Velominati Super Prestige

Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2012, Stage 11

During the 1969 Tour de France, Felice Gimondi and Ray Poulidor were fined for taking a ride from a lorry up the Tourmalet. What about Merkcx? Well, he was towing the lorry.

Its an old joke, but like any good joke, it stays funny no matter how many times you hear it. I bet it’s even funnier if you know what a lorry is. I knew a girl named Lori once – wasn’t funny at all – though she would give a ride to anyone who asked, so I’m assuming that’s the joke.

Merckx decimated the 1969 Tour in a way we haven’t seen in ages. On July 15 of that year, The Prophet started the day with an almost unassailable lead of somewhere around 8 minutes. Not enough, obviously. So it was, then, that his rivals’ tails wagged at the sight of him flustering with his gears near the top of the Tourmalet. A mechanical, obviously, sure to cost him loads of time. In fact, he was just moving Sur La Plaque into my personal favorite gear for climbing – the 53×17. They wouldn’t see him again that day and four hours later, his solo effort would net him another 8 minutes’ lead.

If anyone at this Tour de France wants to beat Bradley Wiggins, they’re going to have to set aside the in-vogue last-mountain attack or start putting a lot more stock in poisn’d entrails, eyes of newt, and wool of bat. Unless their strategic plan involves deliberately crashing the entirety of Team Sky or having them all come down with a synchronized sniffle, they’re going to have to start riding their bikes hard from a lot farther out than the 5km banner.

Stage 11 is the test, even though Stage 10 is also a test and may already prove me right or wrong (it will be one of those, I’m sure of it). But Stage 11 sees the finish to La Toussuire where Floyd Landis cracked and lost a mountain of time before regaining it the next day and subsequently testing positive for beer-induced testosterone. Its not a very steep climb, but its hard enough to suck if you blow up. It won’t be hard enough to drop an in-form Wiggins, so Nibali and/or Evans will have to hit the road a lot sooner than the last climb if they’re going to start making inroads. And if my boy Fränkie Schleck wants a chance at the win, he should probably start the stage today.

It’s time to ride with the breath of a cannibal.

You know the drill: get your picks in by the time the countdown clock goes to zero for a chance to win a pair of fizik R3 road shoes and two pair of DeFeet socks.

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308 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2012, Stage 11”

  4. I’m such a bad cyclist… I’m not even paying attention to this race.

  6. The biggies let Rolland go. Wiggins sits on Evans’ wheel and Froome takes second simply to wind up Evans a bit. Nibali of course will have used too much energy attacking in every descent.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Rolland
    2. Froome
    3. Evans
    4. Wiggins
    5. Nibali

  8. A day of breaks being reeled in before the top 3 glare at each other up the final climb, Bum Chin taking it in the final metres. Minor detonation from Froome after dragging Wiggo along all day, Rolland in there as the last escapee to be caught.

    Great effort from Der Jens today, gutted he couldn’t get the win. How many times must he have told his legs to shut up?!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Evans
    2. Wiggo
    3. Nibali
    4. Rolland
    5. Froome

  9. I think Schleck makes his move tomorrow, pulls the leaders the entire stage from the Madeleine, but gains no time.  Maybe even loses a minute or 10. It sets up a final effort for someone else from RSNT though.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Montfort
    2. Scarponi
    3. Evans
    4. Wiggins
    5. Froome

  10. I’m liking the form out of Nibali & Scarponi from today. Can Tommy V ease the knees into another win…

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Nibali
    2. Scarponi
    3. JVDB
    4. Froome
    5. Evans

  11. Hoping for a repeat of Va Va’s stage win. Wiggs hanging on to Cuddles wheel for the Jaune. Invisible man makes a move.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Froome
    2. Evans
    3. Wiggins
    4. Nibali
    5. Menchov

  12. Just looking at the lead pic on the thread:  Pretty apropos as it seems to show the original “Tourminator” riding the motorcycle right behind The Prophet. 

  19. Frackin’ no evening recap for Eurosport today, so it’s just a reread of the ticker.  So a complete crapshoot for tomorrow, not being able to see how they all looked.  Not that it would matter with my picks.

    Beer me.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Nibbles
    2. VdB
    3. Casar
    4. Froome
    5. Wiggo

  20. Fixing some spelling

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Nibali
    2. Froome
    3. Evans
    4. Taaramae
    5. Vandenbroecke

  24. Rolland to initiate a move early on to get some time and go for the prestigious stage win, with Voeckler’s win today as extra motivation giving Europcar 2 stages at the tour and keeping them the darling team of the french. Evans and Nibali will have joined Rolland in his move later on in the stage, most likely on the last climb and will catch any other escapees but not quite catch Rolland. Wiggins uses his team as a piledriver to grind down the peloton and grind down any advantage from the escapees. Wiggins and Froome double team the end of the climb and limit losses, coming in not too far behind Evans.

    That’s my dream anyway, fingers crossed we get anywhere near as good a stage.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Rolland
    2. Nibali
    3. Evans
    4. Wiggins
    5. Froome

  26. I must be an idiot to pick Schleck again, but I’m an idiot.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Schleck
    2. Nibalii
    3. Wiggins
    4. Evans
    5. VDB

  30. Please Merckx, Please…..

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Hoogerland
    2. Jurgen Vdb
    3. Pinot
    4. Roland
    5. Cesar

  31. Hoping my phone is working…Wiggins rides the elevator and Froome jumps by for the win.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Froome
    2. Wiggins
    3. Cuddles
    4. LL Cool Sanches
    5. Nibbles

  33. Menchov takes the gloves off.  Wiggo takes a powder.  Evans puts on yellow.  Nibbles sucks his wheel. Froome drags Valverde across after his man blows up.

    VLVV

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Menchov
    2. Evans
    3. Nibbles
    4. Froome
    5. Valverde

  37. Pulling names out of a hat!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Vincenzo Nabili
    2. Christopher Froome
    3. Cadel Evans
    4. Bradley Wiggins
    5. Michele Scarponi

  38. The heart wants what it wants.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Jurgen VAN DEN BROECK
    2. Vincenzo NIBALI
    3. Denis MENCHOV
    4. Wiggins Schmiggins
    5. Froome

  39. VSP PICKS:

    1. Luis Leon Sanchez
    2. Michele Scarponi
    3. Frederik Kessiakoff
    4. Tony Gallopin
    5. Tejay van Garderen

  42. Here’s hoping

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Nibali
    2. Evans
    3. Menchov
    4. Wiggins
    5. Van den Brocke

  43. VSP PICKS:

    1. Jurgen Van Den Broek
    2. Rolland
    3. Evans
    4. Wiggins
    5. Nibali

  45. There will be some time gaps on GC but nothing that will cause a change to the yellow jersey.  Pierre will take another stage for the frogs whilst the GC guys stoush it out behind.  Cuddles and Nibbles will gap Wiggons on the descent before the final climb but will finish with less than a minute advantage.  Va Va Vroome will decide being domestique to Twiggo is beneath him and will peg back a few seconds himself. 

    Anyone else finding this tour a little bit boring compared to last year?  Thank christ for Sagen!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Rolland
    2. Van den Brocke
    3. Cadelephant
    4. Nibbles
    5. Va Va Vroome aka Froome

  47. Yeah! Screw Froome for this stage, Hoogerland’s got the V points to smash this one to bits.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Hoogerland
    2. Nibbles
    3. Cuddles
    4. Wiggo
    5. Basso

  49. @minion

    Yeah! Screw Froome for this stage, Hoogerland’s got The V points to smash this one to bits.

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Hoogerland
    2. Nibbles
    3. Cuddles
    4. Wiggo
    5. Basso

    Johnny Hoogerland, Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team, 2 pts for Individual Climber

  50. Death Row. What a brother know!

    VSP PICKS:

    1. Rolland
    2. Basso (how low can you go)
    3. Evans
    4. Wiggins
    5. Nibali

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