling.it/oggetti/RADIOCORSSASCAM_0034S12_01.mp3
Apparently, that’s a recording of race radio advising “to avoid attacks on the descent”
@Pedale.Forchetta this too…
Attention all VSP pickers. The Giro VSP has been neutralized. Pickers must remain behind the man with the retro mustache and me. Attacks strictly forbidden.
@Mikael Liddy The plot thickens. Translation of the Moto driver with the red flag below..
(I cannot login, am I the only one?)
@Mikael Liddy
It starts in the middle of a sentence, but here we go: [Quintana and his group| are 2 min 2 sec behind the leader of the race. Uran and the others are 53 sec behind the. After another 14 km of descending to the end of the descend [of the Stelvio], the time gap of the Quintanta group is still the same [to the leaders]: 2’05”. But the the time gap between Uran and his rival is now 2 minutes. And what was the effect of the motorbike? It’s a mystery. It is clear that in front the Quintana-Uran group, there was a motorbike with Marco Vela on it, who was a race commissaire. “I waved the red banner, the ex-pro from Brescia says, but Quintana beckoned me several times to accelerate, finally he rode past us disappeared.”
@Mikael Liddy
Yep, he says that for safety reasons the race is neutralized for the descent, and that there will be a motorbike with a red banner that is not to be overtaken. He asks every rider to remain at his position for safety reasons, not to overtake anybody and stay behind the red banner.
@Mirko
I demand a full enquiry by Royal Commission.
Any time gained by Nairo on the descent should be deducted from his lead. Time gained on the ascent should stand, restoring the Maglia Rosa to Rigoberto and place Nairo in second as per my VSP.
Here’S a statement by race organizers RCS:
Whole descend or just the first hairpins, it should be clear to everybody you’re not supposed to overtake a commissaire waving a red banner, no?
Posted by Tinkoff Saxo………..
Just as circumstantial evidence, during the Dubai Tour, which is run by RCS, some of the pro team guys were rolling their eyes and complaining about the lack of organisation, which seems to conform to southern European stereotypes, and of poor communication in general. I presume they are judging them by the standards of other race organisations.
I did tell them we regarded it as a miracle of efficiency compared to the local standards.
So I guess you can take that either way.
It suggests the organisers have form when it comes to mis-direction and general chaos in races… on the other hand, if that was already known then maybe teams should take anything they are told with a grain of salt until they are across the line.
@Harminator
Ah ha! So Harminator is just a cunning pseudonym for Patrick Lefevre and “Steampunk” is really Oleg Tinkoff. So now we know . . .
It might not be a Rule, but it sure is a rule: Time taken on the road is hard to talk away.
My prediction: on Stage 18, thursday, the peloton will ambush Movistar. Already no love lost between Omega Pharma and Movistar, now the other squadra have a bone to pick as well. They better rest up today.
Seems like there’s a whole lot of bitching and moaning going on from some of the teams. Seems to me that regardless of what was or was not said over the radio, if you are Uran or Evans (or any of the others with any sort of GC hopes) and you see Quintana riding away from you on a mountain stage, you had better fucking go with him.
It’s a race, not a damn picnic ride.
What would Merckx, or Hinault, or LeMan have done?
@KW
I completely agree, and if you read the quotes, Cuddles and Uran are actually not bitching. Cuddles says that he did not have the legs. He actualy never bitches about the possible neutralization or not. And Uran is the same, he says that he had no idea were Quintana was at the top of the pass but does not bitch about the riding that went on. It’s the DS’s that are bitching in the press. If you are in the top 5 of a GC, it BEHOVES one to know where the other four are at all times. And Jim Och crying foul is just too laughable. Dude has more doping skeletons in his closet than Armstrong’s house keeper!!!
Fuckin Game on and enough of the neutralization shit.
Fuckin Game on and enough of the neutralization shit.
+1 but looks like we have to wait, today is an LSD rest and recovery day…
Yup KW and yup, Buck. No one wants to see racers get hurt. But, Quintana gained his time on that long haul at the end, not on the descent. Read the Cuddles article too, glad to see he just explained what happened and made ZERO excuses. Eisel did a lot of bitching, but said he wasn’t complaining. Hmm.
Yes, the weather was crazy. But, you can’t blame the time gaps on the yes/no neutralization. Chase down fucking Ryder, Pierre and Nairo if you want to limit time gaps.
Also, a lot of us have spent many winters riding road bikes in Rule #9, for fucking fun. I’ll gladly swap my day job for a day of racing an 11-s electronic Bianchi in the Italian Alps in amazing hi-tech kit, with a team car, with a domestique getting me warm tea and riding tempo and finishing 40 minutes back. I’ll take 5-6 hours of that over my day job any damn day. And, most of them are paid either really well or pretty darn well.
Plus, if they would just HardMan it up and say it was tough but fun…more and more non-cycling folks would say, “Holy fuck, what a cool sport with some seriously tough dudes.” Not good PR to have so much finger point and complaining.
@Rob
But Thursday, Friday and Saturday looks AMAZING!!! Giro is the best GT, hands down!!! No way that the TdF can match this.
I’m really sad this has happened as it screws up what was an epic stage. The organizers are 100% to blame for their mealy-mouthed words and actions. I know you have to use several languages in the peloton and I’m sure most riders and DS have a working knowledge of a few, particularly key words and phrases. I’m sure “neutralized” whether in English, French, Italian or Spanish is readily understood by all. Apparently that word was never used yesterday. If it had been, then there would have been no misunderstanding.
Instead, here is a translation of what was said. Maybe something is lost in translation, but it’s pretty damn convoluted and hard to follow, especially in a stressful situation like riding up a snowy mountain pass:
“Attention: A communication to directeur sportives. The management of the organisation have planned to put ahead of the head of the riders, depending on the situation, of course, after the top, to place in front of various groups an organisation moto with a red flag. All to avoid having attacks on the descent and after this to ensure that the riders remain in their positions and to prevent taking big risks and, for all, to remain in this position until the security agents lower the red flag.”
Could this be any more ambiguous: planned to put ahead of the head of the riders, depending on the situation, of course, after the top, to place in front of various groups an organisation moto with a red flag.
“Depending upon the situation, of course” well, how about making a fucking call, eh? Neutralise or don’t, make the call.
Or tell you what, let’s make every tour a nice combo of individual time trials and a couple of crits held on nice flat courses in perfect weather. That should help ensure a nice race.
One more thing, is this stuff more prevalent now because of race radios? In the old days, the riders had to get on with it and make the call themselves. I agree with Buck, Uran should have stuck like glue to Quintana’s wheel all day. You keep your rivals in sight!
@wiscot
“Attention: A communication to directeur sportives. The management of the organisation have planned to put ahead of the head of the riders, depending on the situation, of course, after the top, to place in front of various groups an organisation moto with a red flag. All to avoid having attacks on the descent and after this to ensure that the riders remain in their positions and to prevent taking big risks and, for all, to remain in this position until the security agents lower the red flag.”
Could this be any more ambiguous: planned to put ahead of the head of the riders, depending on the situation, of course, after the top, to place in front of various groups an organisation moto with a red flag.
“Depending upon the situation, of course” well, how about making a fucking call, eh? Neutralise or don’t, make the call.
Or tell you what, let’s make every tour a nice combo of individual time trials and a couple of crits held on nice flat courses in perfect weather. That should help ensure a nice race.”
Holy SHIT, that is awesome! I had not seen it but totally believe it. Crazy. I, also, wonder what would have happened without the race radios. I am not a believer in them but then again, I do not “believe” in electronic shifting, either!
@Buck Rogers
Absolutely. I didn’t mean to imply that any of the riders were complaining. Evans and Rigo certainly did not. It’s Lefevre, Ochowicz, and Tinkov that seem to be doing a lot of complaining.
And the simple fact is that Quintana just shelled everyone on the last climb. The gap to Uran was only about 1:40 at the bottom, but 4:00+ at the finish.
@KW
Tracking, Brother (Sister?). I realized that. I was just agreeing with you and adding my 3 cents (I always give just that little bit extra, you know.)
@Buck Rogers
It’s all good. (I’m a brother, btw.)
Oh, and Tinkov said he could see Quintana attack from his vantage point on the top of the Stelvio. Wait, I thought the weather was so shit, nobody could see anything. Which is it Oleg?
Way to go Pirazzi! Took the chance today and it paid off. Nice to see a wee team like Bardiani win three stages. They put a lot of Pro Tour teams to shame . . .
@KW
You don’t become a Russian oligarch by being honest and playing by the rules. What do you think he’d have said if his rider had done what Quintana did?
Quintana’s group wasn’t supposed to overtake the red flag, so a fine would have been adequate, but nothing more. It’s now back to racing as far as I’m concerned.
It wouldnt be the Giro without some polemica at the processo.
@Mirko
Good point, no-one likes being the loser when rules are bent and ignored when they themselves like to bend and ignore rules.
I can only imagine what kind of chaos was going on on the Stelvio. Bad weather, shitty roads, riders everywhere looking for clothes, probably bad radio reception in team cars and on the riders’ receivers. An inept, indecisive race organizer/commissaire. Surely they had someone at the top of the climb long before the race got there who could have said “Neutralise the descent.” To paraphrase Malcolm Tucker, “From bean to cup, they fucked it up.”
@wiscot
Damn. Have to be quick (posting after the next stage is already finished is certainly not “quick” enough) to get in on these conversations without just repeating what everyone else has already said. My picks were ruined the day J-Rod fell but I can hardly wait to see how the next few days play out.
@wiscot
Or tell you what, let’s make every tour a nice combo of individual time trials and a couple of crits held on nice flat courses in perfect weather. That should help ensure a nice race.
Exactly my thoughts. If riding batshit fast down an HC hill in a snowstorm is your particular strength then good luck to ya. Sure enough yesterday was one of the few days of the year you get to exploit that. As a cyclist I want to see how its done: As a racing fan I want you to have your day in the …umm…crud….and to see how your rivals cope. As far as safety is concerned, as always, ride to the conditions. Is it any worse than a narrowing 110 degree corner in the last 4k of a flat stage?
Does anybody know whom Pirazi’s vaffanculo gesture was meant for?
@Mirko
I think, but I’m not sure, I think it was meant for those who felt that Bardiani were not worthy of a place at the Giro table. You know, leave the little guys at home instead of a Pro Tour team. Well, Bardiani have won three stages so far – same as FDJ and OGE. Lampre and Giant have two apiece. Belkin, BMC, Cannondale, Garmin, Lotto, Trek, Sky, Tinkoff/Saxo and Katusha = zilch.
“You think we don’t belong at the Giro? Well, fuck you!” seems to sum it up I think.
@Harminator
I hgar you. What if you are a sider from, say Ireland, Scotland, or a Scandinavian country (or somewhere not known for warm weather) and you ride a race in super hot temps? Can you say, “hold on a minute chaps, I’m not so great in hot weather, may we take it easy today? This heat really wipes me out.” “Sure,” and the riders say,”we acknowledge that warm weather isn’t to your liking so it tranqillo all the way today.”
While I’m at it, everyone knows the Tour has a nasty cobbles section this year. No surprise to any DS or riders I hope. So if a rider loses time on them is it all to be neutralised? “My guy punctures and everyone kept on racing, not fair?” I hear the complains being drafted already.
Just wanted to hop in on this while it’s still kinda fresh since I’m not in these conversations too much, likewise because it’s changing everyday. If this hasn’t already been seen/heard this little article provides kind of a cool perception of the reactions from Stelvio. Link to cyclingtips.
@Mirko
There was a little write up on cyclingnews. It was for all those who dis him because he can’t win from small breaks. He said everyone rides against him.
@KW
Hey Tinkoff, this is the fuckin’ Giro. If your guy was stupid enough to let a race favorite ride off, you deserve what you get. Does cycling need Tinkoff? I think not.
@Mikael Liddy the radio just say that some motorcycles will be put in front of the riders with red flag in order to prevent attacks and to minimize risks.
Thomas Dekker, stage 15.
Photo by me.
@Pedale.Forchetta Good one — as human as it gets.
BMC Racing Team’s Taylor Phinney broke his left lower leg in two places and injured his knee after crashing on the descent of Lookout Mountain Monday at the USA Cycling professional road championships.
@unversio
I read that too. Looks like his 2014 season is done unfortunately. That’s a real shame too as he’d had some good results and his dander was up as they say. What’s Horner’s situation at the moment?
@unversio
not only that, but it appears the main cause of the crash was a race moto getting in their way around a corner. Not a great week for the motos between this & the giro…
http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/05/news/race-vehicle-blame-taylor-phinneys-broken-leg_329667
@wiscot
my least favourite phrase that is most often used nowadays “It’s not fair”
my personal favourite “Harden the fuck up!”
@the-farmer
I think we can all say A-Merckx to that. Let’s remember this Giro stage for what it was: an epic battle that led over the Giro’s two most mythical colli in pure V-weather and then introduced a climb whose name translates to “The Hammer Valley”.
Quintana is a bad ass and rode like a fucking champion. Ryder is a bad ass and a fucking champion. Hard as nails, both of them!