Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de Suisse
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!
Damn it. I forgot to calculate that Armstrong is going to pull up like a big pussy whenever there’s even a remote chance of danger. Oh well.
@Jarvis – Faboo straight carvin’ on dudes last year:
Smart
@ben
That is some awesome Spartacus porn right there. But, make sure you keep you’re speakers off; that music is NSFL (Not Suitable For Listening).
Sigh: VDV, Sagan, Rogers, and Kirchen already more or less out of the running.
@ben: great video
@all: now that is how you TT! When you curb hop a TT rig to straighten up the lines, thats like thumbing your nose at the course layout people and tellin them to go screw off.
He is riding like he stole something, is there a loaf of bread under his arm??
@ frank: NSFL-I thought it was not safe for listening, it has a zen like homoerotica tone to it but I must say, great video
Cancellara deserves some Melvins or something like that, maybe to the tune of Blood Witch or Dog Island or better yet..Sacrifice!
MY picks aren’t looking too good at the moment. The interesting point to be taken from today’s stage is nothing to do with the Super Prestige, but is all about the battle for the green jersey at the Tour de France. Cavendish put some serious time into Boonen and Hushovd today.
@Jarvis
As a brit I’m totally conflicted with cavendish. On one hand, he’s the best sprinter we’ve ever produced and will keep winning for the next ten years, smash the number of stages won records in all the grand tours and have so many points jerseys he needs a separate house just to store them in and I totally love him for it. On the other hand, he’s an completely arrogant wanker who will rapidly end up with no friends in the peloton and I hate him for it.
Why couldn’t he be nice and fast?
@andyI never found pure sprinters as a group to be nice. Egos, lack of care for anybody else, and maniacal drive to dominate do not make for warm and cuddly.
But strangely, I sort of like the Cav, not sure why but he has a twinkle in his eye even when he’s being a prick.
Velominati, this is Gary. His delicate sensibilities are offended by Mark Cavendish’s two-fingered salute to the media.
“By making an obscene gesture in victory, Cavendish has shamed our sport. He has shown immaturity, but worse than that, a lack of respect for all the suffering that his competitors and he himself has endured in this noble and humbling sport.”
Gary Westby, Velonews letter to the editor.
Gary, harden the fuck up.
@david
Well played, my son. You must have gotten back out on your bike. Did you put on a big, fake handlebar mustache before writing that?
@all
This being the inaugural VSP, we’re adjusting and ammending the rulebook as we go along. Today I’ve added some Minor Stage Race scoring rules, which will apply to the Tour de Suisse.
@all
How about little Frankie Schleck Rule #5-ing the snot out of the bunch, eh?
@andy
You might find it suprising, but I think Cavendish won’t be short of friends in the peloton, it’s just that he’s smart enough to realise that there is a psychological element to being the top sprinter and not being friends with your rivals can help in that department. Seems he get’s on with his team-mates just fine
@ben
Your insistence on referring to Spartacus as “Faboo” has led me to add it to the Lexicon. I think that’s a record for amount-of-time-on-site to name-added-to-lexicon. Keep it up.
@frank @ben
I’ve been trying to ignore that name, but how do you go from Sparticus, to Faboo? It’s akin to calling The Terminator, Pee-wee Hermon (note: I couldn’t think of an outwardly camp person that people in the US would know-of)
Peter Sagan is out, bruised his mangina.
1. Tony Martin-a Fabian understudy, strong climber and strong TT’er
2. F. Grimpeur-looses too much time in TT to win
3. Spartacus-even without good form he will wail on some pussies
4.
Peter Sagan-just on a hunchSimon Gerrans More wild guessing but what’s new?5. Cameron Meyer-fuck it. Insane, yeah.
Unfortunately as Michael Rogers is also out, please put Mr. Kreuziger in 4th
1. A. Schleck
2. Cancellara
3. Armstrong
4.
Michael RogersKreuziger5. Cristian VDV
@Jarvis
Well, that’s just it, isn’t it? It’s so incredibly tongue-in-cheek and so far off the target that it comes around full circle back to “awesome”. Take, for example, the phrase “Faboo straight carvin’ on dudes last year.” It’s at least 87% genius.
@all
REMINDER: If you have a rider who dropped out for any reason (Mick Rogers comes to mind) make sure you post your substitution ASAP.
Please strike Mick Rogers from mine and replace w/Tony Martin
1. Cancellara will defend even though he says ‘not’
2. Younger Brother Grimpeur ready’s for july
3.
Mick Rogers is onTony Martin4. Levi-Eggtimer gets a final payback before july
5. LL ‘cool J’ Sanchez….well, just because
1. Armstrong
2. L.L. Sanchez
3. Leipheimer
4. A. Schleck
5.
RogersTony MartinI’ve been hearing a lot of noise about this international football competition. So, I checked into it. Stage 1 for the USA was on the 12th. They then get five rest days until Stage 2 on the 18th!?! What kind of sport is that? And, I can’t find the general classification standings. I’ve been looking all over. Can someone tell me where I can find them?
Dayaam. Surely I’m not peaking too early again? Or maybe just not recovered from the Giro. Go Martin. Great ride from the mini-Grimp too.
Pharmstrong more than a dark horse here. I think he might try and turn it on.
@Roberto Marques
Why didn’t that occur to me at 10pm last night? Somehow a former winner seems a wiser replacement than Simon Gerrans…Doh!
@frank
Yes, you are correct, it is >87% genius. It’s Faboooo!
cav managed to wipe out a decent handful of his green jersey rivals today. I can’t get any live pictures currently but it looks like a bad one. Hope they are all alright like
@andy
Didn’t look good. The most terrifying part of the photographs of the crash is seeing Cav down and Boonen closing in on him. The sheer size of the Belgian’s shoulders is intimidating…
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-de-suisse-upt/stage-4/photos/125966
@andy, @Steampunk
Awful sounding. It’s bad when they go down right at the front like that.
@all
Anyone see it or have a video feed? I feel bad for Haussler and Boonen if they are injured; both are just barely recovered from their injuries caused in earlier crashes.
Sounds like it might have been Cavendouche at fault for the crash. If that’s the case, he might have to be dubbed Cavencrash.
@Steampunk
This one, where Tommeke is just starting to come off after riding square into cav’s neck, knowing that he’ll still be at about 30-40kmh at this point, makes me cringe
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-de-suisse-upt/stage-4/photos/125972
@Steampunk
Thanks for the great photo sequence. (Weird that you have to click “previous” to get the sequence in the right order.) It looks like Petacchi had the sense not to salute after getting a freebie stage like that. Respect to him for that.
@frank: here is a video on youtube
I wonder how many that one will take out of our rosters….
As much as it wouldn’t bother me, I can’t say its Cavs fault entirely, looks like a real accident.
@Souleur
damn. I actually felt Haussler’s head hitting the tarmac there.
I’d like to know the opinion of someone who has sprinted for a finish thinks on fault for that one (I’ve never raced so I’m pretty unsure).
@Souleur
Thanks for the video””not sure I want to watch it too many times, though. Cav did seem to make quite a bit of lateral movement to his left, but it does just look like bad luck. Boonen seemed to be okay. It looks as though he barely hit the ground. Haussler looked pretty scuffed up and that was quite a crack on the ol’ melon. Not good.
Looking again: some nifty handling from Flecha, who managed to squeeze through the middle of the carnage.
@Souleur
Yikes. I would agree it’s an accident, and they were both violating Rule #59. It’s hard to tell who is veering off the most, but it certainly looks like Cavencrash goes off farther than Haussler. I hate how his wheel folds under for about 2 frames before he goes down. Brutal.
according to the bbc, cavendish is mainly road rash but unbroken and likely to race tomorrow
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/8742540.stm
no news on the ag2r guy who cartwheels on the right yet
@frank
Actually, the arial shot makes it pretty clear that Haussler is observing Rule #59, and Cav goes way across the road. He should have been regulated for that, if he hadn’t turned himself into a hamburger first.
UCI Rule #2.3.036
Riders shall be strictly forbidden to deviate from the lane they selected when launching into the sprint and, in so doing, endangering others.
Or, more briefly as stated by the Velominati.
Rule #59
Hold your line.
Cavendish moves from the inside to the middle and into Haussler. Young Mark has paid the price for violating Rule #59. Let that be a lesson to those who would casually violate the Rules. (I like how the British announcer says Haussler is the one swinging over, and then apologizes for blaming Cavendish.) Haussler, also deviates a bit off his line, but nothing that would get him santioned. Haussler’s blame in this is violating one of the most sacred of all rules for sprinters: keep your head up and look where you are going. Inexperienced sprinters tend to look down in the great strain of the effort. Given his vision is probably already reduced by oxygen deprivation, he might not even have seen Cavendish coming into him. Then, Haussler loses control of the bike in the strain of the effort, and swings his front wheel into Cav’s pedal.
Proximate cause: Haussler putting his front wheel into Mark’s pedal.
Remote cause: Mark’s violating Rule #59.
I suspect the club of ProTour sprinters is going to blame Haussler entirely. The crash could have been avoided and should have been avoided but for Haussler’s bad technique. A good sprinter should be able to handle someone coming over into them. It happens all the time. And Haussler had room to slide to his left. Or, if he were really slick like McEwen, he should have head-butted Cavendish in the attempt to defend his lane.
No blame there, a true racing crash. both had their heads down and heading for the line, unfortunately they were both heading in opposite directions and rode into each other.
@Steampunk
Oscarito did a pretty good job getting the bike stopped so he didn’t come down, but Flecha went through that gap like he was threading a needle, or perhaps, like an arrow (I’ll get my coat).
Looking at the crash again, I’d attribute that crash to modern cycling technology. Cav veers to the left but Haussler then twists to the right and actually rides into Cav’s front wheel, effectively steps in his foot. Cav’s deep-section front wheel folds and this tucks the bike under him and tips him into the tarmac, Haussler then trips over Cav’s bike. Would it have happened if they were on traditional/old-school 32-hole rims?
Oh and because Rogers has dubiously gone training at altitude:
Tony Martin – Suisse is a good race for a future champion to win
LL Cool Sanchez
Mick RogersTommy LovkvistGilbert the Great
Joaquin Rodriguez
Jeeeeeeez. Burger making on an industrial scale…nothing worse than a full superman over the bars. Agree with the sentiments that that was just an accident though.
@Jarvis – like what you did there ;)
@Jarvis
Yeah, both had their heads down, as do most sprinters, whether that’s a good idea or not. Saying sprinters should have their heads up during an all-out sprint is kind of like telling drivers they should sneeze with their eyes open.
I still maintain it’s all Cav; Haussler does twitch right before they go down, but Cav actually turns his wheel into Haussler’s path right at the moment he twitches, and Haussler’s sweet-ass Cervelo plows over Cav’s front wheel, as shown here:
All in all, the crash would never have happened if Cav had held his line in the first place and as such he’s clearly in the wrong, but I agree it was just two bike riders going for the line and running into each other. It happens.
I have to say, we (I) are getting very close to armchair quarterbacking here. Lets review the following insightful film to refresh our collective memory that we are not racing on the ProTour and as such should perhaps reserve judgment.
Cavendouche. That’s all.
So Dodger out, Martin in please…
1:
Dodger; He knows he will never win Le Tour, so will put it all on the line for another ‘big’ win.Tony Martin2: GaySink; just so I could say that.
3: The Eggtimer; He was shit at ToC, he’ll be shit at TdF, and he’ll bore everyone into submission here, taking time in the cronos, and hanging on like a turd on a blanket in the hills.
4: F Schluck; coming into a little bit of form, but still saving it for July. Or maybe just not good enough… calling Dr Fuentes, training plan please.
5: Bruseghin; Can TT, that’s about all he’ll need to do
Pure racing crash. Having witnessed several TdF sprints on the finishing line, they are fucking frightening.
folding that carbon wheel hurt about as much as any road rash…I hate seeing good equipement go to the trash heap
Sigh. I’m not armchair quarterbacking. I may be high school varsity quarterbacking and not NFL quarterbacking, but I am actually quarterbacking. The sacred rule has been handed down to me from first class sprinters. And it’s one I practice continually. And, it’s false that asking a sprinter to keep his head up is like asking a driver not to close his eyes while sneezing. Most of them manage it.
Steegemans with beautiful technique on the Champs.
Cippollini with his head up the entire way. Just a beautiful sprinter. Go to the slow mo at the end.
Cavendish has head down for a moment, captured in the one frame posted. His technique is this and has been for a long time. He has his head up, and looking forward, as he should for like 4 or so pedal strokes. Then, for a brief moment he looks down and then quickly back up. Then his head is up for another 4 pedal strokes. That’s fine. He can see where he is going doing that, since his head is only down instantaneously. Some other sprinters will do this as well. You can see some of them fighting hard to look up and managing it, except for Haussler. Some of them have trained themselves to have their heads up the entire time, as they should.
Haussler has head down for his entire sprint, and when he starts moving off his line into Cavendish, his head is deeply buried in his lap. At the end of a sprint at high speeds, most are going to have tunnel vision of some sort. And what’s left of your visual field usually starts wobbling all over the place as well.
What is this, a blame Cavendish cabal, because he’s actually Cavendouche?
“I didn’t see Cavendish coming,” Haussler said. “He drove into my wheel and before I knew it, I went down and was lying on the ground. I could have won the stage today.”
Big surprise there. Heh. “He drove into my wheel”. Cavendish will have some things to say about that, I’m sure.