It's here! TDF starts in less than two weeks so time to get this thread happening. There's a lot of games running this time of year but we'll concentrate on 3, all done before so there should be people here familiar with them to help any newcomers. First of will be the SBS Fantasy Tour. This isn't up yet but the link should work in a day or two and I'll get a league up and running. Basically if its like the Halford version you'll score points for where riders place on each stage. Next game is the ol faithful Velogames, still not up yet despite their promise of "this weekend" last week but it'll be up and running. Good fun, set and forget team you can track with no fuss. Last but not least is the Road.cc game. This runs all year but you can join anytime and focus on the Tour if you wish, which we will! Put simply you pick your team and can trade twice after every stage so there's a bit of strategy involved and trying to bring in guys that will do well for the profile of that stage. This game is up and running, so feel free to sign up and familiarise yourself, the league code for TS is 75808. So that's it, plenty to keep us happy, join one or join all, doesn't matter, different strokes n all but most importantly have fun! For people new to cycling or its fantasy game there's a few of us here more than happy to help with advice or at least tell you which riders not to pick. Good luck, Port
Ok, rousing interest so far. Anywhores, SBS game is up so have a look. First things: League Name: TooSerious Password: supercoach Scoring is a little different this time round for those that played it last year. Basically all your points are scored on stages, so its pointless having any GC riders in your team at the start, as they don't score at the end like last year. Also note the trade periods, you get a lot of trades to change your team so use them wisely! Velogames is up so I'll get that sorted next.
Velogames is up! Plenty of roughies there and no surprise, Evans and Wiggins are the two most expensive players! Just be warned, don't think all the players have been added yet but its good to have a play around. League: TooSerious Code:22112913 Useful links for news: Startlists Results Database
Just signed up to Velogames and SBS. Love the TDF, don't really follow cycling much during the year, but scoring some points will help me stay up late for the next few weeks!
Would have loved to pick Hushovd, with a couple uphill sprint finishes, but he has withdrawn. Also A Schleck not racing, as he has a fractured pelvis. Any other big names missing this year?
Not sure how you define big names but obviously no Contador. Radioshack not taking Fuglsung is causing a bit of conjecture, he's a good GC rider.
How closely do these fantasy games mimic the actual event? As in, can I purchase doping upgrades for certain riders?
I'm in for the SBS game, played last year and did pretty well ... but the no GC points makes the game a whole lot less strategic for initial team selection.
I have signed up for SBS. it looks like you make sure you have the yellow and green jersey on your team at all times. What is your tip for the double point stage?
Holy crap, look at all the applicants! I guess they want you to work being admin. All applicants have been approved, sorry for any delay
I'm game! I'll sign up when I next get a chance! Can i just ask... are we going to be able to have an occasional thread or forum on TS to discuss riders before or during the tour by any chance? Personally I only really watch the tour de France, so whilst I know many of the riders... I wouldn't really know where to start regarding form/team roles/rookie riders etc. Thanks.
@CJ22, any help is probably best in this thread. Port is very generous and knowledgeable. I will try to help also. I am thinking stage 2 is the double points stage - assuming you have a team chock full of sprinters! It looks to me to be the most likely mass sprint stage with all sprinters still present. Any other thoughts?
Stage 5 looks a good one if your stacked with sprinters too. Stages 1 & 3 look good for the puncheur style riders.
Correct warsaken. A list of the top puncheurs should include Phillippe Gilbert, Peter Sagan (also a top sprinter), Luis Leon Sanchez and Edvald Boasson Hagen. But note that some of those (e.g., Edvald Boasson Hagen and Phillippe Gilbert) may be asked to protect the favourite in their team more than win stages. I am sure port will add to the list of potential puncheurs.
Hey guys, glad about the interest. There seems to be a lot of people already for TDF, who knows, if we get about 20 people for SBS game I might try and talk to the chief about a front page post. CJ22, Your best bet if you want to find out more is to first use those links I gave. Cyclingfever have a startlist for the TDF (there's only 4 teams currently not confirmed but most riders are there) that is up to date, so you can make sure the rider you're interested in is riding. CQRanking is just epic for what you can do on it, I'm a big fan. Basically its a database for over 10 years of results from ALL UCI registered races. So its great for finding info about any rider you like, or check results from races. If you play around with the subrankings you can even sort stages by their status, whether its a time trial, mountain stage or sprint stage (note some, not all stage). This is useful if you want to find out who's a fast sprinter or a good time trialler. Apart from that your best bet is with the news-sites and reading up on previous races (you can get results from CQ as well). The two most important races in build up for the Tour are the Criterium de Dauphine in France and Tour de Suisse. Best English places to get news are cyclingnews, velonation and velonews. As always Twitter is good if you have the time to follow the right people or trawl through the search function. Good blogs to read are Inrng and CyclingTips though they wont necessarily have a lot of information but will talk about the Tour. I'm going to stop short of listing 20 odd sprinters or 20 time-triallists, climbers etc because I don't want to piss off some of the people who do research this sort of thing but I am happy to talk about select riders or a small group if you so wish. Take for instance the blokes chels talked about. They're all good for bunch "sprint" finishes that are elevated up short hills which pack a "punch" (ergo the name Puncheurs). Gilbert is the king of these profiles but this year on a new team for some reason he has lacked the form and ability so whilst you can't discount him he has a big question mark and like Chels said, he may have to help Cadel out but considering the race starts in Belgium he'll be very motivated to win. The other bloke is Sagan, this is his first tour and he's only 21 but the wraps on this kid are amazing. He is the form rider right now. 5 wins in California, 4 wins in Switzerland. He can win from a bunch, can get over mountains to win, can even win a short time trial. So he's a lot of peoples favourite for the Green jersey (among Cavendish and Goss etc). The TDF though is a race unto himself so he's untested at this level and anything can happen, so that's his question mark, albiet a small one. Other riders who have a kick finish are guys like EBH, LLS (thanks chels), Valverde, Gerrans, Albasini, Dan Martin but then you can guarantee there will be attacks from teams like Vacansoliel, Katusha, Astana, any of the French teams so if you're looking for an opportunist try picking one of their riders who are doing well. Hope this helps
Signed up for both - (need to stop using my trades in supercoach for the month of July) so now I can having fun trading in the tour de france - which I know nothing about.