The results are in for this year's Vuelta 2005 competition. There were 31 opportunities to win a total of 81 prizes in this year's Vuelta a España Game worth $15,000! Many thanks to our main sponsor GIANT who provided us with a TCR Advanced T-Mobile '05 Tour De France Team Issue bicycle for the top slot in the prize list. They were joined by a huge range of prizes from Campagnolo, Upland Sports, Speedplay, fi'zi:k, Giro, Aerus Akona, and Park Tool.
Here's who and what they won:
Grand prize
Manager "Tim M" from USA team "Team Pantani" came 1st place with 6634 points, winning a Giant TCR Advanced T-Mobile '05 Tour De France Team Issue bicycle and a Park Tool, Worth $8015 USD - the same bike as Jan Ullrich and Alexandre Vinokourov!
Here's what "Tim M" had to say about his tactics:
"Thanks a lot for Cyclingnews for doing this contest and Giant for being our main sponsor! I think I have entered most of the fantasy contests you have done, and this is the first time I have won anything in it!
For the Vuelta I made sure to get some riders from the non-ProTour team Comunidad Valenciana, since like the Giro, those second tier teams race very hard. Carlos Garcia Quesada rode will last year, and Ruben Plaza is a very good time trialist and I knew that would be important this year. You mostly need riders that will do well overall because they place high on most stages as well as in the KoM and Points competition. With the addition of some sprinters like Petacchi and Thor for the stage points.
For the last few riders I tracked the points the first few days before the fantasy teams were finalized and got some riders that did not cost much and scored some points with René Haselbacher and Christian Vandevelde. Both those riders came through for me as well in the final weekend getting some points.
Most important of all was to have luck with all of my GC riders not crashing, leaving the race, or not being allowed to start a stage by their team. Thanks again, and I will be back to try my luck again next year.
Runner-up prizes:
2nd Place
Manager "Erik Pettersson" from Sweden with team "ShuvIT Pro Team" came 2nd place with 6619 points, winning a Campagnolo's Record component group, Giro helmet, CSC edition pedals from Speedplay, Team issue saddle from fi'zi:k, and a Park Tool. In total worth $USD 1975
3rd Place
Manager "Marko Tammsaar" from Estonia team "Team Everest" came 3rd place with 6491 points, winning a Aerus Aerobar, Aerus Aero carbon fork, Giro helmet, Team issue saddle from fi'zi:k, Ultimax RSX Shoes, and a Park Tool. In total worth $USD 1160
4th Place
Manager "Giorgino", team "Giorgino" from Denmark came 4th place with 6458 points, winning a Giro helmet, Ultimax RSX Shoes, CSC edition pedals from Speedplay, Team issue saddle from fi'zi:k, and a Park Tool. In total worth $USD 805
5th Place
Manager "João Marques", team "Joaomark9" from Portugal came 5th place with 6435 points, winning a Giro helmet, Ultimax RSX Shoes, Team issue saddle from fi'zi:k and a Park Tool. In total worth $USD 610
6th Place
Manager "Azta", team "Dent Wizard" from USA came 6th place with 6400 points, winning a Giro helmet, CSC edition pedals from Speedplay, Team issue saddle from fi'zi:k and a Park Tool. In total worth $USD 525
7th Place
Manager "João Marques", team "Joaomark2" from Portugal came 7th place 6378 points, winning a Giro helmet, CSC edition pedals from Speedplay, Akona Biospeed Transition bag and a Park Tool. In total worth $USD 450
8th Place
Manager "Hansemann", with team "The best?" from Norway came 8th place 6377 points, winning a Giro helmet, Team issue saddle from fi'zi:k and a Park Tool. In total worth $USD 330
9th Place
Manager "Jonagoldstars", team "Sprinting Misty" from the Netherlands came 9th place 6376 points, winning a Giro helmet, Aerus white carbon bottle cage and a Park Tool. In total worth $USD 255
10th Place
Manager "Jonagoldstars", team "Dirty Harry" from the Netherlands came 10th place 6360 points, winning a Giro helmet, Akona Biospeed accessory box and a Park Tool. In total worth $USD 215
Daily prizes:
21x Cyclingnews posters and 21x pairs of arm-warmers.
Won by managers:
1 - Charles Henry
2 - Dr. Do Little
3 - Nigel
4 - Stimulleke
5 - Hercules III
6 - Pinocchio
7 - Ophiuchi
8 - Nikki H.
9 - LMS-director
10 - A Trankas
11 - Ampolla
12 - Cronoscalata
13 - Aubs
14 - Cyranno
15 - Big Casino
16 - Martin Ellis
17 - Darres DreamTeam
18 - Dutch Pride
19 - Dan Boardley
20 - Mr. Boss Man
21 - lbeachy
To read more about the winners tactics go to the Fantasy Cyclingnews winners pages.
If you want to join in next year's games and would like us to email you when the game is ready you can register on the Fantasy site now. Thanks to the sponsors for their continued support. The next game will be the 2006 Spring Classics in March next year.
We hope to see you all there, good luck!
Fantasy Cyclingnews Team
