The inaugural Velominati Super Prestige continues the with Tour de France edition, on Saturday July 3rd in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, just kilometers from the start of the Giro d’Italia in Amsterdam (Dutchland is a small country). This will be the second Grand Tour of the series, and at this stage the Grand Tour rules and regulations are fairly well-defined, so take a moment to review them on the VSP Page.
The Tour is, of course, a major event. My personal preference lies with the Giro, but there is no denying the magnitude of the Tour and the appeal it holds. For three weeks, the world pays attention to our sport, and – provided the Tour doesn’t coincide with the World Cup football matches – this is the biggest sporting event during this time of the year. (An interesting observation: the last time these events coincided, the winner was eventually stripped of his title.)
Having run the VSP Giro edition where we tested the ruleset for Grand Tours, we’ve managed to set up a scoring system that seems fair and helps to close down the competition to afford newcomers the ability to catch up with some good picks; the Giro proved that lineup switches and the associated penalties kept the point gains pretty small while allowing strategy to play an interesting role. There is a full overview of the rules and standing at the VSP Schedule, Rules, & Results page, but here is the ten-second overview:
Every contestant is to choose their top five General Classification picks of the race. The final podium of le Grande Boucle is worth 15 points to the winner, 10 points for second, 5 points for third, 3 points for fourth, and 2 point for fifth. Given the effect crashes can have on a tour, we’ve set up some guidelines around making changes to your lineup during the race: you’re allowed to change your lineup if any rider in your pick list drops out for any reason without any penalty; rest days will allow contestants to make changes to their lineup, however those changes will come at a point penalty. (Visit the VSP Schedule, Rules, & Results page for a complete breakdown of these points.)
Every day, the leader in the points standings will have the honor of wearing the Yellow Jersey when posting on the site; the overall winner will wear the Yellow Jersey for the remainder of the season and will also earn an “Obey the Rules” bumper sticker. All reader’s points qualify towards the final prize of the free Velominati Shop Apron. As always, if you are inclined to enter, simply post your predictions for the top five placings.
New to the Tour de France edition is the addition of naming the winner of the Green and Polka-dot jerseys for the Tour. There will be no points awarded towards these two jerseys, but the leader of the competition of these jerseys will have the honor of commenting with a Green or Polka-dot jersey badge throughout the competition and the winner will earn the right to comment with that badge until next year’s Tour. The contestant who picks both the final Green and Polka jersey winners correctly will win a Velominati Logo bumper sticker. Tie-breakers will go to the first contestant who posts their entire lineup (all 5 GC picks plus Green and Polka-dot jersey winners). Given that this sub-competition has no points, pick substitutions will only be granted under the DNF regulations of the VSP; no rest-day substitutions are allowed.
Sub-competitions will be conducted while the Tour is underway for specific stages. These stages will be chosen a few days prior to the stage being held and will be selected based on the current race conditions with the aim of choosing the most decisive and exciting stages of the race, so check back often to make sure you don’t miss out. Sub-competitions will be held in separate editions.
Good luck!
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@andy , John
You will drive yourself mad wondering whether riders are juiced or not. You have to presume that they are all clean until proven otherwise or if they look extremely suspect. a la Ricco - he hasn't come back nearly as strong as he was. Still very very good but his riding in that 08 Tour was extraordinary - he was finishing climbs looking muy tranquillo.
Just enjoy the racing and let the testers worry about the rest.
I say Vino isn't that consistent in that whilst he rides like a bull, he has had big "off" days in both the Tour and the Giro.
And as to denials who gives a fuck? But you are wrong Andy in mentioning Ricco and possibly Vino as "non-deniers".
Vino half-admitted it after LBL. And i reckon a bit of his reluctance to fully confess has to do with saving face. Some fucked crazy kazakh pride thing maybe?
Ricco has definitely admitted doping - and in his own charmless way, stated that his positive test in only two stages of the 08 Tour proved the testing was flawed as he was doped throughout. Excerpt of news article below.
Ricco, who won two Tour stages before being caught, claimed the system for drug testing on the Tour was less than comprehensive.
"They made 10 tests in about 13 legs - two were positive and in theory all the tests should have been positive. Therefore the method needs to be checked," he said.
But the Italian maintained he had not used doping products during the Giro d'Italia in May, where he won two stages.
"After the Giro, I was mentally and physically tired," Ricco told the tribunal.
"At the Giro I was clean, but then the Wednesday before the end of the race I doped. It was an error of youth."
My picks:
1. Grimpeur
2. Contador
3. Cadelephant (his bones are healing!)
Aww man....that really sucks. There's no way in the world they can say that Contador didn't attack there. He saw the mechanical, and went for it, dragging Menchov and Sanchez along for the ride. Really couldn't have planned for a better move. What a complete douche - Hope that yellow brings him out in hives.
Really good ride down by Schleck and I hope more than ever he skins Bertie on the Tourmalet....
that was a straight up dick move by bertie.
Sorry to say that but this Cunt-odor really sucks! Is there any less charismatic yellow jersey than this guy ever?!
@Joe, @andy, @Roberto Marques
No kidding! Terrible. What a douche. That's just dirty racing right there. He's been influenced by the Veino tactical plan, methinks. Yuck.
And now we'll have to suffer through a pair of yellow bib shorts, helmet, gloves, socks, shoes, glases. Ugh.
@all
There was no dirty racing over at the VSP, however. Scott takes the honors with a host of contestants just off the pace:
1 Scott 26 points
2 Roadslave 25 points
3 Steampunk 25 points
4 Andy 25 points
5 John 25 points
6 Geof 25 points
7 Marcus 25 points
8 Hawkeye 25 points
9 Roberto Marques 19 points
10 Souleur 17 points
11 Brett 16 points
12 Ben 15 points
13 Pont 15 points
14 Crossy 15 points
15 Jarvis 15 points
16 Joe 14 points
17 Rob 11 points
18 Frank 10 points
19 Marko 2 points
20 Dan O 2 points
21 Daniel 2 points
22 Joshua 2 points
23 David 1 point
24 Cyclops 0 points
25 Houdini 0 points
26 Nathan Edwards 0 points
Green: Steampunk (aka Kermitpunk)
Dots: Joe
for those of you who haven't seen the move from Mr. Cunt-odor http://youtu.be/HP9OR-Pz2Yk
As english is not my native language I don't have the ability to create a new nickname to this guy that express all the dirt shown on this video
The cycling gods won't be happy with Bertie tomorrow. Poor play. But, have to say: some pretty good riding from Grimpeur the Younger to limit the damage under the circumstances. He really is showing some good form.
@Roberto Marques
I think the nickname you're using now does a plenty good job of expressing it.
@Kermitpunk
I actually think he's going to win it. I think Paul Sherwin really got at the underlying reason he did this: insecurity.
Andy was really flying away, and Bertie was doing little to catch him back. It would have been the reverse deficit, if you ask me, and I think Bertie is not going to have the TT skill of years before.
Prediction: Andy will throw everything on the road, take a minute or more by the time the TT comes around, and it will turn out to be enough in the end. I see a Yellow Andy Schleck on the top step.