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″/]
@brett Your input’s been pretty fucking negative. Pointless even.
@brett
Do you do bikes? I was hoping that the conversation round here would be about the racing, but we’ve been sucked down the wormhole of rabbitting what the large press organisations are discussing, you know, the papers who cover one cycling event per year and the only institutional memory they have of cycling is doping. Fucking knobends who don’t know what they’re talking about in other words.
Hate to point this out Brett, but someone’s got to win, it’s the point of calling it a “race” and not the “Grand Handholding Boucle De here’s your fucking participation award of France”. To win someone has to be better than the others, and Froome’s been on that level for a number of years now. If you hadn’t noticed it’s not his or our fault. We’ve all slung insults at Contador, Cavendish, Wiggins, fuck the list in endless in the past because they’ve managed to win something, now it’s just getting fucking old.
@brett
Admit it – you were a dirty Lance lover weren’t you. Elbows deep in yellow bracelets for years.
@brett
“You can learn to love and trust that love again. You can…”
@frank
The underlying logic of this has broad application. Or should.
The real scandal here is not doping, or not, it is THIS !!
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a fuckin duck.
But I do admire you guys’ holding on to hope… and yep, I’ll still watch the races and ride my bike and love it all, as will you.
Over and out.
@strathlubnaig
Yes, I pointed that out earlier, but all you fuckers wanted to do was focus on doping!
Frank, Strickland is stealing your thunder!
@frank
just by measuring it you’ve skewed the result.
@unversio
I would rather be burned by a liar than to accuse an honest man of cheating.
@frank To paraphrase what you’sez earlier, “A liar burns himself.”
@brett
Who’s Strickland? You don’t mean @strangebung do you?
Simon Usborne is a big fan of the site, actually; he’s called me a few times for input on some of his articles. Very fun stuff always; he’s a delightful guy.
@frank I’m with’ya. Good adage!
@unversio
Its no secret that a liar won’t believe anyone else.
@frank What is the origin of the phrase “Preaching to the choir.” ?? I’m in the choir. A choirboy no less. And I need to go to sleep.
@frank
Burn the liar and don’t cheat an honest man. Eh! Ehhh!
better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all etc. I’m pretty sure Bon Scott was saying that in Whole Lotta Rosie. Got to say, the combo of watching it 9 hrs delayed and the apocryphal toads dominance after Ax has made it more challenging to celebrate than usual. Some fabulous individual rides but it’s always less easy to embrace an emphatic victory. Unless it’s against Australia of course…(ashes or otherwise)
@minion
I’m gagging at that visual.
@frank
Is that a stem, or a baby’s arm holding an apple. Not afraid to admit that it makes me feel afraid and all kinds of inadequate. Jesus, does it really say “vibe” on the side? There is something seriously kinky about the Dutch, isn’t there?
@Spun Up
And a V on the front.
@Sauterelle
And I’m um… yeah.
@frank
Bill Strickland. Bicycling Magazine journalist. Former Lance apologist.
@frank
If you rub it, does that spell out “Vive la Vie Velominatus?”
@unversio
Would silicone implants be considered bikini doping?
@frank stop being a tease.
Froome would never do that. He has two assistants whose entire job is to hold his arms up when he’s off the bike so he doesn’t have to use a single muscle.
@minion
+1 this is totally what I mean.
@Brett, Bianchi Denti etc You misunderstand – it’s not a question of whether I think Froome is clean or dirty. I’m not clinging to hope or however you’ve objectified everyone who doesn’t sing your song – if he is doping I hope he gets caught. I have an open mind about whether he is or not, because I don’t know, and nor do you.
It’s the endless arguments about it I object to. I’m not saying the points shouldn’t be made, but in the case of Froome and over the last weeks they have just become dull and repetitive.
That particular point about Grappe having cleared Armstrong has been circulating since about 2 minutes after the story came out, which was what, three days ago ? I can and do read that shit elsewhere and I come here to get away from it.
It is all soo boring, personally, I’m not a Sky fan by any stretch, but Froome has done his JOB, and done it with considerably more elan than last years Wiggo’s wheelsucking-procession. Apart from being a total trashboat regarding the feeding penalty, he’s conducted himself with dignity in the face of repeatedly hostile questioning – he’s certainly had to put up with more allegations than Twiggo did last year. His accelerations on Ventoux were fantastic, and brought out Quintana’s amazing efforts. If the Skybots had just put a lid on it and paced him up to the final km’s we’d all be complaining about how fucking boring the entire race is.
The scrap for top 10 places will only end at the summit of today’s perfect threshold test , so just enjoy the fucking racing
According to this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tour_de_France_general_classification_winners
5 minutes isn’t that extreme in the last 20 years. Big Mig a serial big winner, much revered by many here. Speculation kills the fun, get the fuck over it and enjoy is my approach. You may just be watching a one in 7 billion miracle. He did get second last year, and he was the one in the wind!
@PeakInTwoYears
and how mangy times has someone been “free to fly” then gets caught!
@Beers
They did actually remov time trials for a year or more to neutralse indurain…
#tdf the suspense is killing me !
Good to see that Rolland has gone with the black shorts/team helmet combo rather than the all polka dot abomination from earlier in the race.
It’s been a great race, so much still to be decided and only 2 hours of real racing left…enjoy, you will be sad when it’s over.
@eenies
Correct on all accounts and especially the black bibs with the spotted jersey. Full spots looks like a nasty disease
I think jensy is about to drop his shadow!
@Barracuda
I wondered if that was a recognition that the polka dot shorts looked silly, or whether it was a sign of respect for the jersey and that he wasn’t the outright leader of the mountains’ competition, so couldn’t do it up with matching shorts. Not that I liked his spotty shorts, but this latter explanation would be a rather classy statement, too. For what it’s worth, even his black shorts are too long and look silly, too. He must have the longest femur in the peloton…
Ok, I don’t get it. Tomorrow, Froome will wear a special sequined jersey (yes, I had to read that twice too), to showcase the winner of the 100th TdeF. So they’re making a big deal of the fact tjhat this is the 100th Tour. Why the fuck then have they handed out the worst trophies ever top stage winners? Seriously. You only get one 100th. Just ask Harley Davidson who had Elton John as the headliner at their 100th anniversary gathering. A moment that will live in infamy in the company’s history. Those Power Bar trophies are pahetic and ASO should be ashamed of themselves.
That said, go Jens!
Buh-bye, Cantador.
And now we wait……………..
It appears that Bertie has managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory . Shit happens. I had my moment in the sun. Move along now while I sob quietly into my pillow
Wow! Many a VSP blown apart with that final climb, including mine but no matter. So happy to see Quintana take the stage, jersey and polka dot jerseys. Best TdF in years for me. A Cav win tomorrow will cap it very nicely.
VSP blown apart on the penultimate stage. Congrats to @spoderman who takes the lead and the Veloforma barring disaster or attacks from Oblewis into Paris…
Bit of revenge for J Rod there I think.
Thought Contador would make more of a fight of it but I guess he had nothing left. Shame – his aggression helped make the race, whereas Rodriguez was more defensive.
Wow! What a magnificent shuffling of the deck that was!
Love this Columbian rider – tremendous temerity & tenaciousness from one so young.
At 5’5″ and a buck twenty-six I find it hard to live vicariously through his accomplishments but wow is he fun to watch!
@brett
1 point. 1 f’n point out of the prize list. You couldn’t just ride with the boys up the hills could you Clenbutador. Damn it.
@scaler911
That’s gotta hurt… but I feel for @BianchiDenti, he had his hands on the frame and then…
@brett
Ya. I had it after the ITT. I kinda thought that Contador would at the very least fight to hold onto the 2nd spot, given he’s always been a fighter in the past. When he hung his head after Froome beat him in the TT, I shoulda guessed he’d totally thrown in the towel.
@scaler911
Thats gotta hurt, after starting decide on how to kit it out and everything.
The freshman @spoderman takes a clean lead, though; I’ve been secretly very concerned about having the race go down to a tie. The rules are very clear on who would win it in that case, but nevertheless I am happy there are point differentials between first, second, and tthird, even if there still is a tie for the bont shoes, defeet flandrian best kit, and pave cycling classics jersey (which is actually a Malteni jersey.
By the way, Jesnie gave it the berries today, what a stud. I just fucking love that guy.
Pretty good to see 3 continents represented on the podium in Paris.
@Chris
He was recounting one of his fave moments of past Tours, according to this piece from the Radio Shack web page:
“As fan-favorite Jens Voigt says goodbye to the Tour but hopefully not cycling, his can-do spirit and upbeat attitude inspire those around him. Always uppermost in Jens’ mind is setting a good example. He recounted today a story from a few years ago when he wanted to give his empty bottle to a young fan, but an adult jumped in front and snatched the treasured bottle before the young man could grab it. Feeling this wasn’t right and definitely wasn’t what he intended to happen, Voigt stopped along the route and went back to confront the bottle snatcher and made him hand it to the kid…..always a hero to the people. The Tour will miss you, Jens. Thanks for all the memories.”
And I say +1 to that.