The Halfords Fantasy Tour de France Game is based on the 2012 Tour de France cycling race.

Players will score points based on each of the 21 stages of the 2012 Tour de France, starting on Saturday 30 June 2012 and running through to Sunday 22 July 2012.

The Halfords Fantasy Tour de France Game is FREE to play.

You may only enter 1 (one) FREE team per entrant. Any entrant found to have entered more than 1 team will be disqualified and removed from the game.

Name Your Team

You must provide a unique name for your team. Please note any names deemed inappropriate or offensive will not be allowed and those teams will be disqualified and withdrawn from the game.

You have a total fantasy budget of €65 million to choose a team comprising of the following:

9 x Cyclists
1 x Team
1 x Bonus Stage

Each cyclist and team will be given a value, based on previous performances and their potential for success during the 2012 race.

You also need to select a Bonus Stage - you will receive DOUBLE points for your Bonus Stage.

NOTE: the Bonus Stage must be chosen at the start of the race and cannot be changed once your team has been submitted.

You can either manually pick a team using your cycling know-how, or use the ‘Lucky Dip’ option, where the computer picks a team for you.

Your team will receive transfers throughout the race which you can use to make changes to your team.

Once your team is complete you must submit it to start scoring points.

Important: Free Transfer Window
Up until 16.59 BST on Friday 29th June there is a transfer amnesty where you can shuffle your team around to your heart's content without using any of your transfers.

All teams which are complete when the transfer window closes will be automatically submitted. Any teams that are incomplete at this deadline must be manually submitted. Teams will not score points until they are submitted. Transfers made after the transfer window closes will be taken from your transfer allocation for the game.

You may register teams at any time before or during the race. Any teams registered before the transfer amnesty closes will not start scoring points until Saturday 30 June 2012. Any teams registered once the race has started will only score points from the eligible date the team is submitted.

There are some fantastic prizes available! Prizes will be awarded throughout the competition. For full prize details please see the Prizes page.

Fantasy points will be awarded based on the actual performance of the cyclists and teams in the 21 individual stages of the 2012 Tour de France.

Stage Points

Cyclists:

Cyclists will score points based on their placing for each stage:

Teams:
Teams will score points based on the finishing position of their cyclists at each stage:

Bonus Points for Cyclists:

Bonus Stage:

Points will be DOUBLED for the team you select to ride your Bonus Stage.

NOTE: Team Time Trials

No points are scored for any rider or team for Team Time Trial stages. The ONLY results used for the game are those initially reported by the key news agencies. If any decision is reversed from what was initially reported we will NOT amend the points already applied to teams.

Your team will receive a total of 24 transfers during the 2012 Tour de France (2 July – 22 July 2012). Transfers will be allocated as follows:

16.59 BST Friday 29 June = 7 Transfers
14.59 BST Friday 6 July = 7 Transfers
14.59 BST Friday 13 July = 7 Transfers
14.59 BST Friday 20 July = 3 Transfers

You will receive your first set of transfers when the free transfer window closes at 16.59 BST on Friday 29th June. All subsequent transfers will be added to your team as outlined above.

Any unused transfers each week will not be carried over to the following week – use them or lose them!

Transfer Deadlines

All transfers must be made by 09.00 BST on the day each stage is raced.

Only those cyclists and the team named in your Tour de France Fantasy team by the transfer deadline will score points for that stage. That means any transfes that you make to your team after the deadline will not score points until the following stage. 

Cyclists will only score points from the time/date they have been transferred into your team. Time of transfers will only be recorded as per the server clock (displayed in the bottom right hand side of the screen). We will not enter into discussion about times of transfer, or backdate points for any reason.

You can join Tour de France Fantasy at any point throughout the 2012 Tour de France. However, you will not score points until your team is submitted.

Every single team is automatically entered into the overall "World League". However, you can also enter your team into a private mini-league for your friends.

To do this just log on to your team and visit ‘Mini-League Admin’ under the ‘League’ section of the website.

You can join up to 10 mini-leagues however you can only be the 'chairman' of 3 mini-leagues. Once you have joined a mini-league you cannot be moved or deleted so choose your leagues carefully!

The 'League of Leagues' competition can only be entered by mini-leagues who qualify with the minimum number of 5 teams. You may register your mini-league up until 22.59 BST on 12th July 2012. Any mini-leagues entered after this date, or do not have the minimum required number of teams will not qualify for entry into the 'League of Leagues'.

The Tour de France has a long and respectable history. “Le Tour” has been continuously running since 1903 with the only exception being the two world wars.

The Route
The competition is raced in a series of sections (usually 21) over more than 3500 km in the countryside of France and sometimes neighbouring countries. There is steep competition between the towns and villages to be a part of the race as there is a high prestige in being a part of “The Tour”.

The Stages
Each Stage or section of the race are individual races which are classified as Flat, Medium-mountain, High-mountain or Time-trials. The mountain stages are particularly memorable as being grueling with brutal ascents in both length and steepness. The mountain stages are graded from 1 through 4 with several being so frightening as to be “hors-catégorie” or completely unclassified (or unclassifiable).

The Jerseys
The strength and endurance of the cyclists is an amazing feat. There is more than one way to achieve status in the competition. While at the end of the race there is an overall winner based on cumulative time, there are also several daily indicators of success.

The overall daily winner or the leading daily cyclist is presented with the “yellow jersey” which he wears on the following race day.

The next most respected place is the “green jersey” for the cyclist with the highest amount of sprint points which are accumulated throughout the competition.

The “white jersey” is for the best daily overall cyclist under the age of 25.

Finally, the first cyclists at the top of certain mountain stages receives points which win the “polka dot jersey” a white jersey with red dots to wear on the following stage day.

2012 Tour de France
The Tour kicks off on Saturday June 30th to the final stage on Sunday July 22th 2012, the 99th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,484 kilometres.