14 DAY TRIAL // Since 1975, Le Tour de France has ended with a largely ceremonial procession which approaches Paris coming from the suburbs before going on the well-known boulevard and running a number of laps before a final sprint.
As Alexandre Vinokurov showed back in 2005, it's possible for a determined and well-rested attacker to just get away in the last few kilometers and take the stage, but it's mostly one of the sprinters (well, those that have managed to survive this far).
I have no specific plans for today and I'm a little bit upset that PCM does not include some of the traditions of the day, like the riders drinking a glass of champagne while on their bikes and taking it easy for most of the stage, before the circuits and the mad dash for the finish.
I have no sprinter because Benatti failed to come within the time limit during one of the mountain stages, and it's hard to believe that my second best sprinter, Cancellara, can win against the likes of Cavendish and Freire. So I will try to attack in the last few kilometers and gain an advantage that will hold until the finish line.
In what seems to become a tradition, my plan failed when confronted with real life and I ended up creating a three-rider team for Cancellara that worked quite well during the last two kilometers and allowed him to take a fourth spot, with Freire picking up the prestigious win.
But all of this really does not count as Andy Schleck, the leader of Leopard-Trek, is the overall winner of Le Tour de France 2011 (at least in this simulation) and I hope that all readers have been a bit enlightened about what the game has to offer and where one can find pleasure in cycling.
Here's how the run on Le Champs Elysses happened in Pro Cycling Manager 2011: