14 DAY TRIAL // Today the riders in real-life Tour de France get to rest and I will also rest my digital team and talk a bit about Pro Cycling Manager 2011 and about how the changes made to the game have influenced the expression during this first week of cycling.
A rest day is relative for those in the peloton as all of them tend to do a little light riding during the day while some go to the roads that will be covered in the coming days and do some reconnaissance work and also make sure that they are recovering their strength and getting nice and prepared for the upcoming challenges.
After a week of playing with PCM 2011, I can safely say that this is the best installment the series has seen since the days of Cycling Manager 2003 or 2004, when I first got into these kinds of games.
The biggest impact is linked to the new found physicality of the riders, their mass and their size, the fact that they need to perform in a realistic manner when moving around and cannot simply pass through their peers as they move ahead or as they sprint away.
It's easiest to see when preparing for a sprint, when the jockeying for position is clearer and has a bigger impact on the final outcome.
Even if I actually tried on two stages, I have not yet managed to get a successful sprint train going, mainly because getting into the necessary positions took longer than in previous games and the Artificial Intelligence controlled teams were better able to complete the process.
The A.I. also has other improvements, including a new found capacity of contesting both the intermediate sprints and the Polka Dot Jersey climbs, something it often failed to do in PCM 2010.
The game is at the same time a little more difficult (even on Normal) and much more enjoyable than before and the upcoming high mountain finishes of the second week should probably reveal more about how it's changed over last year.