Velominati Super Prestige

Velominati Super Prestige: Strade Bianche 2012

The stones of Italy

The Monte Paschi Strade Bianchi is happening this Saturday and it is such an interesting race we are putting it into the VSP.  The route is a mix of pavement and white marble sectors that roam through the hilly Tuscan country and finishes in the middle of beautiful Sienna. It seems early to me but that is because the Giro had an epic stage on the Strade Bianche in May 2010.  The word epic is overused but the wet, grimy Giro stage was compelling, awesome, everything you would want in a race. It was epic.

This race grew out of the immensely popular Eroica retro-sportive. Goggles, mustaches, heavy old bikes, I don’t understand it. It must be like the Civil War enactments in the USA: people are compelled to recreate something, and participate in it to understand it. I’m never going to participate in the Eroica sportive, so I’m never going to understand it. Sweet Merckx a mighty, I’m old enough to never want to ride a bike with a five speed Regina cluster again. Give me Campa 11 with electronic shifting if you must, I’m riding into the future.

Phillipe Gilbert started his reign of terror in 2011 by winning the Strade Bianche and he never stopped. I would not want to bet against him and yet, perhaps he is saving himself for a month from now. His team is stacked with possible winners (a phrase we are going to be over-using this year). Judging from past results the Italians have not had any home road advantage but if Vinny “da shark” Nibali can ride away from everyone in Oman, surely he can do it here. This year’s incomplete start list includes past winners, potential Spring Classic stars and Mark Cavendish. Did I imagine this, the World Champion on the crushed marble roads of Tuscany? Please stay tuned for a more accurate start list.

I will stop further skewing the odds at Lotto, they are all winners aren’t they? Put on your aluminum foil thinking caps, consult the awesome countdown timer which will stop on Saturday morning and be thankful there is not a women’s edition of this race to show the world how little you all know about women’s racing (@cyclops excluded somehow).

I just can’t stop myself from including a bit of wet strade from the Giro.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0jCHawi9II[/youtube]

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331 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Strade Bianche 2012”

  1. Strade various:

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Alessandro Ballan
    2. Oscar Gatto
    3. Giovanni Visconti
    4. Enrico Battaglin
    5. Greg Van Avermaet

  3. I would be surprised if Nibali shows up Saturday. He is racing Le Tour and I can’t see him being in top form this early.

  4. I’ll be amazed if it’s anything other than this…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Cav
    2. Wiggo
    3. Millar
    4. Hunt
    5. Simpson

  5. It’s a vicious little course with a 5% gradient in the last kilometre and a tricky finish… fantastic.

    @RedRanger Nibbles might not win but he is already in form – a very impressive stage win on a nasty climb at the Tour of Oman. I think he is going for wins, not the tour GC, although I think

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Billions and Billions
    2. Van Avermaet
    3. Gallopin
    4. Nibbles
    5. Niemic

  6. @ChrisO
    Damn it, I give up, who the f..k is Billions and billions? Is it Sagan? I know I ought to have worked this out by now….
    Gallopin is an interesting suggestion – I think he could be a man to watch this season

    @Chris
    You do know, and I admire your Nationalistic enthusiasm, that Tom Simpson actually passed west on a French Montagne a few years back….

  8. VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Cancellara
    3. Van Avermaet
    4. Gilbert
    5. Hesjedal

  10. @RedRanger

    I would be surprised if Nibali shows up Saturday. He is racing Le Tour and I can’t see him being in top form this early.

    I thought the same thing and waffled on him quite a bit. I eventually included him because he’s traditionally done well, is in front of a home crowd, and I really see Sagan being in the mix and figure they’ll work together to make that happen.

  11. VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. Nibali
    3. Visconti
    4. Battaglin
    5. Cancellara

  12. @Dr C

    @ChrisO
    Damn it, I give up, who the f..k is Billions and billions? Is it Sagan? I know I ought to have worked this out by now….

    Maybe if you use a Candle in the Dark you’ll be able to figure out who it is…

  17. @Dr C

    @ChrisO
    Damn it, I give up, who the f..k is Billions and billions? Is it Sagan? I know I ought to have worked this out by now….
    Gallopin is an interesting suggestion – I think he could be a man to watch this season

    @Chris
    You do know, and I admire your Nationalistic enthusiasm, that Tom Simpson actually passed west on a French Montagne a few years back….

    Yes, Sagan, after the late Carl Sagan and his famous quotes about billions and billions of stars. Love “The Cosmos”. Actually bought the whole series not long ago on DVD. Kids eat it up as well.

  19. @stenbak

    VSP PICKS:
    1. Gilbert
    2. Nibali
    3. Visconti
    4. Battaglin
    5. Cancellara

    HOLY. SHIT. @all – this is the legendary Stenbak who runs the shop at SpeedyReedy. One of the three people in the world whom I would trust to work on my bike.

  20. @Touriste-Routier

    L’Eroica is an awesome event; you have to participate in it to see what it is really about. It boils down to a celebration of cycling in tribute to the sports roots. It embodies The V.

    No doubt, it must to be popular and awesome. Much V there. To me, cycling is hard enough with the good equipment so I would suffer more on the old stuff, and I can’t grow a proper ‘stash.

  22. @Dr C
    Damn must get round to finishing “Put me back on the bike” but I’ve got rather side tracked with “We were young and carefree”.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Pascal Richard
    2. JC Dominguez
    3. Craig Geater
    4. inigo Cuesta
    5. MM Perdiguero

  26. Maybe 2012 is the year that marks a renaissance in Italian cycling. Is it just me, or is there a disturbing shortage of Frenchmen at the starting line (maybe the start list still isn’t complete?)?

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Visconti
    2. Sagan
    3. Cancellara
    4. Ballan
    5. Nibali

  27. VSP PICKS:

    1. Ballan
    2. Ryder Hesjedal
    3. Gilbert
    4. Sagan
    5. Nibali

  33. VSP PICKS:

    1. Gilbert
    2. Sagan
    3. Cancellara
    4. Ballan
    5. and for some reason Pozzato

  34. Yours is as well! I was wondering where you found it? A friend had updated the original Pellos drawing, and I adopted it as part of a logo I’ve been using for quite a number of years.

  35. @paolo
    Maaskant? I like that Panache.

    Also I keep changing my picks.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Cancellara
    2. Ballan
    3. Nibali
    4. Gilbert
    5. Kreuziger

  38. @Touriste-Routier
    Mine came from a google image search. It’s going to confuse the hell out of me having two people with the same avatar and if you’ve been using it for years then I’d best get me a new one.

  40. By the way, many of these nicknames are flying way over my head. Any possibility of an overhaul of the Lexicon page, so poor schmucks like me won’t be left behind on things like “Billions and billions” (that one absolutely stumped me, too).

  41. Yeah, even after more than a year on this site I actually don’t know at least half of the nicknames around here.

  42. As always changing things up.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Ballan
    3. Gatto
    4. Costa
    5. Cancellara

  43. @Dan_R

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Nibali
    2. Hesjedal
    3. Sagen
    4. Gasparotto
    5. Hincapie

    To be completely clear, it will be a strange race as I am predicting that Big George will race and not the bottie wearing fairy. And yes, faries wear booties…

  44. Cheering for the outside chances here……

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Van Summeren
    3. Van Avermaet
    4. Gallopin
    5. Cancellara

  45. Better go for a re-jig having watched 2011 Edition (thanks Tommy Tub) – nasty last climb into final town will shed all but the baddest of the bad boys in the badass crew

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Sagan
    2. Gilbert
    3. Nibali
    4. Spartacus
    5. Visconte

  46. so there you go. uninformed and completely inaccurate. but poised to win.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. faboo
    2. gilbert
    3. iglinsky
    4. cuddles
    5. hincapable

  48. Hopefully all my picks will make it to the starting line this time.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. V. Nibali
    2. P. Gilbert
    3. F. Cancellara
    4. G. Visconti
    5. D. Bennati

  49. VSP PICKS:

    1. Fabian Cancellara
    2. Ballan
    3. Nibali
    4. sagan
    5. Gilbert

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