Marshall's Tour de France Game Returns

It’s that time of the year again. For those of you who played last year, the rules are the same. It works like this:

The rules:

• Each director sportif (you) gets 25 units of a fictitious currency to select a team.
• You pick 9 riders with those 25 salary units.
• The riders’ salaries are listed below.
• Any rider not listed costs 1 unit.
• Riders on your team are timed and receive bonus times as follows:

The scoring:

• The flat road stages (all stages other than those listed in next paragraph) will be based on time bonuses only. The top ten in each stage receive bonus times of 2:00, 1:30, 1:15, 1:00, :50, :40, :30, :20, :10, :05, respectively.
• The mountain stages and the time trials will be based on the actual time of your top three riders on each stage. These stages are the Prologue (TT), stage 7 (TT),10,11,15,16,17,19 (TT). There is no team time trial this year.
• Make sure you have at least 3 riders who can finish the tour or you will be a DNF.
• The team winner on GC will be decided based on the lowest total time.

I’ll post updated standings via email on a regular basis. Entries are due by 5:00PM, Friday, June 30. The tour starts Saturday, July 1st. Team entries (9 riders at a cost not to exceed 25) are to be submitted to MarshallSacksCPA@comcast.net I’ll accept one entry per person as this does take some time to tabulate. Spouses, etc. may enter teams, but only if they actually follow the race and make their own picks. I reserve the right to reject entries. Include your name and your team name with your entry of 9 riders (who cost no more than 25). Please, no entries before Wednesday, June 28th, as I have not yet picked my own team. I will add any significant riders to the salary list that have not yet been pre-selected for the Tour.

You can find a projected start list at: http://www.letour.fr/2006/TDF/RIDERS/us/engages.html

If you pick someone who does not ride the tour, you do not get a replacement. You may change your selections up until the entry deadline, which is 5:00PM, Friday, June 30. Any questions?

Rider Salaries:

Basso 12

Ullrich 10

Landis 9

Valverde 9

Vinokourov 9

Evans 8

Leipheimer 8

Cunego 7

Savoldelli 7

Boonen 4

Kloden 4

Mancebo 4

McEwen 4

Menchov 4

Azevedo 3

Hincapie 3

Horner 3

Hushovd 3

Jaksche 3

Karpets 3

OGrady 3

Popovych 3

Rasmussen 3

Sastre 3

Simoni 3

Totschnig 3

Casar 2

Davis 2

DiLuca 2

Forster 2

Garzelli 2

Honchar 2

Julich 2

Mayo 2

Moreau 2

Periero 2

Rogers 2

Rubiera 2

Voeckler 2

Voigt 2

Zabel 2

Anyone else 1