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CONTADOR RIDES TO VICTORY AS TEAM AVIT TAKES DOWN FANTASY TOUR 2009.
Tour de France 2009 finished in Paris on Sunday with a final epic sprint by Mark Cavendish, with Alberto Contador finishing safely within the pack to take down his second Tour win.
The Fantasy Tour de France 2009 was won by the team known as Avit, directed by Billynobrakes of the United Kingdom. The big two of Contador and Cavendish put this team in the perfect position, and the back-up led by Bradley Wiggins, Vincenzo Nibali and a host of top rouleurs gained the vital points.
In the Premium standings, Pa's Wheelers took the win and will take home the main prize of £120.
The Medal Race (£40) was taken down by Bot-team, directed by Tomasz of Poland, who won thanks to 11 wins, 4 silvers and 2 bronze medals, with that extra silver being decisive.
The Sprint competition (£40) was taken by Robbies Rousers, a joint effort by Brendan and Mick Duyvestyn of Australia, whose inclusion of Cavendsh and Hushovd was critical but also the likes of Leonardo Duque and Bradley Wiggins who added points for the lesser placings.
The mountains jersey (£40), which will be confirmed later this week after a full review of mountain points, is provisionally taken by The C-Team, directed by Jeff. The top result is unlikely to change, but there are several minor points changes required to correctly score some of the lesser climbs.
Review and comments on Fantasy Tour 2009
While this year's Tour de France was certainly interesting with a major battle for the Green Jersey and Podium places, the Fantasy Tour was not quite as successful as hoped from a site-management point-of-view.
This year saw by far the most numbers invloved in the game, which led to several problems regarding the database and general user support.
Please let me offer my apologies if you were affected by a lack of response to a user query - this has been a busy time at my proper job and I am fully aware that a fair proportion of support emails have slipped through without an adequate response.
Tomorrow, once final scores are confirmed, I will be placing a full chart of team scores for every team in the game, so if you experienced password problems then you will be able to search for your team and view your team details.
I can assure players who did not get full service that I will be working to optimise the site and increase capacity for future Velogames games so that games can run more smoothly than this one did for some players.
Tour de France Preview
The Tour de France 2009 is billed as a battle between the team mates. In the Spanish corner of Team Astana is race favourite Alberto Contador, winner of three Grand Tours including Le Tour 2007. And in the veterans camp is returning champion Lance Armstrong, who needs no introduction and is gunning for a record 8th Tour de France title.
Ranged against them are the young chargers from Luxembourg, Andy and Frank Schleck, and the defending champion Carlos Sastre who is bound to make his move when the roads tilt upwards towards the sky.
Denis Menchov cannot be discounted - the Russian Rabobank rider won the recent Giro d'Italia and is known to fare better with many miles miles in his legs. And Australia's Cadel Evans will return to fight for the title that has been so nearly within his grasp these last two years.
And then there are the outsiders. Dark horses like Kim Kirchen, Roman Kreuziger and Stijn Devolder will be hoping to out-fox the leading teams. Super domestiques like Levi Leipheimer and Robert Gesink may declare loyalty to their team leaders, but will be waiting in the wings to strike out on their own if things do not go to plan for their captains.
The overall title is not the whole story. Young sprinting superstar Mark Cavendish will come up against the likes of Daniele Bennati, and perhaps Tom Boonen, for the first time in a Grand Tour this year. Davide Moncoutie will be looking to win the King of the Mountains jersey and give the French supporters a lift.
The battle between Contador and Armstrong will surely be the main plot but, as shown above, so many stories are still waiting to be written.
It should be a vintage year!
About the Velogames Fantasy Tour de France
Now entering its 12th year, the Velogames Fantasy Tour de France brings all those riders - and their watercarriers - together into a festival of cycling on the roads of France.
Players act as team directeurs sportifs, in charge of their own 9-rider roster. Pick your team to stay within the budget and select the right composition of all-rounders, climbers, sprinters and loyal domestiques to lead your team to glory.
Riders score points based on a detailed scoring system that rewards all aspects of the performances seen at the Tour de France.
Of course, there are points available for stage results and the yellow jersey standings, but also many more Velogames scoring categories such as the points, mountains and combativity classifications.
The scoring system allows you to follow your team live on the road, as your heroes rack up points for breakaways, intermediate sprints and mountain summits.
Last, but by no means least, assist points give rewards for the hard-working team-riders who sacrifice their own chances to support their team leaders.
Premium Competitions
In 2009, Premium subcribers can compete in four extra competitions, including the fight for the green jersey in the Sprints Competition, and the polka-dots in the Mountains Classification.
The all-new Medal Race rewards the first riders across the line each day, and do not forget the Premium League that puts all the premium directeurs in a single table to fight it out for Fantasy Tour glory!
Premium Access is availble for £5 (UK Pounds), and allows access to all these extra competitions, each with their own prize money.
Premium subscribers will also gain two bonus teams, which you could use a second-chance in the main competition or, like in real life, target the individual competitions that best suit your goals.
What now?
The Velogames Fantasy Tour de France site will go live for entries on either Sunday 28th June or Monday 29th June, after the real-life teams have announced their final 9-rider rosters for the race.
In the meantime, take a look at the links on the left-hand side. The rules are now available and the scoring system is published. A provisional rider list is up on the site, but expect this to alter when final teams are announced and we hear the news of Tom Boonen's appeal to ride in this year's event.
Have a look at the riders, rules and scoring system, and think about the riders will lead your team to glory in the Velogames Fantasy Tour de France 2009!
I look forward to seeing your team on the roads of France!
- George Chapman, Owner of Velogames
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