Tour De France 1903 - Part 3

The third stage of the 1903 Tour De France runs from Marseille to Toulouse. Unlike the first two stages it doesn't include any significant climbs; just a couple of little ones to be annoying.

I did include one of the new roundabout tiles near the end, just because I've got them now and wanted to try them out. I'm not entirely sure what they represent in terms of track design, but they are fun, even if there's two pages of rules and examples covering them, because of some of teh interactions they cause. Basically the roundabout splits the track into two separate routes, one longer than the other. Cyclists default to the short route, but if their final space on the roundabout  is blocked then they have to divert along the longer route. Each route slipstreams individually. It's not that complex once you get used to it. I thought the putting it near the finish might be interesting, as going the long way can throw off any  calculations a player has made on how to finish. 

Anyway, here's the stage:

Obligatory starting grid shot.

I tried something clever with my sprinteur. The card draws didn't cooperate and he got left behind on the first ascent.

He caught up again, but there were a few stragglers now.

Once again the Black bot made it look effortless. Catherine's rouleur was up with the front pack. Both of m riders were lagging behind.

I got my rouleur into the front pack as we headed into the final run to the finish. A small ascent slowed everyone down a little.

The roundabout didn't catch anyone out - everyone got to zip past on the inside lane.

The race for the finish. 

It was a fast finish. The Blue rouleur crossed the line first, with the other three rouleurs in hot pursuit. My rouleur came second and Black's rouleur came third. We got both the podium points and sprint points.

At the end of the third stage is a rest day. This allows riders (the human-played ones anyway) to ditch more exhaustion cards. with one exception. Any rider wearing one of the jerseys spends the day doing interviews and PR, so doesn't get to rest. However they do score a Tour Point for their team. Thus the Blue and Black rouleurs had a busy day, but Blue got an extra Tour Point for the yellow jersey and Black got two Tour Points for being fastest individual time and best on the mountains, leaving me equal bottom of the rankings with White.

These are the standings after three stages, and taking into account the rest-day.

Tour Points

Blue - 7
White - 4

Black - 5
Pink - 4

Individual Times (m:ss)

Black Rouleur - 0:50
White Rouleur - 1:20
Pink Rouleur - 1:20
Blue Rouleur - 2:20

Pink Sprinteur - 2:40
White Sprinteur - 9:10

Blue Sprinteur - 7:50
Black Sprinteur - 11:20

Team Times (m:ss)

Pink - 3:40
White - 10:30

Blue - 10:10
Black - 12:10

Sprint Points

Blue Rouleur - 7
Black Rouleur - 3
Pink Rouleur - 3
White Rouleur - 2

Mountain Points

Black Rouleur - 7
White Rouleur - 6
Blue Rouleur - 5
Black Sprinteur - 2
Pink Rouleur - 1

The fourth stage runs from Toulouse to Bordeaux. It's basically a flat sprint, but there are two sections of cobblestones to break up the pack, one of then preceded by a risky tight bend (a new tile from Grand Tour which offers the possibility of crashes). There are plenty of Sprint Points available for those who want to take them.

The starting grid. I realised that I'd been calculating who placed first incorrectly up until now; teams are placed in ascending order of Tour Points, not based on overall time. So as the team at the bottom of the table I got pole position, whilst Catherine was last team off the rank.

White forged ahead. It looks good but that's all their good cards gone early in the race. Once again I botched things and ended up with my rouleur leading the chasing pack. Which meant I was picking up a pile of exhaustion cards. Catherine just tailed both of my riders and didn't.

Bunching in the first cobblestone section. And I finally managed to let Catherine slip in front and take teh fatigue.

Sprinting into the middle section saw this great moment. After all movement is completed you check, starting from the back if a rider has a single space between them and the rider/pack in front. If so, they move up. Then *that* group checks, and so on, until you don't have one space gaps. It's teh slipstreaming rule. Have a look at this position. starting with the Black sprinteur at the back there's a series of one space gaps ...

... leading to this. The Black sprinteur basically got five points of movement for free. 

(On ascents and cobbles there's no slipstreaming, so you really don't want gaps there because they simply mean exhaustion)

White was burning out now, and the riders were back in a bunch. The best managed hand would sin the final sprint. But there was still the narrow village street and final cobblestone section to go.

We got through with no incident. Both of Catherine's riders were up front, with my rouleur keeping them company.

But I couldn't find the oomph for a sprint off the cobbles, and Catherine forged ahead.

The Blue rouleur was the only rider to cross on his turn, but thanks to a final burst of speed from the reserve my Pink rouleur was only twenty seconds behind in second place. Twenty seconds behind him was the Black rouleur. They picked up the Podium Points and the Sprint Points. 

The jerseys changed hands a little. My Pink rouleur is now the fastest rider overall (by a mere ten seconds), so wears the yellow jersey. Catherine's Blue rouleur has the most Sprint Points. The Black rouleur still leads the race to be King Of The Mountain, because here were no Mountain Points available in this race. In fact with only four points available to a single rider in the final two stages, only the Blue and White rouleurs could seize the crown from Black now.

These are the scores at the end of the fourth stage:

Tour Points

Blue - 10
Black - 7

Pink - 6

White - 4

Individual Times (m:ss)

Pink Rouleur - 2:20

Black Rouleur - 2:30
Blue Rouleur - 3:00

White Rouleur - 3:20
Pink Sprinteur - 4:20

Blue Sprinteur - 9:30

White Sprinteur - 11:20

Black Sprinteur - 13:00

Team Times (m:ss)

Pink - 6:40
Blue - 12:30

White - 14:40

Black - 15:30

Sprint Points

Blue Rouleur - 12
Pink Rouleur - 6

Black Rouleur - 4
White Rouleur - 4
White Sprinteur -1

Mountain Points

Black Rouleur - 7
White Rouleur - 6
Blue Rouleur - 5
Black Sprinteur - 2
Pink Rouleur - 1

With two races to go Catherine is looking hard to beat unless she really messes up. A couple of strong finishes by Black or myself could push her hard, and make it go down to the bonus points for sprints and mountain-climbing. But winning races is where the points are, and that's what she's doing.

Strangely, despite my lack of wins, my consistent finishing near the front gives my rouleur and, indeed, my team, the fastest overall times.