Velominati Super Prestige: Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012

The Keepers and Rigid rolled into a region in France called Flandres which, without doing any further research into the matter, we assume is the coloquial French term for this region of the world. If its anything like the other regions in Europe, these places have roots that extend way past any modern country’s border and situate themselves in a history long past.

They do, however, speak French with all the stubbornness that we have come to love from the French. None of us in the group speak French very well, and no one we’ve found in Lille speaks English very well. Which means we’re all communicating with arms and legs more so than with words. We’re on our way to Kemmel, which means we’ll be able to speak a bit of Flemish again.

With Keepers Tour: Cobbled Classics 2012 about to begin in earnest, we’re busy organizing ourselves and making final preparations, so we’ll have to forgo the usual insightful, hard-hitting, race insight we usually produce for the VSPs. What’s that you say? We’re usually full of shit? Ah, right. You’ll have to forgive us the usual shit, then, and take today’s flavor.

Watch the countdown timer, get your VSP picks in by Sunday morning at 5am Pacific. Winner of this VSP event will earn the right to comment all year with the Leeuw van Vlaanderen commenting badge. We will also forgo the usual Symbol Pack prize awarded to a Monument and award the winner a copy of the local newspaper the day after the race.

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289 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012”

  1. NBC breaking from commercials every now and then to show some bike racing.

  2. TOMMEEKKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKEKKEKEKEKEKEKEKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  3. With his third RVV Tommeke ties the all time win record of RVV and also ties Museeuw with three RVV and three P-R’s, if I am not mistaken. AMAZING!!!

  4. @Nate

    @Buck Rogers
    Tell us how you feel about that, Buck!

    Can this season get any better?!?!?!?! Well, in one week if Tommeke pulls off P-R, then I can die a completely contented cycling fan!

  5. Tom Boonen on the verge of an amazing four piece like Gilber last year .

    E3
    Gent-Wevelgem
    Ronde van Vlaanderen
    Paris – fuck my arse – Roubaix

    Keepers i hope you all enjoyed Belgiums high mass , it’s biggest wildest day , the day Boonen kicked down the door and joined the ledgends even more by winning Flanders for the third time , its a select club who can claim that feat !!!

  6. @Mikael Liddy
    Looks a lot like me about 20 years ago and perfectly expressing how I’m feeling right now! Man, never have been so happy to get my VSP pick wrong! Named three of the top five but screwed up the order and could not care less!!!

  7. 2012 Tour of Flanders Results Results
    1 BOONEN, Tom (OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP) 6:04:33
    2 POZZATO, Filippo (FARNESE VINI – SELLE ITALIA)
    3 BALLAN, Alessandro (BMC RACING) + 0:01
    4 VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC RACING) + 0:38
    5 SAGAN, Peter (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE)

  8. Wow, what a race. Just freakin’ brutal. Boonen said he didn’t feel great at the beginning, but that he didn’t feel any worse while everyone else was suffering at the end. Too bad about spartacus. Tough break.

  9. Oh, and SHOUT OUT TO THE KEEPERS ON THE OUDE KWAREMONT!!! I was looking for you guys the whole race and saw the banner on the penultimate climb. Velominati represent!

  10. @The Oracle

    Oh, and SHOUT OUT TO THE KEEPERS ON THE OUDE KWAREMONT!!! I was looking for you guys the whole race and saw the banner on the penultimate climb. Velominati represent!

    Awesome!! I hope someone here recorded the race in HD and can get a screen cap and post it here.

    As for myself, I got my ass up at 5:15 am to watch, but none of the English feeds were working on steephill. So I watched the flemish feed and wound up falling asleep for about 40 kms towards the end.

    I am totally underwhelmed by watching cycling on my computer. Between the grainy free feeds, and the non-english commentary I can’t follow, it makes watching sort of frustrating.

    Has anyone used Cycling TV? I’d be totally willing to pay to watch races in English, in decent resolution – you know, so I can actually make out faces stuff.

  11. @Buck Rogers

    Ugh, I saw that – can’t people just stand still when the riders come by? If he didn’t try and run across the path they wouldn’t have nailed his leg.

  12. @mcsqueak
    It’s hard I guess to look round, see a rider (or skateboarder) bearing down on you and not have some sort of fight or flight reaction. It’s true that standing still is the best policy (the rider doesn’t want to hit you and will be planning on going round you) but I think instincts kick in. Just an accident out of anyone’s control. It’s a pity Langeveld didn’t escape without injury though, and Cancellara too. Cav had a crash due to a thrown bidon the other week but he was luckier.

  13. @mcsqueak
    I’ve been watching races on Eurosport, it’s £3.99 per month but I’m not sure if you’ll be able to subscribe in the US. If you can, do.

  14. @mcsqueak
    I’ve got it on my DVR (with NBC Sports channel), but I have no idea how to get a screen capture. I thought I saw it on the second time up, but wasn’t sure, so the last time they went up the Kwaremont I made sure to watch closely (no easy task with three little hoodlums running about vying for my attention!)

  15. Okay, here goes. I hope they show up. These are the best I could do with the “Lo Fi” method. Look on the right side of the screen as Ballan goes by.

    [dmalbum: path=”/velominati.com/wp-content/uploads/readers/The Oracle/2012.04.01.17.32.47/”/]

  16. @The Oracle

    Dude, awesome! Thanks for sharing. I wonder how many people saw that flag and recognized it, or didn’t know what it was and will now visit the website.

  17. I went through it frame by frame, and i didnt see anyone kwho was obviously one of the guys. Those shots are taken after Ballan passed the flag, so assuming they were near the flag, I dont think I got anyone in the shots.

  18. Yep, that’s when I saw the flag. I noted that there was another black flag closer to the camera which is evident from Oracle’s snaps of his TV – Cool!

  19. VSP Points up. Sorry, we couldn’t be bothered to do this earlier as we were watching Boonen fucking rip it up and are now completely pissed (English word for “Drunk”).

    Fucking spectacular day.

    [vsp_results id=”15208″]
    [/vsp_results]

  20. What a race! I’m thrilled for Boonen. I really like him & think he’s just riding so well. Cheers, Tom, for pulling it all back together after a couple thin years & having a few of us question your dedication and determination. Must take a massive amount of self-belief and commitment to return to such lofty heights.

    I’m also really happy for Pippo. Great riding not long after a crash. And not long after he too was thought to have seen his best days fading. Yeah, first second but damn I wish I could ride to that place behind Boonen. I thought he was going to get him there at the end.

    And congratulations too Ballan! Again, maybe we questioned his form, but no matter what the dude is a very strong cyclist & a fine racer.

    Get well soon, Fabian & Sebastian!

    I typically watch alone, maybe calling the VMH in for the final 5km. Today was at a post-party brunch and got a few non-cycling friends and a few “oh, watching guys ride bikes? How boring!” folks to watch around 40km and get into it. Couldn’t concentrate as well, but that’s what a solo rewatching is for!

    mcsqueak – I watch all the races online. I don’t mind Flemish or Italian anymore. Maybe I can deal with it because I don’t own a t.v. I’m happy when the VMH let’s me watch (not working on it) on her nice mac. If not, I’m on my netbook (so tiny, but I still love the racing!) or desktop. But, you either need to get used to it or find a solution. Can’t have you not enjoying the races!

    I didn’t see the Keepers. I can only imagine the fun partying they’ll do all night.

  21. @Buck Rogers
    Standing in Flanders Fields, in the midst of all the shit that’s happened in the past and watching these men ride by, for some fucking reason the fist person I thought of as I screamed in joy as Boonen crossed first was how happy you must be.

    About 10,000 Belgians within earshot shared your joy. As did I.

  22. That was such a class break – Boonen almost unhooked on the Patersberg, and on the run-in they all worked. Ballan had only one chance: Break Clear. Boonen had only one chance: Arrive in a group. Pozato had only one chance: Arrive as fresh as possible. All of them did their job and it was a brilliant race.

  23. Hmmm, thought I already had 30 0r 31 points but with my 8 from today I only have 37. Guess it’ll be sorted eventually, as well as my point for pickin Arndt in the women’s race.

  24. @frank

    @Buck Rogers
    Standing in Flanders Fields, in the midst of all the shit that’s happened in the past and watching these men ride by, for some fucking reason the fist person I thought of as I screamed in joy as Boonen crossed first was how happy you must be.

    About 10,000 Belgians within earshot shared your joy. As did I.

    Man, for a long term Boonen fan this year is magical, especially after the last two years. And to stand on that hallowed ground, both in terms of miltary/world history and cycling history, just the thought gives me goose bumps.

    Enjoy it, Brother, you deserve it! And, if you would, throw back one or two for me in the local brewery!

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