Welcome to the Velogames Fantasy Classics Spring Series!
Gilbert scores an Ardennes Hat-Trick!
Robins On Tour win Fantasy Classics Spring Series!
A rip-roaring finale to the 2011 Spring Classics campaign saw Philippe Gilbert win Liege - Bastogne - Liege to make it three wins on the trot in the Ardennes Classics.
The elite lead trio of Gilbert and the Schleck brothers put on a fine show for the huge support shown by Gilbert's local Walloons and the Schlecks' Luxembourg countrymen who had made the short trip from home turf in their droves.
In the Fantasy Classics Spring Series, John Hussey's team of Robins on Tour held on for the lead, winning by a slender 11 points margin to take the top prize.
Congratulations to the podium, and commiserations to all those whose teams did not perform.
There's not long to wait to turn things around, as the Velogames Fantasy Giro d'Italia will be going live tomorroW!
Gilbert makes it two-in-a-row!
The Fleche Wallonne podium had a familiar look to it on Wednesday, as last Sunday's Amstel Gold first and second placed finishers repeated their feat on the Muur de Huy.
Samuel Sanchez rounded out the top three behind Philippe Gilbert and Joaquin Rodriguez, but the repeat performance of those top-two meant that teams that did well in Amstel Gold continued to dominate the leaderboard today.
With just one race to go, the Velogames Fantasy Classics season is fast approaching the crunch finale at Liege - Bastogne - Liege.
Premium Teams have their extra transfer window, which will open tomorrow, after I have finalised the start-list tags for Liege.
A little treat...
A new feature for Velogames was rolled out today, with the introduction of selectable team jerseys.
Simply click "Change Team Jersey" towards the bottom of main team management page for the list of selectable jerseys that include the pro teams, national champions, historic favourites and also special jerseys.
If you would like your own jersey, perhaps that of your club or organisation, drawn up, please send a message using the contact link!
Philippe Gilbert takes another Amstel Gold!
Pre-race favourite and defending champion Philippe Gilbert launched a devastating uphill sprint to take this year's Amstel Gold Race.
After the carnage and excitement of the two cobbled classics, Amstel Gold was a more predictable affair, with an elite group of riders still in contention at the bottom of the final climb up the Cauberg.
A late attack by Andy Schleck was neutralised on the lower slopes, allowing Gilbert to launch his bid for the top, outpacing Joaquin Rodriguez and Simon Gerrans on his way to the top step of the podium.
The scores for Velogames Fantasy Classics are now updated, with a great selection by Bugno Forever that managed to get the entire top five finishers into the line up.
Velogames Fantasy Classics Information
After a long round of off-season development, Velogames 2.0 is here!
The opening of the 2011 cycling season and the first major one-day races of the year are on the agenda in Velogames Fantasy Classics.
During the first Velogames contest of the year, each player takes the role of a Directeur Sportif of a professional cycling team.
Each directeur's aim is to select the best possible team of riders for each of the seven Spring Classics on the event list - the historic one-day races that form the back bone of the early-season calendar.Directeurs must select their riders based on a budget, and can change their team during Team Changes Windows during the course of the series.
The better the riders perform during each event, the more points they will accumulate for the directeur's fantasy squad.
To bring in an additional tactical element to team selection, premium access allows directeurs to select a Captain and Lieutenant for their squad in each event. Each of these riders will receive a percentage bonus to any points gained during the race.
The main series of Velogames Fantasy Classics Spring Series begins in Italy with Milan - San Remo on Saturday 20th Saturday, but beforehand we have two warm-up races, or "training camps", that are one-off events for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Strade Bianche.