Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2015

Sep Vanmarcke rides the cobbles Kelly-Style in the 2014 stage to Port du Hinault. Photo: Cycling Tips

Cobblestones make the race, I’m not ruining any fantasies telling you that. Wet cobblestones, well, those make a legend. Nibbles rose in my esteem considerably when he rode the wet cobbles as well as he rides any mountain descent or climb; that is a boy with some nerves and some mad bike handling skills.

Wet cobbles are scarier to ride that dry ones, but they aren’t really that much more difficult to ride; you’re still playing the lottery that your wheels keep pointing where your bike is trying to go. But wet stones are definitely more draining; the mud and silt you ride through make it like riding through molasses. Awesome molasses, but molasses nonetheless.

The cobbles are back this year, and hopefully so will the rain. Let us pray for rain, because last year’s stage made the race.

The Tour de France needs no introduction but the VSP prizes deserve a gentle reminder. This is a Grand Tour, people, lots of points at stake. And those points are going towards amazing prizes including a Jaegher frame and a Café Roubaix wheelset. There is plenty of time for you to Delgado this thing, too, if you wait around until the last minute. So my advice is that you avoid doing that.

Give yourself enough time to enter your picks so if something has gone amuck, you have time to hit “reload” or come back V minutes later to try again before the event closes. Remember, your procrastination in this matter will not result in our emergency to enter your picks for you. All that said, if you do encounter a problem, please be so kind as to take a screenshot and upload it because the descriptor “it didn’t work” or “hm, not working” doesn’t help us debug the problem. Also, Internet Explorer is not supported and apparently only shows one Pick Entry box, so use Chrome, Firefox, or Safari instead.

The scoring for the Grand Tours is a tad more involved than the one-day races and one-week Tours, so look the guidelines over before making your prognostications.

So get your picks in before the countdown clock goes to zero, hit the go button, and good luck.

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frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

LeoTea says:

Jul 22 2015 at 6:15 am

TJ abandons. He's made it back to the peleton, but Bertie attacked and he went out the back again. Has climbed off the bike and into the car. Hate to see people drop out due to illness.
KW says:

Jul 22 2015 at 6:16 am

And that's all she wrote for TJvG. Different circumstances, but two years in a row he has a shit day after a rest day. Something isn't working there. Gutted for him though, he was having a great Tour.
AJ says:

Jul 22 2015 at 7:19 am

I was gonna swap someone out for Valverde yesterday. Glad I didn't do it, because I wouldn't have dropped TJ off my list. Sad the American hope is gone, but I think the guy lacks some mental toughness.
Teocalli says:

Jul 22 2015 at 7:55 am

@LeoTea

TJ abandons. He’s made it back to the peleton, but Bertie attacked and he went out the back again. Has climbed off the bike and into the car. Hate to see people drop out due to illness.

Well, my main picks were looking too good so something had to break!
Deakus says:

Jul 22 2015 at 8:15 am

Fuck Fuck Fuck! The prophet is not smiling on me today. Swapped out a Yates for TGVG yesterday and he abandons the very next day! Merde!
Julez says:

Jul 22 2015 at 8:23 am

Looks like G is up into fourth after today's stage. Van Constant Gardener is out now, which is a massive pain. Still, my top 3 is looking promising (albeit with 20pts of deductions.)
Minnesota Expat says:

Jul 22 2015 at 8:40 am

@AJ

I was gonna swap someone out for Valverde yesterday. Glad I didn’t do it, because I wouldn’t have dropped TJ off my list. Sad the American hope is gone, but I think the guy lacks some mental toughness.

This, and it's why I'll never pick him for a position on a grand tour podium. I think Van Garderen (and Porte for that matter) need to look for some two-week grand tours.
ped says:

Jul 22 2015 at 9:26 am

@VeloJello

Always had a soft spot for Sagan, though I wouldn’t leave him alone with my wife.

Tony Gallopin's wife is presenting the combativity award, which the mighty sagan won for kicking the moto, telling the driver to fuck off, and then barging Coquard out of the sprint. Anyway, it's just an excuse to post a picture of Marion Rousse
AJ says:

Jul 22 2015 at 10:38 am

@ped

I just learned of this lady this morning. Gallopin is a lucky guy.
AJ says:

Jul 22 2015 at 10:40 am

@Minnesota Expat

@AJ

I was gonna swap someone out for Valverde yesterday. Glad I didn’t do it, because I wouldn’t have dropped TJ off my list. Sad the American hope is gone, but I think the guy lacks some mental toughness.

This, and it’s why I’ll never pick him for a position on a grand tour podium. I think Van Garderen (and Porte for that matter) need to look for some two-week grand tours.

That is why I put him 5th. I expected a 3-peat of that performance. I read somewhere that Porte is also feeling a little sick, a cough or something.