Transfers

While we are in the free transfer window, which ends on Saturday July 2 at 10am, it’s well worth double checking all of your players are still set for the Tour de France – Nacer Bouhanni has been forced to pull out after injuring his hand in a hotel fight, for example, so he won’t be scoring any points.

After that, with eight changes possible per seven stages, there’s no need to put all your eggs in one basket – consider the profile of the stages before you make your first selections.

The first four stages feature hardly any climbing – though there is an uphill finish in Cherbourg on stage two – so avoid packing your team with mountain goats for now, even if that’s where the eventual race for the yellow jersey will be played out.

Chris Froome (€9.5m), Nairo Quintana (€9.5m) and Alberto Contador (€9.5m) are expensive acquisitions when you consider they won’t be winning any stages or scoring many – if any – points in the first few days.

Your money would be much better spent on the fast men – Marcel Kittel (€9.5m) is favourite to win stage one, while versatile world champion Peter Sagan (€9.5m) bids to swap his rainbow jersey for either the yellow or green jersey during the first week – and you can swap them out once the climbing starts.

With a tight budget of just €65m, you need to sniff out the bargains too. Perhaps you can find an all-round rider who will place consistently well? And there are points up for grabs for any rider who earns a day in the King of the Mountains jersey, with two category four ascents early in stage one. If you can pick a rider likely to get in that first breakaway, there’s points up for grabs.

Daniel Teklehaimanot (€5m) pulled on the polka dot jersey for a few days early in last year’s race, and was crowned King of the Mountains at the Criterium du Dauphine last month too.

Also consider a rider’s role in their team. Giro d’Italia champion Vincenzo Nibali (€8m) and Alejandro Valverde (€8m), who was third at the Giro, are potential GC contenders but both will ride primarily for another rider – Fabio Aru (€8.5m) in Nibali’s case, and Quintana for Valverde.

Bonus stage

The bonus stage doesn’t cost anything, but could be the difference between first and second place as your team’s points are DOUBLED on that day.

Once you have picked your bonus stage and the race starts it can’t be changed so again, choose wisely.

As we have said, stages fall into one of two categories – category one and category two – with the former worth 50% more points on the day than the latter.

It makes sense therefore to pick a category one stage as your bonus, as there will be more points to double – the full list of stage categories can be found in the game rules, but category one stages are generally the stages likely to be pivotal in deciding the general classification (for example, the mountain stages).

But, be aware, while we all want to see a showdown on Mont Ventoux or Mont Blanc between the GC men, if a breakaway has been allowed to go up the road to contest the stage win they could snaffle all the Fantasy Tour de France points before your riders get there. A sprint stage is worth less points, but could be easier to predict.

Consider how many transfers you can use before your chosen bonus stage too – every seven stages, the quota is reset to eight. Which means, with stage eight chosen as a bonus stage, you could change eight of your riders specially for the bonus stage. You will be stuck with them for the next week though, so choose wisely if that’s your plan.

Remember you can’t save your team until you pick nine riders, a bonus team and a bonus stage. Good luck!

Mini-league

Think you can beat us at RCUK? Why don’t you prove it – sign up to our mini-league. We’ll even chuck a Specialized AirNet helmet in for the winner.

Once you’re logged in and set-up, just go to “Join a League”. Our league code is RCUK and the password “facebook”.