Fantasy TDF 2011 - 1 day to go!!!

The 2011 Tour de France starts tomorrow, so there's not much time to get all indecisive and change your Fantasy Team around a few more times. I've actually managed to leave the Bile Beans line-up alone recently, but I have made another change. Yes, I've got myself a stylish new jersey.

George made me this nice little number based on the jersey of my team here in Atlanta, Faster Mustache, (or Faster Moustache as George likes to call us).

I was thinking of requesting a Bile Beans Team jersey, but I think my design needs a bit more work.

We've now had the Tour rider presentations, which I didn't catch I'm afraid. Looks like I missed out on seeing the Leopard Trek team arrive by horse and cart.

I hear Alberto Contador was booed by the French fans. Those Frenchies must still be upset about that Clenbuterol thing. I guess they think that Bertie shouldn't be riding. But I'm not quite sure which French rider they think would be winning if he wasn't there.

FTDF countdown - 3 days to go......

There's only a couple of days now till the start of the Tour, and all the pro teams have now announced their squads. We now know all 198 riders who'll be lining up on Saturday, so there's officially no reason to have not selected a team yet. And no reason not to have entered the Tour de Pance mini league. Unless you've forgotten the league code that is, so here it is again.

22150725

I don't know about you, but I'm finding picking my team this year to be especially difficult. The Bile Beans have now had more line-up changes than The Fall. Much like The Fall, there has always been one constant in my team, but you'll have to wait till Saturday to find out who I think is cycling's equivalent of Mark E. Smith. I can tell you that it's not Michele Scarponi, as although they look very similar, Scarponi won't be at the Tour, after riding a tough Giro.

Let's see what we've got on the way for Stage 1 then...... In a break from recent Tour tradition, there's no Prologue for Fabian Cancellara to win. Instead there's a road stage that looks like this.

You may notice that the stage starts on the Passage du Gois, which featured back in 1999, with a memorable crash which ended the hopes of Alex Zulle.

The bunch should be able to make it across in one piece this year though, as the race will be neutralised for the first 18km. After that I think we can expect attacks, breaks, chases, crashes and the like, before it most likely comes back together for the last 5km.

As you can see, it's got a hill at the end, so don't expect a sprinter like Cav to get the win. It should be someone with a bit of uphill punch and Philippe Gilbert seems to be the favorite. But on the opening day of the biggest race of the year, just about anything could happen.

FTDF - Bertie's Build Up

Alberto Contador pretty much cleaned up at the Giro d'Italia, taking an easy-looking win, not to mention the points classification and a stage or two along the way. He also scored a lot of Fantasy Tour points.

Now the rider list is out, we see that he costs a whopping 30 credits,  and he'll have to be super-strong to justify such an investment. The only guide we'll get to his current form is likely to be his result in the Spanish TT champs today, so it will be interesting to see how he does. Contador hasn't raced since the Giro, and his preparation was put off slightly when training in France recently. It seems the Gendarmes didn't like him going through those Alpine tunnels without his lights. I guess Bertie never saw this Public Information gem when he was growing up, otherwise he would have know better.

Velogames TDF Entries Now Open!

Hello. Just a quick one, to tip you off that the provisional rider list and the entry form are now open. I'd advise you to get your team entered as soon as possible. The way I understand it, the sooner you pick your team, the higher you appear on the initial mini league. Fantasy cycling is a tough old game, and the best chance you may have of appearing near the top of the table is quite possibly before the race has even started. You can always make changes to your team after your initial selection you know.

After my first picks, I've been going back and forth over my choices for most of the day, and the Bile Beans are already on their third line-up. Much like real life, Fantasy Cycling is full of dilemmas.



There's still a few teams left to announce their TDF squads, (Sky and Movistar, I'm looking at you), so keep your eyes peeled for more updates. If you're having trouble with all those numbers, maybe this spreadsheet will help you out.

Finally, here's the League Code for the Tour de Pance this year - 22150725

Tour de France 2011 - Not Long Now

As the countdown to the start of the Tour de France on July 2nd continues, you may like to have a look at the route for this year, which you can see here. There's a few changes to the points systems for the Green and Polka Dot Jerseys, and there are no time bonuses on offer for the stage wins. You may also notice that there's no prologue this year, so you can't pick Fabian Cancellara and expect to get some easy points early on. Add in some nasty uphill finishes in the first week, a team time trial, a bunch of mountains and we should have an interesting race.

The Tour team selections line-ups are gradually being revealed over on CyclingNews, and it looks like TDS sensation Peter Sagan won't be starting, as he's beening saved for the Vuelta. The Bile Beans will have to do without him in France then, but I've already been thinking about the likely winners and losers, and have got the my fantasy squad somewhat picked in my head.  I know that when George sets those rider costs I'll have to think again, as I suspect my dream team will cost about 150 Velocredits.

Not only is the Tour a chance to see the finest riders in the world, it's also a chance to see the newest bits and pieces from the cycling industry. Manufacturers traditionally use the period around the Tour to launch their latest toys, and Shimano has just unveiled its latest Ultegra Electronic shifting.

Now I like bike porn as much as the next man, but unfortunately my life as a lowly shop mechanic means I rarely get to work on such exotica. I've yet to lay my hands on any electronic shifters or adjust gears that go up to 11, but I am unpleasantly familiar with the "budget" brands sold at Walmart, Target and toy shops. Among the Nexts, Roadmasters and Magnas, one particular gem that rolls in from time to time is the GMC Denali road bike. Here's the official blurb on the machine:

The GMC Denali 700C 21-Speed Road Bike is built around a lightweight aluminum road bike frame. You'll stop on a dime with the alloy calipers and brake levers, and the high-profile alloy Vitesse racing rims look as good as they perform. The Shimano derailleur and Shimano Revo shifts make it easy to change gears quickly and smoothly, and the high-performance 700c tires are up to the challenge of rigorous street racing. Lastly, this road bike will help you stay hydrated with the included alloy water bottle cage.

And here's some things that I've noticed:

• This bike is heavy and unwieldy. Around 30lbs or 0.014Tons if you prefer. This shouldn't come as a total surprise, as the bike is named after a heavy and unwieldy SUV/truck type thing.

• The bike has twist shifters - no chance of STIs at this price point. How do you get twist shifters on drop bars? Easy, just cut the bars in half, slide the shifters on, and screw them back together with a chunky alloy sleeve. But what to do with the brake cables? No problem, just let them flap around outside the bar tape, like they did back in the 80's.

• The frame may be heavy, and possibly solid, but it does have the latest aerodynamic Kamm Tail technology.

• The "Vitesse racing rims" are indeed "as good as they look" and are deep section with Schreader valves, meaning finding an inner tube to fit them will be pretty much impossible.

All in all, it's a piece of crap. I suppose you can't expect too much for $160 though. And some people are even under the impression it's a nice bike. This following video is troubling, I'm glad it's only 1:39 long, as I suspect that the camera man was about to remove the seatpost and express his love for the bike in a physical way.

 
 

 It could be worse, at least it's not a triathlete's bike. They may ride some super expensive carbon speed machines, but I'm not too keen on working on them. If you're lucky they are just covered in sticky energy-gel residue, if you're unlucky the residues can be a lot worse.

TDS Stage 9 & Overall - Leipheimer Leapfrogs Cunego

One of my first memories of watching cycling on the telly, was the Tour de France back in 1989. I'm not quite sure what happened in between, but I remember Pedro Delgado turned up late for the prologue. And I remember the final time trial, where American upstart Greg Lemond stole the race away from Laurent Fignon by 7 seconds. History seemed to be repeating itself today, as another American - Levi Leipheimer - stole the win away from race leader Damiano Cunego by a mere 4 seconds.

Cunego lost over two minutes to Leipheimer over the 32.1km, and as he only had a 1:59 lead, it was all over for the Italian. You can't help feel sorry for Cunego, but them's the breaks. He must have been gutted, but he did manage a smile for the cameras.

Among the other underachievers on the stage was Frank Schleck, who lost as bunch of time, as did his bro Andy. Those boys will have to do better in a few weeks if they want to be up there in the TDF. And it seems I'm not alone in thinking the tactics of Leopard Trek were a bit unsportsmanlike when they stitched up Bauke Mollema yesterday. At least they got the stage win with Spartacus.

Now we've got the real race out of the way, we can get onto the important business of the Fantasy Tour de Suisse. And although I don't want to gloat, I feel I must point out that I won the mini league. The Asparagus Tips looked dangerous for a while, bu the loss of Soler hit them hard. Out of the Tour de Pance old hands, Toblerdrome were next ahead of the Eiger Kings, (who I assume are named in honor of short-lived Leeds band Eiger). And in the fight for last place the Drunk riders just managed to finish above the ChanBots, congratulations!

So I'd like to take the opportunity to thank my riders for getting me so many points, and of course my sponsors.

There's no more stages to tell you about, but as I'm sure you are aware, the Tour de France will be starting in about 3 weeks time. The Bile Beans will be there for sure and there'll be a Tour de Pance mini league for sure. There may even be some updates between now and then, after all there's some National Championships coming up. Thanks for playing, and I'll see you at the TDF.

TDS Stage 8 - Sagan Strikes Agan

That Peter Sagan is good isn't he? He's only 21 remember, and he's bagged two wins and a second place in a big race like the Tour de Suisse. Although he's won several stages in shorter races, he's yet to ride one of the Grand Tours. I'm not sure if he'll be on the Liquigas squad for the Tour de France this year, but if he is he'll be dangerous.

It should have been a day for the big sprinters, but Leopard Trek decided to push it on the final hill of the day and split the field, leaving the likes of Cav behind. Another rider caught out was Bauke Mollema, who was  the wrong side of the split, and despite some valiant efforts from his Rabobank team, he ended up losing 47 seconds on the stage and saying goodbye to his second spot overall. It was rumored that Mollema may have had a mechanical, but I can't imagine the Schlecks would have put the hammer down if that was the case, after all it's goes against the unwritten rules of cycling.

League scores are still working their way through the internet tubes, but things should be looking rosy for the Bile Beans for the moment. There's still plenty on offer for the end-of-tour-points though and Mollema losing places is somewhat annoying. Update, scores now in.

The last stage tomorrow then, and it's a time trial that is 31.2km in length. Cunego is not know for his prowess against the clock, but unless it goes horribly wrong, he should have done enough to win the race. The battle is still on for the lesser places though, Leipheimer will likely to do a good ride, the Schlecks are likely to do less well and Cancellara will likely win. He's Swiss and good at time trails don't you know?

TDS Stage 7 - De Gendt is De Man

First of all, there's some slightly better news about Mauricio Soler, who is making "favourable progress".

Today we saw the breakaway survive to the finish. When a 17-man group went away on the first climb of the day, the bunch seemed content to let them go, as there were no GC contenders among them.  Andy Schleck was among them. Perhaps trying to show his face on the front of the race after his poor showing yesterday, which has had people asking questions about his form just 3 weeks before the Tour. Andy didn't have what it took to get the stage win though, and wasn't able to reel in Thomas De Gendt, who sneaked away on the run-in to the final climb.

Behind the break, Cunego was able to counter the attacks from Rabobank and yet more poor tactical riding from Leopard Trek to hold onto the leader's jersey.

Scores for Stage 7 don't seem to be in yet. I'm not expecting much from the Bile Beans though, as not one of my boys made it into the break. Fortunately none of the Asparagus Tips seemed to make it into the break either, so I'm hoping I'm still hanging on to the top spot. Update, scores now in.

It's the last chance for the sprinters tomorrow. I've given up tipping Cav. So I'm hoping my boy Peter Sagan will be up there again to earn me a few more points, before the time trial on Sunday.

TDS Stage 6 - Kruijswijk in Win, Soler in Hospital

If you were expecting to see Mauricio Soler riding away on the climb today you will have been disappointed. If there's two things we know about Soler, one is that he's a superb climber, and the other is that he's prone to accidents. He's already proved his climbing ability, and unfortunately he was involved in a collision with a spectator at the 33km mark on today's stage. The crash was bad enough to see him airlifted to hospital with head injuries. It sounds like he's in a bad way and is currently in an induced coma. I hope he's OK, as we've had enough tragedy already this year.

Without Soler, there wasn't really anyone around to liven up the stage on the final climb. The top guys seemed content to play a tactical game and watch each other until the last few kms, when Steven Kruijswijk sneaked away to grab the win. He may have a name like a bad Scrabble hand, but young Kruijswijk is part of a strong Rabobank team at the TDS this year, with Ten Dam also riding well and Mollema now up to second spot.

Mini league scores for the day are in. And the Bile Beans are still in charge.

Another lumpy stage tomorrow. Let's hope there's some better news about Soler.

TDS Stage 5 - Bozic Best, Cav Crap

I was expecting a business-as-usual sprint win from Mark Cavendish today. Unfortunately those pesky Tour de Suisse organisers seem to have something against him, and keep making the finishes too uphilly for him.

So, as Cav faded yet again, and the sprinter's trains fell into disarray, it was every man for himself as the line approached. Marco Mercado of Vacansoleil looked like he might be lucky with a sneaky move in the last km, but in the end his team-mate Borut Bozic pipped Oscar Friere for the win. It's Bozic'x biggest win to date, and he looked as surprised as anyone. Either that, or he was about to throw-up.

Not far behind in third was Peter Sagan. The boy is sure riding a great race, and has a comfy lead in the points competition. Even more importantly, he's currently the top rider on the Velogames rider scores table.

With Sagan and Van Garderen on board, things are still going well for the Bile Beans. And it's good to see Den picking up his game and moving up the table a bit, thanks to Friere's ride today.

The peleton is heading back into the mountains tomorrow. A crafty break will probably try and hope to gain enough time to hang on up the final climb. And the GC contenders will try keep out of trouble before the attacks start on the way up to the mountain-top finish.

TDS Stage 4 - Thor to the Fore

Firstly, let me apologise for not doing the update last night, but Tuesday nights are Dirty Mustache nights so I didn't have time. I'd love to tell you more about the Dirty Mustache, but its a bit like Fight Club, so I'm not at liberty to discuss it. Rest assured, it has nothing to do with this.

Onto the Tour de Suisse then. And, much as I feared, that lumpy run in to the finish was a bit much for a sprinter like Mark Cavendish, who I spotted drifting off the back with 7.5km to go. World Champion Thor Hushovd is a sprinter who can handle a few lumps though, and just when Peter Sagan looked to be on for another stage, Thor came past him and took the win.

In the mini league I'm pleased to see the Bile Beans holding on at the top. But I feel I must take some of the Tour De Pance regulars to task for their poor showing. Most of you seem to be down at the bottom of the table, while the new boys are trampling all over you - I trust you'll be better at the Tour de France.

Stage 5 looks like more traditional sprinter's fare. After Cav's easy day yesterday, I'm sure he'll do the Bile Beans proud and deliver a stage win.

TDS Stage 3 - Sagan Wins Stage, Cunego Takes Lead

If like me, you were watching the Tour de Suisse today, you would have seen young Peter Sagan winning the stage, while the slightly older Damiano Cunego took the race lead.

Twenty one year old Sagan is the rising star of the Liquigas Team, and might have to carry the Italian squad's hopes at the Tour, as so far this year Ivan Basso has been shit and I can't see him doing much by July. Sagan may have won the stage, but his breakaway companion Cunego took the Leader's Jersey.

There was a time, when the then young Cunego was the rising star of Italian cycling, and earned himself the nickname of "the little prince". He's been a bit hit and miss since then, and now he's nearly thirty, the nickname of "the little prince" is maybe a bit creepy. Anyhooze, he's got the lead at the mo, and he's looking pretty chuffed.

What are those scores? I hear you ask. These are the scores and I'm liking how they look.

On to tomorrow then, and there looks to be a let up with the big climbs, so the overall may stay with Cunego for a while longer. It still looks a bit lumpy on the run-in to the finish, but there's nothing too big, so I'm hoping for a win from Cav.

TDS Stage 2 - Soler Back on Top

Before we start on the Tour de Suisse, lets have a look slightly to the West, to the land of France, where the Criteruim de Dauphiné finished today. The Tour de France hopefuls who aren't at the TDS, have been using the Dauphine to fine-tune their form. And who should've won, but that Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky, ahead of Evo and Vino.

It's Bradley's first big stage-race win, and should go some way to shutting up his critics, who allege he only got 4th at the Tour in 2009 by being lucky/on drugs. And they'll tell you he's not really any good at riding a bike 'cause he looks like Paul Weller and anyone get can get a load of Olympic gold medals on the track as it's easy. Well screw them - well done Mr. Wiggy.

I was thinking of sharing my thoughts on who was hot and who was not at the Dauphiné. But on reflection, I reckon I'll keep those tips to myself, as I'm crazy paranoid about people stealing my favorite riders for the big one in July.

So, let us be off to the Land of Chocolate, (Switzerland that is) for the Tour de Suisse. Those of you old enough to remember the Tour de France way back in 2007, will remember that Mauricio Soler was The Man in the mountains, and took home the Polka Dot Jersey for his efforts. Not only was he a steal at 2 Velocredits in the Fantasy Tour that year, but he is also one of the few TDF mountains jersey winners in recent memory not to be busted for drugs. Since then things haven't been so great for Mauricio, mostly due to him falling off a lot. He seems to have been staying upright a lot more recently though, and has been climbing like his old self again. He certainly seemed to be The Man on Stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse and he took the race lead too.

Onto the scores then, and my 'get big points in the prologue and hope you can hold on' strategy is so far paying off, but I'm a bit worried about those Asparagus Tips.

More mountains tomorrow. Can Soler consolidate his lead?

Chocs Away for Tour de Suisse

If there's two things we know for sure about Fabian Cancellara, one is that he's Swiss, and two he's good at time trials. No surprise to see him winning the opening time trial of the Tour de Suisse then.

In fact it's even less of a surprise, as today's win is his fifth in the Tour de Suiss prologue. And the course today was almost identical to the one he won on last year.

The scores for the race so far are still pending, so it's anyone's guess as to who is on top at the moment. I'm feeling pretty good so far though. Lets have a look at the Bile Beans.

And lets have a look at the top ten today.

The alert amongst you may have noticed there's a Radioshat rider in my line-up now. I just couldn't let my team be, and did some re-selecting since my last post. Not only did I go for a Radioshat rider, I went for none other than Andreas Kloden. A man who I'm sure has many a skeleton in his closet, but he's still allowed to race, so what can you do? Pick him that's what. After the Bile Beans poor showing at the Giro, I think it's about time they did a bit better. And judging from the fortune cookie that rounded off my Chinese meal tonight, I think my luck is about to change.

Update: The scores are now in, and the Bile Beans are out in front. I do like to pick a strong prologue team for a bit of early glory though, so I expect the Beans will start to fade badly when the road goes uphill.

A prologue does not a race make, and there's plenty to come. After all, things were looking good for me early on in the Giro. Looks like there's some hills on the menu for tomorrow. I guess we'll see who's got their climbing legs on.