Only hours left to join the game here at Fantasy Cyclingnews. You've only got until Sunday morning 0800 GMT/UTC to enter your teams. Play to win the grand prize, a TREK Madone Discovery Team bike worth $7700 USD, or play to win a daily prize of one of the 21 pairs of Specialized's eyewear worth $240 USD each. There are 49+ prizes in total up for grabs in this year's Fantasy Le Tour. These are just some of the great prizes on offer in this year's game.
You can still join up until Stage 9. There is NO tactical disadvantage in joining after the Tour has begun. There are some great prizes on offer and its FREE until stage 9 begins. You don't need to pay to play in the first 8 stages, fantasy.cyclingnews.com, try it out and see if you too could be in the running for some of the 49 prizes on offer this year.
Top tips
Here's some top tips on your selections for this year's game from Gianmarco (USA) who won the 4th prize of a pair of Bontrager Race X lite wheels in last year's game:
I have always used the formula of 10 GC men and 5 sprinters. If I can't fit in 10 solid GC riders, then I start looking for guys who don't cost a lot of points and have already scored points. With eight stages of racing before you have to finalize your team, you should have a pretty good idea of who is out of the GC already and who is sprinting well. It's easy to find guys who have already scored.
Read more of Gianmarco's tips and tips from some of the other winners from last year's game at Fantasy Cyclingnews.
Prize list
There are over 49 prizes in this year's game. Be a professional team manager for the 2005 Tour de France. Based on the live racing action, you will take up the challenge of using your knowledge and tactical skill as a race team manager to compete with managers from around the world. Follow the races live and use your skill and knowledge to win prizes.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Stage by stage prizes -Specialized - 21x pairs of sunglasses
Runner-up prizes
- Bontrager - 2x pairs Bontrager Race X-Lite Aero wheels, 1x Race X Lite OS handlebars, 1x Race XXX Lite OS carbon stem, and 1x Race X Lite Pro saddle. - DMT - 3x pairs of Flash shoes - Speedplay - 4x pairs of CSC pedals - CTS - Signature coaching package - fi'zi:k - 5x Team issue Arione saddles - Giro - 9x Atmos Helmets in Discovery, Rabobank & Fassa Bortolo team colours
Tactics
Read some of our previous Le Tour game winners recommendations for your team selection strategy. Go to the downloads section to find out more.
How to play
You can begin creating your team/s now. You can play the first 8 stages for FREE! We will be adding additions to the startlist on a daily basis. The Tour games are easy to play, all you need to do to manage your own team is select 15 riders from the live start list then select 9 of these riders to race each day throughout the Tour. You score points according to how well each of the riders place each day in the Tour. So try your team today and see if it's for you. It's a great way to follow the Tour. Create your teams now at fantasy.cyclingnews.com
