Overview

Each player takes the role of a Directeur Sportif of a professional cycling team. The aim of the contest is to select the best possible team of six riders to compete in each stage, across a three-week Grand Tour of racing.

Directeurs must select their six riders based on a budget of 100 credits, and directors may may up to three rider changes (known as "transfers") in between each stage to best target the upcoming stages.

The better the riders perform during each event, the more points they will accumulate for their fantasy directeur sportif.

The Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 campaign begins with Stage One on Saturday 29th June 2024 and continues through 21 races until Stage 21 on Sunday 21st July 2024.

The contest calendar is subject to change in the event of any stage cancellations.

Important Notice

Velogames Fantasy Cycling is not an official partner of, nor claims any association with, any professional cycling race organisation, any international sporting body or any professional cycling team.

Team Entry

Players must use the official entry form page to submit their team. Team entries must be submitted before the entry deadline for each game round, otherwise they will only become effective at the next available deadline.

The entry deadline for the first game round of Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 is 12:30 CEST on Saturday 29th June 2024. Make sure to have confirmed your initial selection of six riders before that deadline for the chance to score points across all 21 stages!

Users may enter Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 at any point, and their team will start scoring points from the next game round deadline.

Entry Deadline for first game round

The deadline for entries to be submitted - and score points from the opening race - is 11:00 CET (Central European Time) on Saturday 2nd March 2024. All times are listed in Central European Summer Time (CEST). Be sure to check how your own time zone differs from CEST to make sure you meet the entry deadline!

Team Selection Criteria

In order that each player creates a balanced team, the following important constraints are placed on team selection:

Team Budget

In order that each directeur creates a balanced team for each stage, team directors are given 100 credits (the Velogames currency) to select their team of six riders.

Each rider is given a value in credits, based on their prospective points-scoring abilities. The credits values are based on past results and recent form.

Rider credit values will not change for the duration of the Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 series.

For the Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 series, there are no other team selection criteria apart from staying within the credit limit and selecting a squad of six riders.

Team Changes

Pre-Game Team Changes

Each directeur can select, and then make unlimited changes to, their squad of six riders prior to the entry deadline for the first Game Round of the contest. The entry deadline for Game Round 1 is set at 12:30 CEST (Central European Summer Time) on Saturday 29th June 2024.

Once the deadline has passed, each directeur's team selection is "locked in" and cannot be changed while the stage is in progress - any subsequent changes will only take effect at the deadline for the next game round in the series.

In-Game Team Changes

Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 allows directeurs to change their roster of six riders between races, in order to keep their team competitive throughout the season.

Velogames directeurs can make up to three rider changes (known as transfers) to their six rider squad in between each event.

Team changes become effective at the next upcoming deadline for the following game round - at which point each team selection is "locked in" and cannot be changed while the race is in progress - any subsequent changes will only take effect at the deadline for the next game round in the series.

Team Selection Deadlines

There is a deadline ahead of each game round when team rosters are locked.

If any change of riders is made after the published race deadlines, the change will not take effect until the following game round. So make sure to get your changes in ahead of the deadline for each stage!

Race Schedule

The schedule for the Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 contest is shown below. Please note that this list is subject to change in the event of stage modifications or cancellations.

Note that all times listed above shown on Central European Summer Time (CEST), which is usually one hour ahead of British time and five hours ahead of US Eastern Time. It is the responsibility of directors to make sure they submit their selections on time.

Scoring Points

Points are allocated to riders based on their real-life performance in each event, subject to the Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 Scoring System.

Points are awarded in five categories: Stage result, Intermediate Sprints, Summits, Assists and Breakaways.

Points for Stage result make up the major amount of points available, and are awarded to the top 20 classified finishers in the stage.

Points for Intermediate Sprints are awarded for the leading riders at each stage's intermediate sprint.

Points for Summits are awarded to the leading riders across the highest classified KOM climbs of the race.

Points for Assists are awarded to the real-life team-mates of riders who finish in the top three, to recognise the efforts that go into putting a team's rider into a winning position.

In order to score assist points, a rider must start the stage - but they do not have to complete the course.

Points for Breakaways are awarded to the riders who make the lead group at half-distance in the stage.

Velogames will review race reports to ensure an accurate distribution of Breakaway Points, but in all cases the decision of Velogames is final.

For a full breakdown of how to score points in Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024, please visit the Scoring System page.

Official Results

Scores become "confirmed" for Velogames purposes at 23:00 CEST during the evening on the day of each race.

If a rider is removed from the race standings after this deadline, for any reason, the points gained for that stage will stand.

Immediate disqualifications or declassifications (such as for irregular sprinting) will be taken into account when distributing Velogames points, as long as these penalties are announced before 23:00 CET/CEST.

Back-dated disqualifications and reversal of results (even for doping offences) will not be taken into account after the 23:00 CET deadline, and the rider will keep his points.

This rule certainly should not be viewed as an acceptance of doping. The technical and gameplay issues surrounding back-dated scoring adjustments are difficult. Also, it is not fair to excessively punish players who have selected a rider in good faith, even if that rider is subsequently exposed as a cheater.

Neutralised and Cancelled Races

If the race is neutralised for any reason by riders or race organisation, then no stage points (finish, sprints, summits, breaks or stage assists) will be distributed following the point of neutralisation.

If breakaway points, intermediate sprint points or summit points have been reached prior to neutralisation, these points will be added as normal.

Leaderboards

Each leaderboard is formed from the total points gained by each team.

There are two main types of leaderboard: the Overall Leaderboard and Game Round Leaderboards.

Overall Leaderboard

The Overall Leaderboard is made up of the cumulative points total gained by all of a team's active six riders in each race, across the 21 game rounds that make up the Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 contest. The Overall Leaderboard is the primary classification in the contest, and the leader of this leaderboard at culmination of the final race will be declared the Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 champion.

Game Round Leaderboards

Individual Game Round Leaderboards are for the lesser glory of winning each of the 21 rounds that make up the series. The cumulative points gained by each of a team's six riders are combined to generate the team's score for that respective stage leaderboard.

Streak Competitions

An additional feature within Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 is the existence of two "streak" competitions, the Winning Streak and Podium Streak, which are hoped to present a nice distraction throughout the 21 stage campaign, and to provide those teams who have suffered an unfortunate start to proceedings in the opening races with some targets to aim at as the contest progresses.

The streak competitions celebrate those team directors who are able to put together a consistent run of top results across a number of consecutive game rounds.

Winning Streak

The Winning Streak competition only looks at stage wins. A team will add one point to their current Winning Streak total by placing one of their six riders in first place at the finish line. of the stage.

Consecutive wins in adjacent game rounds means that the Winning Streak total keeps on increasing by one point, for as long as the team keeps placing a rider in first place of a stage

The Winning Streak total for a team will reset to zero after a game round where the team does not contain the stage winning rider.

A Leaderboard of Best Winning Streaks will be published throughout the competition, with the ultimate winner of the Winning Streak competition being the team whose Best Streak has the most consecutive stage victories.

Podium Streak

The Podium Streak competition is focused on the top three placements for each of the 21 stage in the Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes contest. A team will add as many points (ie a maxiumum of three per stage) to their current Podium Streak total by placing one or more of their six riders in the leading three stage positions at the finish line.

Consecutive podium finishes in adjacent game rounds means that the Podium Streak total keeps on increasing by as many points as podium finishers are placed, for as long as the team keeps placing at least one rider on the podium of a stage.

The Podium Streak total for a team will reset to zero after a game round where the team does not contain any of the top three placing riders on the stage.

A Leaderboard of Best Podium Streaks will be published throughout the competition, with the ultimate winner of the Podium Streak competition being the team whose Best Podium Streak has the highest points total.

Example: Team A's six rider roster contains the winner and third-place finisher in the opening round of Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 at Stage One. The team is awarded 2 points in their current streak in the Podium Streak standings. At the following stage, the team places a rider in second place, so their current podium streak increase to three points. In Stage 3 of the contest, they score a full set of three podium finishers, so their current podium streak total increases to six points. But at the following stage (Stage 4), the team can only place their best rider in 4th place. Team A's current podium streak resets to zero, and their total of six points is set as their Best Podium Streak, a total they can start chasing again at the next race.

Entry Fees and Prizes

The Velogames Stage Hunter Fantasy Sixes 2024 series is a free-to-play game, with all users entitled to one team in the game.

There are currently no prizes on offer for this series, apart from eternal glory for the winner!