The inaugural Velominati Super Prestige makes an unscheduled stop this week at the Tour de Suisse. Originally left off the VSP roster, it was decided among the Keepers that the ‘fourth Grand Tour’ is indeed worthy of inclusion in our humble tipping competition. As one of the final hit-outs for many Tour de France contenders, the Swiss race shows who might be ready to step up in July, who’s needing to pull their finger out, and who might be targeting this race as a worthy addition to their palmares. With a couple of TT’s, stages that could go to the sprinters or a daring breakaway, and some of the most picturesque mountain passes in Europe, it has something for everyone, and anyone could win.
Can Motorcus find an ‘extra gear’ and back up his 09 victory? Will the EgoTesticle show signs of his old self on the bike, or just behave like his old self off it? And are the Brothers Grimpeur finally going to do something, anything?
Let us know your thoughts, and make your picks to pick up a sweet Obey The Rules bumper sticker, in the posts section on this page. For a full rundown on the competition scoring etc, visit our VSP Schedule, Rules and Results page.
Good luck!
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
oops premature submission above
1. Rogers - fast becoming a one week specialist.
2. Kreuziger - hate this piece of Eurotrash because he sometimes wears a bandana and his name does not begin with Marco and finish with Pantani.
3. COTHO - the guy has not had a real win since his comeback and will be looking for one but will fall short because I fucking hope he does.
4. Frank "Jermaine" Schleck - not sure why. Just feel sorry for him because he isn't even the best rider in his family.
5. Kloden - very close to the personification of that first degree oxymoron, "a likeable German". But I think that just might be because I don't hear him talk much.
Martin > Rogers. Rogers has his ToC and Martin is looking to make the top step after last year.
Kolobnev, Sagan and Haussler for a stage win.
@dale, @john - Is it my fault Faboo looks like one of the New Kids? (whaaaaat?)
Roulston !! Come on Roly ...
@Freditor
Wouldn't that be something. The cheering in NZ would be so loud the Swiss would be able to hear it over the sound of their motors ...
@david
The UCI World Cup was a season-long competition that focused on tallying points for riders based on their performance in one-day races. It followed the Pernod Super Prestige (which is where the VSP gets it's name) and was followed by the destined-to-fail UCI ProTour.
I can only assume that this person has suffered some sort of trauma to which their mind can only respond by pretending it's some time between 1989 and 2005.
@frank
All in all, it could be a very good month of July for Spain. On two continents.
@frank I'll try to convince him there is no World Cup. But, he's quite delusional, prone to sissy-fits whenever you touch him, and can never reliably get the "ball in the hole", so to speak. (No, it's not Cadel Evans.)
@david
About to say: cyclists are exactly unprone to sissy-fits. Nothing sadder than a couple of anorexic rouleurs throwing haymakers at each other on the side of the road after a crash. As a former footballer, I fell more in the Jens Voigt camp of things, and hated those guys who flopped around as though they'd been shot. As with any sport, though, there are some guys you can't help but respect for being the hardmen of their discipline.
If this doesn't scream "HTFU," I don't know what does. As I recall, Gazza was a minnow the rest of this match...
gfx.dagbladet.no/.../ vinniegazza_1158315554.jpg
Cancellara certainly lived up to his reputation as a superb bike handler. Sixth quickest over the top of the hill and batters them all down the other side, there were some impressive lean-angles there.
Looks like my wildcard selection of Gilbert is a bust.
Did VDV bang and fall? Or did he ride late in the inclement weather? Bit of a poor showing there.