Ride the Vuelta with BikeRide.com!

[BRMatt]

Errr...sorta. If you didn't make the team for this year's Vuelta, you can join Velogames' Vuelta fantasy game instead.

It's free to play - just go to www.velogames.com and select your team from all the pro riders currently on the line-up. You get to choose 2 GC contenders, 2 climbers, a sprinter, 3 all-rounders/team riders, and a wildcard (one of the GC riders, climbers or sprinters you didn't already choose). A total of 9 riders and a budget of 100 points (riders are given points scores according to their prospects in the race).

Once your team has been chosen, join the BikeRide.com mini-league! You'll see a prompt to join a mini-league where you enter the following info:

League Name: BikeRide.com
Code: 452722112

Invite your friends to play and to join our league! Once we get 10 teams entered, I'll come up with some prizes for the top three points leaders - some ridiculously lush swag with the BikeRide.com logo!

The Vuelta, and its fantasy cousin, starts on Saturday evening. Make sure to enter your team of nine riders ahead of the entry deadline of 18:45 CEST (Central European Summer Time) on Saturday 24th August 2019.

See you on the road to Madrid!

[Zviedrs]

What is your sleeper pick for this Vuelta, Matt?
Only if you are willing to share

[BRMatt]

Kruiswijk. Between him, Roglic and George Bennett, Jumbo-Visma is the team to beat in this Vuelta. Somebody has to carry the mantle for Tom Dumoulin and the Netherlands.

I think Astana with Fuglsang and Lopez (?) will be strong as well.

[Zviedrs]

First stages are done. Who have been the positives and negatives in your fantasy team so far (focus on sprint stages)? I'm happy with Bennett's solid performance and Quintana's stage win. Jumbo were unlucky in TTT, they were clear favorites.

[BRMatt]

Well, first off, congrats on your team's riders - they have been crushing it!

I'm currently lanterne rouge of our group, and my other mates are loving it - I took the top spot at both the Giro and the Tour!

It just goes to show you how unpredictable the Vuelta is - and I think that's what makes it such an interesting race. It seems like it's more a grand tour of redemption than anything else: the riders who did well in the Tour (like one of my picks, Kruijswijk) are now either down or out of the Vuelta. Then there are riders like the evergreen Valverde, who continue to surprise.

While they were not as unlucky as Jumbo-Visma, UAE also crashed in the TTT, and that put my main sprinter pick, Gaviria, down for the count for a few days. He recovered a bit for stage 4, thanks to the relegation in the final sprint.

Sam Bennett had been off my radar screen (as opposed to George Bennett, who's on my team) before the Vuelta started, probably because he'd not ridden the Tour. BORA continue to prove their mettle in all aspects of a grand tour (sprinting, climbing and TTs), with or without Sagan on the team.

[Zviedrs]

Thanks for the battle, it was pretty close in the end!
Roglič, Quintana and Bennett secured most of the points.