Pance's Prologue Preview & Potential Picks

We missed out on having a prologue time trial in 2011, as the Tour went right into the action with a tough road stage (won by Philippe Gilbert). Things are back to normal this year though, and the riders will be starting three weeks of racing with a 6.4km circuit around Liège, in that there Belgium.

It’s pretty short, and pretty flat then. And unless the weather comes up with some nasty surprises, we can expect to see the usual time trial specialists doing well. While it makes for a nice little introduction to the race, I can’t help thinking they could spice the stage up a bit if they just altered the design of the start ramp a little.

As all good Fantasy Tour managers know, the Prologue is a place where you can pick up some easy points. So, if you’re after some early glory, and if you still haven’t picked your team, here’s one that I think should do pretty well on Saturday.

Unfortunately, there’s still a tiny bit more racing to be done after the prologue.  And as I found out last year, an early lead can soon disappear in the mountains, so it might be better to take a longer view of the race.

Anyway, I see that the minileague is filling-up nicely, and there may be a few more teams still to come. It should be a good race.  I can hardly wait!

Fantasy Tour 2012 Now Open!

The wait is finally over! The rider prices are up and Velogames is now open for Fantasy Tour De France entries! So head on over there and get picking that team. And then get joining the Tour De Pance minileague.

If you’re anything like me, then you probably find that picking a team is a daunting and confusing task. Especially if like me, you were briefly “King Of The World” at the Fantasy Tour last year and feel you now have a reputation to maintain. So, in order to make picking a bit easier, I present you with this handy spreadsheet.

So, let the fun begin - in about a week’s time. Good luck everyone!

Fantasy Tour de France 2012 Nearly Here!

There’s a few things that you can count on with cycling: It’s always a headwind. It will always rain the day after you clean your bike. You’ll get a flat the one day you forget your pump. And of course, in the weeks leading up to the Tour De France, there will be a big story about drugs.

This time it seems some guy called Lance Armstrong is in a spot of bother with the USDA. In fact he’s in 15 pages worth of bother, which if you have the time, makes for some interesting, if not particularly surprising reading. So it appears that Lance may have been doing a load of cheating, at a time when pro cycling was full of cheaters. 

But remember, he’s never failed a drug test. (unless you count that one he paid to get hushed-up - allegedly)

Anyway, enough with the bad news. The good news is that it’s nearly time for the 2012 Tour De France. This year we don’t even have to wait till July, as the race begins on June 30th. First there’ll be a prologue in the Belgian town of Liege, (of Liege-Bastogne-Liege fame). Then they’ll ride around France for a bit, doing sprints, going up mountains, time trialing and falling off. And at the end of it all, the surviving riders will find themselves in Paris for a bunch sprint and some prizes for the good boys.

Looks pretty easy to me. We can expect the teams to start announcing their Tour squads soon, and if you've been paying attention to the goings on at the Dauphine and Tour de Suisse, you might have a few ideas about who you’d like for your Fantasy Tour team. I know I've got a few riders penciled-in for the Bile Beans already, but we’ll have to wait till George gets the rider list up over at the Velogames site before we’ll know if the price is right.