Back in May I played a Fantasy Giro d'Italia game online and it was kinda fun (though I was emotionally torn as I found myself rooting for Cav since he was on my virtual team). I'm going to do the Tour version now and wanted to see if anyone was interested in it. It's hosted on the Velogames website and it's free to play:

http://velogames.com/tdf/index.php

Basically you register as a Directeur Sportif get 100 credits to purchase riders for your team. Each rider has a designated cost and you can't go over 100 credits. Your team needs to consist of 2 all-rounders, 2 climbers, 1 sprinter, 3 unclassified riders and 1 wildcard (taken from any category). The riders are already separated into these categories so it's pretty easy to formulate your team. Teams need to be submitted by 8am ET on Saturday, June 30th. There's an intricate scoring system that gives your team points each day for stage placings, sprint placing, climbs, overall GC, etc. The site computes your score and rankings after every stage.

You'll be competing against thousands of other online teams, but can also join mini-leagues. I set one up for Kissena so we can compete against each other for ultimate Fantasy TDF Glory and the inherent smack talk that is sure to follow. You just need to enter the league name and code to join:

League Name: Kissena League
League Code: 25221108

I'm currently working on my team and will join the Kissena league after my extensive research is complete.

Anyone game?

I'm game - I did this once before for the TdF and it is fun, though you may wind up rooting for someone you'd rather not.

@Jeff Condon - you should have a link to the "team page" - I inadvertantly created another Kissena League, but I don't think that matters if you include the link here.

it won't let me make a team entirely of Vinokorovs. This fantasy game sucks. I'm taking my marbles home.

I'm in.

Just signed up.

This looks really fun but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to select the team. I'm going to the rider list but when I click on a rider I get 

I'm in too! got my team down.

can I invite ppl who aren't on KCC to join the league?

Fofonov is IN for Vatican City team!

I've calmed down, and entered as Bleeding Carrots my favorite nickname for Eusketel.

I'm in.....long live Team Leaky Gas!

hahah this shuold be fun.

Teim - Putting the I Back in Team

My team (Tokyo Police Club, from Iran) is LOADED.

For those of us with Tommy V or Rolland on the roster, you may want to be ready for a last minute change.

Uh oh...I thought Rolland was better... damnit!

Man, I thought I was going to be unique in taking Pierre Rolland - but almost everybody's got him!

Can't log in

The site can get buggy. If you're having trouble it usually works after a couple of minutes.

what's the news on Rolland? My understanding is this is lots of speculation by L'Equipe to sell a few more papers.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/28/us-cycling-tour-europcar-idUSBRE85R0WG20120628

How do you look at other people's teams? Can't. Figure. It. Out.

@JeffO

click on the league you want to look at, on the bottom of the page it will take you here:

http://velogames.com/tdf/leaguescores.php?league=25221108

I think Rolland *is* better - but his team seems to have landed in a spot of trouble:  
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/french-agency-opens-investigation-into-europcar

The winner of the competition will receive a fresh new pair of Kissena socks!  

@josephmuller

socks to be held in escrow until May 2014, pending all doping investigations, appeals, and final arbitration. I totally plan to Schleck this by "winning" it after all my competition is disqualified.

That is the most painful workflow I've seen in a LONG time.  I consider myself pretty tech-savvy (or at least UX-able) and it took me three days to figure out.

Vampire Hipsters gonna knock you out!

@Jules glad it finally worked out.  Deadline is tomorrow morning for whoever else wants to join. We've now got a prize with a retail value of $6.99 on the line.  Bring it.

i'm gonna double-down and offer a $6.99 prime for anyone who has the lantern rouge on their roster.   

@dsterns

that's it, I am dumping Cuddles and the Slovak Speedster and replacing it entirely with Euskatel and Cofidis road furniture. I want that $6.99 for Lantern Rouge!

Fofonov. 

Euskatel.... any prize for first rider to drop/crash out?