Its That Time of Year Again

Its July 2011 and we all know what that means. Time for the annual Tour De France fantasy contest . Although Mom has had the upper hand the last two years I think I have a winning team this year. As usual the only two people with any hope of wining are myself and Mom. We have three other teams this year, but they were picked after the initial draft, by Mom and me for our amusement. As you read the team names, you'll understand.

To recap the rules: Each team involved has nine riders. The riders are drafted by the team owner or, as is the case this year, by Mom and me. Maybe next year we'll let Kevin, Tracy and Dster actually participate in the draft.

Points are awarded to each of the top ten finishers of the day's stage as follows:

1st Place: 10 Points

2nd Place: 9 Points

3rd Place: 8 Points

4th Place: 7 Points

5th Place: 6 Points

6th Place: 5 Points

7th Place: 4 Points

8th Place: 3 Points

9th Place: 2 Points

10th Place: 1 Point

Bonus points are also awarded for riders who lead in the classification for any of the jerseys as follows:

Yellow Jersey: 10 Points

Green Jersey: 10 Points

Polka-Dot Jersey: 10 Points

White Jersey: 5 Points

At the end of the Tour, the team that has accumulated the most points wins.

If a rider abandons or crashes out of the Tour the points he earned still count towards his teams overall score. However, if a rider is kicked out of the Tour for doping then his team forfeits the points earned are taken away from the team.

We have five teams this year. The first two teams are the serious contenders for victory. Hand picked by Mom and myself they represent the best riders to show up this year.

Team Uncle Mummy

Andy Schleck

Fabian Cancellara

Samuel Sanchez

Jurgen Van Den Broeck

Robert Gesink

Levi Leipheimer

Bradley Wiggins

Mark Cavendish

Tejay Van Garden

Team Ryan

Alberto Contador

Thor Hushovd

Tyler Farrar

Janez Brajkovic

David Arroyo

Ivan Basso

Tom Boonen

Cadel Evans

Alessandro Petacchi

Since Kevin and Tracy weren't around to pick their teams during the main draft between Mom and I, we built their teams on the riders we might have picked if one of our main choices was unavailable. I give you Team Leftovers 1 and Team Leftovers 2:

Team Leftovers 1 (Kevin)

Richie Porte

Frank Schleck

Phillipe Gilbert

Thomas Danielson

Roman Kreuziger

Andreas Kloden

John Gadret

Damiano Cunego

Tony Martin

Team Leftovers 2 (Tracy)

Sebastian Lang

Luis Leon Sanchez

Christian Vande Velde

Alexander Vinokourov

Juan Antonio Flecha

Jerome Pineau

George Hincapie

David Moncoutie

Thomas Voeckler

Finally since we were having so much fun, Mom and I decided to let in a fifth team this year for Dster. Although, we didn't let him pick any of the riders himself. This years final entry is Team People With Cool Sounding Names.

Team People With Cool Sounding Names (Dster)

Lars Boom

Ramunas Navardauskas

Benat Intxausti Borriaga

Daniel Oss

Edvald Boasson Hagen

Rigoberto Uran

Romain Feillu

Johnny Hoogerland

Jerome Coppel

Let the race begin!!