Entries open; Minileague is go; Beans in the can

The Velogames site is now open for entries, so time to submit those teams. It really is very easy.

1. Register on the Velogames site with a username and a password
2. Think of a clever team name, or just go for some kind of drug reference, or weak pun
3. Pick a team, making sure that they satisfy the team rules, (you can always re-select your team later)
4. Enter your team in the minileague:
• League Name: Tour De Pance
• League Code: 01024157
5. Er...... that's it, no £1s will be collected, so no cash prizes this year I'm afraid
6. Oh, maybe say hello and tell us your team name in the comments section, as the first update is usually a bit late and I won't have a clue who's playing

So, whether you've played before or not, it's pretty simple. So get picking - I don't want to hear any "I forgot to pick my team" excuses from anyone and I wouldn't mind if we had more than the 5 teams we had for the Giro D'Italia.

I've already selected the Bile Beans for this year - after much indecision - and I still reserve the right to make some last-minute changes. I can tell you all want to know who I've picked.

But, although I may have dropped a few hints in the last couple of weeks, I'm afraid you'll just have to wait and see. Rest assured, they're all healthy, bright eyed and slim.

Provisional Velogames FTDF list announced

The trusty Velogames website has awakened, with the provisional rider list for the 2010 FTDF now up. The entry form should appear shortly, but George Chapman is a busy man, so don't get too upset if there's a few delays, as he does it all for free don't-you-know.

In the meantime, you can study the list and maybe play with this spreadsheet thing that I've knocked up - which may or may not work. Just put a 'y' in the column next to the riders you want to pick and you can see how much your team costs. I could only make the thing work by allowing people to edit it, so please treat it like you would the toilet in a friend's house - so one at a time, and leave it like you found it.

It's a even numbered year, so tradition dictates that the peloton will be taking a clockwise trip around France - after starting off in the Netherlands, that is.

You can also fly through the route with this video, which is right up there with Avatar with it's high tech production values.

As usual, the folks at Cyclingnews have done their trusty Tour De France guide, which should give you some pointers as to who might do well this year and which are the key stages. Don't think that just beacause the first few days are in the flatlands that there'll be no excitement in the first week. There'll be some cobbles, and if you were with us for stage 1 and 2 of the Giro D'Italia, you'll know that the Dutch roads can cause trouble, with many a rider hitting the deck and baring some arse flesh.

Schlecks in team schake-up

Those Schleck brothers have been in the news recently. First off it was the Luxembourg time trial championships, where young Andy beat off elder brother Frank for the title. Although I'm sure Andy did a good ride, when there's a field of 4 riders your chances of finishing up on the podium are pretty high. There might have been one more challenger, but one of the few other Luxembourg pros, Kim Kirchen, (Bile Beans TDF team 2009) has recently had some serious medical issues with his heart and his future career looks uncertain. He always seemed like a nice bloke to me, so I hope he gets well soon. 

Anyway, after the Schleck 1-2 it was Christian Poos who took bronze in the time trial. Christian's team won't be at the Tour, so I'm afraid we won't get to see Poos rolling down the start-ramp in Rotterdam. We might still see Poos on the roads next year though, as there's going to be a new Luxembourg team headed-up by those Schlecks. Cycling's a sport of ups and downs though, one minute Andy was all excited about his time trial win and new team, the next he was treating his wounds after an 'off' during training. Looks like he's using a combination of first aid products, beer and possibly olive oil to heal his wounds.

Maybe it was because of this little tumble that Frank got the better of Andy for the Luxembourg road title, or maybe its because their parents bought them up properly, and taught them how to share.

This last week has seen the running of various road and time trial National Championship races around the globe, and not just in big countries like Luxembourg. The winners of such events get to wear a fancy jersey for a year and are generally easier to pick out in a crowd of moving cyclists. The races can also be an indicator of who's got some pre-tour form. You can check out who won what over at Cyclingnews, but I was mostly interested in who snagged the British title. It was always going to be tricky for the smaller teams to get the better of Team Sky, and so it proved. It was a Sky 1-2-3 with Geraint Thomas winning ahead of  Peter Kennaugh and Ian Stannard. Thomas has made it into Sky's TDF squad, so we should see him showing off the National Champs jersey off on the roads of France.

Ten days to go

Not long now then, till the Tour starts on July 3rd. And more importantly, that means there's now less than 10 days to pick those FTDF teams......... once the Velogames site is open for business that is. Cyclingnews now has a run-down of the Top 12 Tour Contenders and 10 riders who need a result to peruse. The teams are slowly announcing their selections and the GC hopefuls for the Tour will now be doing their last minute 'preparation' in hope of starting the race in the best possible form.

The Tour Du Suisse wrapped-up at the weekend and Frank Schleck got the win after Robert Gesink fell apart in the final time trial. A certain L. Armstrong finished second and he's looking good for another reasonable GC position in the Tour this year. I still don't fancy his chances for the win against the younger riders though. Those Flandis allegations have done nothing to enhance his reputation and the length of the race means there's plenty of time for more dirt to be revealed. I know he thrives on adversity, but three weeks is a long time to be sitting in the team-bus avoiding awkward questions. If he does find himself in yellow, I reckon he'll get a tough time from the roadside fans, especially if this booing he got at the Tour of Luxembourg is anything to go by.



Also, there was the Ster Elektrotoer going on. Although it sounds like a travelling music festival with the likes of Merzbow, Black Dice and Wolf Eyes, it's actually a bike race in the Netherlands. Not suprisingly, it's not a race for the climbers, and the sprinters usually do pretty well there. Team Sky's Greg Henderson and Russ Downing managed a 1-2 on stage 2, and seeing how I used to ride with some guys who used to race against Downing, I think that means I could have been 3rd if I was there.

The only other events before the Tour worth paying any attention to, are the various National Championship races on Sunday. These are the last chance to see who's race form is good, and who gets to wear a special jersey for a year - which makes a rider easier to pick out on the TV, which is always useful when you're trying to follow your fantasy team riders.

Back in the UK there's a fair few continental pros who'll be lining-up on Sunday, but rumour has it that arguably the best British rider, Bradley Wiggins won't be riding, as he's saving himself for the Tour. There should still be plenty of other UK talent around at the race in Linconshire though, and I'm hoping we'll see the British Champions jersey in the Tour peloton next month.

Tour Du Suisse Rolls On

Compared to the carnage of a that crash the other day, things have been pretty normal in the Tour Du Suisse for the last couple of days. Cav pulled out of the race yesterday, citing a combination of road-rash and wanting to make it back to the IOM for his grandma's funeral today. He did ride a bit of the course with the team car yesterday, so he might still be able to get in shape for the start of the Tour.

It was the 'Queen Stage' of the TDS yesterday, which means it was the longest, hilliest stage. A chance for some TDF contenders to test their climbing legs then. Rabobank's Robert Gesink, put in a strong ride to take the stage win, and the overall lead from HTC-Columbia's Tony Martin.

Gesink had some bad luck at the TDF last year when he broke his collarbone in the first week. His form seems to be coming on nicely now though, whereas his team co-leader at Robobank, Dennis Menchov seems to be struggling so far this year. Elsewhere on the stage yesterday, most of the big names for the Tour were up there. And though it pains me to say it, the old dogs of Team Radioshat did pretty well and Armstong looks like he'll be pretty strong come July. So Lance got the better of the Schlecks, and Frank seems to be going a bit better than Andy. I've already given way too many hints as to who might be good FTDF picks, so you can peruse the top 20 for yourselves and see who you think might worth selecting.

In drug news - and lets face it, there usually is some - Italian rider Eddy Mazzoleni has been fined for his part in dealing performance enhancing drugs. I wouldn't normally mention it, but for the fact that Eddy happens to be married to Ivan Basso's sister Elisa and it gives me a chance to bring this picture to your attention.

As you can see, I've been forced to make this image safe for workplace viewing by the careful positioning of some of my sponsor's logos. If you happen to be in a more private place, you can see more of Elisa over here.

Cav causes crash?

Stage 4 of the Tour Du Suisse should have been an excellent opportunity to gauge the form of the top sprinters before the TDF. Instead, it was what can only be described as a big, painful-looking, fuck up.



Or if you're not one for gruesome YouTube footage, here's the beginnings of  that crash in still form - it looks like Cav's front wheel may have hit a patch of quicksand.

From the scale of the carnage, you might be surprised to hear that only Heinrich Haussler, Lloyd Mondory and Arnaud Coyot didn't start today. Coyot broke some bones in his hand and Haussler had a big old cut on his elbow.

Where this leaves my FTDF sprinting selection, I just don't know. It was looking good for Haussler to get a start with the Bile Beans, but this crash could be a lot to deal with so close to the start of the Tour. It seems Cav doesn't have the form he did last year, and after yesterday, his confidence/arrogance might have taken a bit of a knock. He's certainly not popular with Cervelo's Andreas Klier and Jeremy Hunt who delayed the start today with a protest. They're none too happy about what happened to Haussler and they say Cav hasn't apologised. Cav certainly didn't come out unscathed yesterday though.

Cav was fined 30 seconds by the race organisers for irregular sprinting and I'm inclined to agree with them - although Haussler seemed to come off his line a bit too. Armchair-based keyboard warriors have been quick to examine the footage with the kind of detail normally reserved for the Zapruder Film. So, opinions seem to range from the "Cav could see he wasn't going to win, so made everyone crash", to "it was all Haussler's fault". If you ask me, I'd say the blame was about 75% Cav, 25% Haussler.

Unfortunately in the fast-paced world of bunch sprinting this kind of thing happens every now and again, and to be honest, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. It does happen though, so lets take a stroll down memory lane to see some of those finish-line pile-ups from yesteryear. The most controversial crash of last 2009 was probably this piece of work by Theo Boss at the Tour of Turkey.



And Cav's exploits reminded me a bit of another erratic fast-man, Djamolodine Abdoujaparov.



Or there was that time a snap-happy Gendarme got in the way on the finishing straight of the Tour back in 1994.



Lets hope we don't see any of this kind of thing going on in the Tour this July, or if we do, that no one involved is in the Bile Beans team.

2 and a bit weeks to go - who's hot and who's not

I like to keep an eye on the weather back in the UK. Today it was really rather warm here in Atlanta, and as is often the case, the temperature in my new home-town, was slightly higher than that in my old home-town.

All in all it made for a sweaty bike ride today. Probably not helped by the fact that I faffed around, (or lolly gagged, as Mrs. Pance likes to call it) for a good couple of hours before I left, and found myself riding in the midday sun. In fact according to the sign outside a bank I rode past, it was even hotter than my Google Toolbar suggested.

Or if you like proper, internationally agreed units, instead of the stupid and archaic Fahrenheit system, here's that number in Celsius.

It may be hot for cycling, but it's even worse for working in a bike shop, with no air conditioning. Man, is it sweaty in there at the moment. At least a customer was kind enough to bring me some refreshment, as a reward for some work well-done. Dude, you really shouldn't have.

There's only 19 days to go till the 2010 TDF start in Rotterdam and if riders want to do well in July, their good form should be starting to show by now. So let's see who's maturing like a fine bottle of champagne kept in a cellar, and who's spoiling like a can of Bud Lite left on the counter in a hot bike shop. The Dauphiné Libéré finished yesterday. Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen seems to be over those early-season injury problems and took the final stage, (and he did a good ride in the TT).

On Saturday the race went up the legendary Alpe D'Huez and who should win but Alberto Contador?

He's a man of his word though, and left the overall for young Slovenian, Janez Brajkovic, who's now being tipped as a star of the future. He might now make it into the Radioshack team for the tour, but maybe not, as Lance doesn't seem to like being upstaged by younger, more talented team-mates. Other names to watch in the race were Dennis Menchov, who didn't impress much, David Millar, who seems to going pretty well this season and American kid, Tejay Van Garderen, who is probably too young to be part of HTC- Columbia's tour squad, but is another one to watch for the future.

Meanwhile, in the Land of Chocolate, the Tour Du Suisse started on Saturday. Obviously Fabian Cancellara won the prologue thanks to his electric bicycle, which the mechanics were keen to keep a safe distance from the public.

Stage 2 saw a win for another man back from injury troubles just in time for the Tour. This time it was Cervelo's, Heinrich Haussler, who could be back in fine sprinting form after a disastrous early season. Possibly a good fantasy team pick, or will he have to play second fiddle to his team-mate Thor Hushovd, (also recently injured) and his green jersey ambitions?

Today in Switzerland, it was Frank Schleck who won with a late attack. Lance didn't get quite the pasting I was hoping for and came in 7 seconds back in 15th spot, and it might be worth noting that dead last of today's finishers was Thor Hushovd. Also looking good so far, are 2009 FTDF Bile Beans team members, Tony Martin, Thomas Lövkvist and Robert Gesink. Not to mention another rider I've got my eye on, but I won't mention, lest someone snags him for their team. If you look closely, he's somewhere in this picture - it's like a cycling where's Wally? (or Waldo if you're in the US).

Between Tour happenings

So, the countdown to the Tour de France continues and the pre-Tour news keeps trickling in. The one week, Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré started in France on Sunday, and even though he says he's still not at his best, Alberto Contador easily won the prologue time trial on a fancy new bike. He's still leading after 3 days of racing, although he said he didn't want to win it. If I was him, I would be less worried about the leader's jersey and more worried about the shorts he's wearing, which seem to be giving him a severe "camel toe".

Most of the Tour contenders that aren't riding the Dauphiné, will be lining up the Tour De Suisse that starts on Saturday. Lance Armstrong will be there, and he's been showing some reasonable form of late......... I'm hoping he'll shit out and get a good shoeing from the Schlecks.

Rabobank have revealed their Tour line-up, with Menchov and Gesink as joint team leaders. I picked Gesink for my team last year and he lasted less than a week before quitting with a broken something-or-other, earning me precisely null points. Menchov has kept a very low profile this year and only had a few day's racing, so his form is any one's guess. Also worth considering on the Dutch squad are sprinter Oscar Friere, (if he isn't injured) and young Lars Boom, who I might pick for my team, if only because of the possibilities for puns.

Columbia HTC have also revealed their Tour team long-list of 15. It's got both Cav and Andre Griepel on it though, so they'd better decide which sprinter to take, or there could be some inter-team tension.



2008 Tour winner Carlos Sastre is currently on the "will he? won't he?" list. He had a tough time of it at the Giro D'Italia, and has a bad back after crashing a lot. Currently he's not sure whether to batter himself in the Tour, or take it easy and rest a while before a tilt at the Tour of Spain in September. I like Carlos, so I hope he's better soon, and I hope he has a good ride in a grand tour this year - preferably when he's on my fantasy team.

The fallout from those Flandis allegations rumbles on, but there's been no more juicy revelations as of yet. In my experience, the Frenchies usually like to make with a scandal about a week before the start of the race. I seem to recall there being some questionable medical waste being thrown away by the Astana team last year, which the authorities were looking into. The French only work a 30 hour week or something, and have loads of holidays, so the kind of lab tests most of us could knock out in a couple of weeks, take them a year or so to do. Therefore, we can expect some headlines in LeMonde at the end of the month to put the willies up Lance and Bertie before the start of the race.

Velogames scores in!! Beans on most!!

It's been a tense few days for me as I've awaited the final Velogames scores. After a brief early lead from Harrisons Pharma, I've been riding high at the top of the league for a while now and feared it couldn't last. I was afraid first place could be lost in the final days, just like when Laurent Fignon lost the Tour back in '89  to Greg Lemond. Instead, it was more like one of those Tours that Lance Armstrong won, when nobody could ever get ahead of him. Anyway, seeing as I won and all, it gives me great pleasure to present you with the final overall scores.

And here's how they break down for the final stages and those all important end of tour points.

Obviously I'd like to thank my team, Evans and Vino earned plenty of points, but they did cost plenty of credits. I think the biggest star of the team was Marco Pinotti, who earned me 756 points, for an investment of only 4 credits. As for my climbers, Rohregger and Pozzovivo, they both let me down badly...... if only I'd gone for Gadret and Arroyo instead.

I hope you all enjoyed playing, half as much as I enjoyed winning. The FTDF is only a month or so away, so there's time to get thinking who you might like to pick, for the big fantasy show-down in July. I've already got a few riders pencilled in for the Bile Beans squad, but will the price be right? And will they get injured/banned before the start of the race? Either way, I'm sure we'll all have fun and with any luck, we might even get a few more teams for the minileague if people can get their shit together and pick a team. Until July, I might make the occasional blog entry, to bring you news of fantasy cycling importance, so make sure to pop back here every once-in-a-while to see what's going on.

Velogames scores expected soon - maybe

This year's Giro was a great race with hardly a dull moment, it was the probably the best two-wheeled spectacle since this.



And the Tour De Pance minileague was also a thrilling spectacle to watch unfold on our screens, with all the excitement a list of numbers can bring. We're still waiting for that final update to reveal who the winner is and I'll let you know as soon as I do.

In the meantime, lets get back to the doping news. It seems that Alejandro Valverde has finally been banned for a couple of years for his Operation Peurto links.... about time too I say. Even though I did think he was a classy and entertaining rider, he was obviously on the juice.

I'm this guilty

Another classy rider is Fabian Cancellera. He's got an uncanny ability to hit good form when he wants to and wipe the floor with the best in the world. He's also always a sure pick for my FTDF team, as he rides a good prologue and knows how to get the points in. He's currently defending himself against some doping allegations of his own, but it's not drugs or bags of blood, (although I wouldn't be surprised). No, it's that mechanical doping story which we all thought was a late April Fools article, but apparently some are taking it seriously as you can see in this video. It's a load of bollocks if you ask me, mind.