it is less than 1 week till the biggest bike race of the year starts and once again we will be running our tour de france tipping comp.  unlike other comps where you just choose a team based on a riders worth, this comp needs you to put in a daily tip.  the rider you choose will accumulate time and points which will determine your teams overall standing in 4 different categories.

there is a dedicated tipping comp section on this website which can be accessed via the menu bar at the top or via this link.  on the tipping home page there is a link to buy an entry to this years comp.  it cost $20 for every team you enter and all money will be used in the prize pool.  after you enter and pay via paypal, return to the tipping home page and add your team name to the comments.  this is usually a witty name based on some variation of the current teams, riders or their misdemeanour’s (i.e “steak for 1”, or “skytrain boringtime”).  if you register more than 1 team, please give me more than one team name.  if you do not add a team name, but do register a entry, your team will be called “Yourname Team”.  you cannot put tips in without buying an entry and all entries must go through the website.

there is a page per stage and to enter your tip you just have to add the riders name to the comments.  there are rules about who you can tip and how often (i.e no tipping the same rider till after a rest day) but that is all explained in the tipping rules page.  the comments on each stage will close off at 18:00 each night and if you miss the cut off, too bad, so sad.  you don’t totally miss out, but, as outlined in the rules, you will get the rider that comes in at the 75% of the field.  if it is a flat stage, that could mean no real loss.  if it is a mountain stage, it could mean losing 30min.  all tips must be place via the comments on the website.  if you cannot access, then get someone else to put your tip in.  we will not be excepting late tips or text messages.

the startlist will not be finalised till the last few days before, but the stage maps and profiles are available on each page.  the leaderboard will be updated after each stage and the prize pool will be calculated after all teams are registered.

it is a great way to follow the tour as you will be cheering on riders to sprint for 8th place as there could be points in there that could get you prizes.  so jump across to the tipping page and register your team now.