Thursday 24 January - Stage three: Unley to Stirling - 139km

Another bunch sprint looks likely on stage three with the focal point being a circuit around Stirling. The riders tackle an early KOM at Mount Barker Road before passing through the start area for the first time. Six anti-clockwise laps should shake things out before a climb up to the line. That should prove manageable for the fast men ahead of a sprint for home.


Live coverage on Sky Sports 1 HD from 0200 to 0400 with highlights at 0830-1030 (SS4), 1500-1700 (SS3), 1830-1900 (SS4), 2130-2200 (SS4).

Bah, forgot todays was the hill finish, left all my sprinters in.

Standings after Stage 3 of the Tour Down Under
1)dean michael : 270pts
2)BRECHIN WIND : 152pts
3)Chappers67 : 148pts
4)Fluffed up : 103pts
5)North East Titans : 75pts

Stage 4 starts in the early hours of Friday.

Friday 25 January - Stage four: Modbury to Tanunda - 126.5km

Heading to the most northerly point of the race, a series of short, sharp climbs kick off the day. The peloton climbs up Kersbrook Road to the categorised climb at Humbug Scrub for the toughest test of the day. The route criss-crosses roads to the north-east of Adelaide before another likely sprint finish into Tanunda.


Live coverage on Sky Sports 1 HD from 0130 to 0330 with highlights at 0830-1030 (SS4), 1500-1700 (SS3), 1830-1900 (SS4), 2130-2200 (SS4), 2330-0000 (SS4).

Standings after Stage 4 of the Tour Down Under
1)dean michael : 351pts
2)BRECHIN WIND : 264pts
3)Chappers67 : 254pts
4)North East Titans : 170pts
5)fluffed up : 168pts

Stage 5 starts in early hours of Saturday.

Key Stage

Saturday 26 January - Stage five: McLaren Vale to Old Willunga Hill - 151.5km

In what looks likely to be the decisive stage, the now famous Old Willunga Hill will have a key part to play on the penultimate day of action. The day is made up of two circuits, with the riders leaving McLaren Vale for three laps taking in the coastal roads. The route passes through Snapper Point before looping back around - the fourth time through Willunga the road finally forking left and up onto the climb. Expect the peloton to split on the first ascent before further attacks ahead of the pivotal final climb and summit finish. Second time up the hill could well see a new race leader with just one stage to go.

Live coverage on Sky Sports 1 HD from 0030 to 0500 with highlights at 0830-1100 (SS4) and TBC.

Standings after Stage 5 of the Tour Down Under
1)dean michael : 441pts
2)BRECHIN WIND : 371pts
3)Chappers67 : 292pts
4)fluffed up : 245pts
5)Northe East Titans

The final stage of the Tour starts in the early hours of Sunday.

Sunday 27 January - Stage six: Adelaide Street Circuit - 90km

The final stage could be a hard-fought battle or a largely ceremonial criterium depending on how the general classification looks. With two intermediate sprints and bonus seconds available at the finish on lap 8 and lap 12, the race could go down to the wire as seen in previous years. 20 laps of the 4.5km circuit bring the race to a close, with the sprinters' teams guaranteed to wind it up ahead of a final sprint.

Live coverage on Sky Sports 1 HD from 0230 to 0500 with highlights at 1000-1200 (SS3) and 1300-1500 (SS2).

Standings after the final stage of the Tour Down Under.
1)dean michael : 618pts
2)BRECHIN WIND : 495pts
3)Chappers67 : 424pts
4)fluffed up : 400pts
5)North East Titans : 284pts


dean michael leads after the Tour Down Under.the next race is the Tour of Qatar which starts Sunday 3rd Feb.

lesson learned for me, a couple of days I didn't pay attention to the stage or who was in my team, did me right in.

So how does this work then, as next week there are 2 races going on simultaneously and at different times?

Are we picking riders for the two races combined?

Be good to have some others join to, only one race into the season and they have race leaderboards too.

Cissy we are picking the one race this week which will be the Tour of Qatar which starts on Sunday.

But their diary reads like this:


There is *P symbol by the race in the Med - guessing then, that means it's part of a different game?

Also - I'm unlikely to get on here from Friday morning - when do you think they'll put the team up to pick for stage one?

Hopefully midweek, this week.

The P symbol means that you can upgrade for £10 and with that you get to play more races. I'm sure they will put the riders up in the next few days.

You can choose your team now. Click competitions, select Qatar and then Pick Team.

This time I'll pick a team of people who are actually racing in this race - i.e. not have Chris Froome in my team this time!!!

Tbf to Froome he ended level on points with Andy Schleck and he raced all 6 days! Safe to say if he's riding, I'll be avoiding him for a couple of months more yet.

Zammo from grange hill to win everything.

It's not late to join the comp as it continues though the year

http://fantasy.road.cc/

League Name : DS PRO CYCLING 2013
ID : 76131

Deadline for choosing your team is 9.30am Sunday. TTT is stage 2, everything else is the same stage pretty much, so not much juggling required.

Will be an interesting race, well as interesting as mile after mile of aircraft runway type roads in a desert can be anyway.

Sunday 3 February – Stage one: Katara Cultural Village to Dukhan Beach – 145km

The opening stage of the race traverses the Qatari peninsula on an east-to-west route containing a series of tight turns that could prove tricky with the peloton riding at such a high pace. There are two intermediate sprints – at Oryx Farm after 40km and at Dukhan with 35km to go – with each offering three, two and one-second time bonuses for the first three riders. Another 10, six and four seconds are up for grabs for the top three in the sprint to the finish line.

Leaderboard After Stage 1 of the Tour of Qatar
1)North East Titans : 64pts
2)BRECHIN WIND : 59pts
3)fluffed up : 42pts
4)dean michael : 29pts
5)Chappers : 0pt


Overall Standings
1)dean michael : 647pts
2)BRECHIN WIND : 554pts
3)fluffed up : 442pts
4)Chappers67 : 424pts
5)North East Titans : 348pts

Leaderboard After Stage 2 of the Tour of Qatar
1)North East Titans : 142pts
1)BRECHIN WIND : 142pts
3)fluffed up : 121pts
4)dean michael : 88pts
5)Chappers67 : 0pt


Overall Standings
1)dean michael : 706pts
2)BRECHIN WIND : 637pts
3)fluffed up : 521pts
4)North East Titans : 426pts
5)Chappers67 : 424pts

Decent day today - actually looked at the TTT scoring breakdown before my transfers. Unforutnately now I'm top heavy on BMC, Sky & Radioshack jobbers!

May need to sacrifice 10 points to get back to the sprinters, although got fortunate shipping Modolo out yesterday as he dropped out today.

Bit pot luck this race, a bunch sprint, or the field in a million bits due to the wind... hmm.

Tuesday 5 February – Stage three: Al Wakra to Mesaieed – 143km


The race heads to the south of Doha for two-and-a-third laps of a triangular-shaped circuit that sees the pack ride towards and away from the coast on two occasions each, meaning winds will almost certainly play a part at some stage and splits could open up. There are also two intermediate sprints where vital bonus time can be collected, as well as a final dash to the line.