This is where they're heading for

Why not I thought. Let's get the first PG game of the season up and running! No spreadsheet as yet but it will be done by the race.

The Course

This years course has 63 kilometres of Tuscan gravel, or ‘sterrati’. Thera are eleven sectors from the perfectly straight through to the rolling and winding. Double digit gradients mark three of the hardest ascents.

Not forgetting the gruelling last k with its 16% sector heading into the finish in the centre of Sienna.

The Favourites

Maybe it's best to start with who isn't here. Not last years winner in Pog and there'll be no heroics from Wout either.

Top of the pile is MvdP and Ala with Young Tom not far behind. Previous winner Benoot shows up as do a host of possibles. The names down that will be there or thereabouts include Wellens, Mohoric who looked good last weekend, Benoot, Vlasov, Valter and Quinn. Will Rui pop up?

Here's your startlist.

The Rules

In this game, only the race results matter. You're not committed to keeping the same riders throughout the series, you make fresh picks before every race. Our overall competition is just the sum of individual race scores. You're eligible for the overall even if you miss some races.

Pick 4 riders for the upcoming race. The order of your picks doesn't matter. All of your riders can score.

Riders score points down to 10th place. Less popular riders score more points than heavily-picked favourites. See below for scoring details.

The strict entry deadline is the official start time of the race, the neutralized roll-out or Départ Fictif. Be warned - if your post is timestamped one minute late your entry won't count! So do remember that there's no disadvantage to getting an entry in early, even the day before, because you may always change your picks up until the deadline. Feel free to rethink your picks when it emerges which riders are more or less popular with other players. If you make changes, post your revised 4 picks in a reply to your original post.

The Scoring