Hey gang. We're on to the Vuelta on September 1 and we're going to see some changes to make the game more exciting.
Number of Trades -- Currently if you join the game late you're penalized because your first picks count against your 20 mid-race trade (purchase) limit. So, starting with the Vuelta, everyone will get 35 trades from the getgo. This may change some strategies (such as finding 3-4 $100 guys to carry for the entire race) or it may not.
1st Place on Stage Points -- The points for the rider who takes first place on a stage will go up from 60 to 80. Points for 2nd through 9th will remain the same (45 down to 5)
Jacky Attack -- Points for a solo breakaway have been reserved for breaks of 3 or fewer guys that last over 100km. The 3 or fewer aspect makes this a serious rarity. Meanwhile the 100km requirement makes it even rarer in the Vuelta and Giro where stages are shorter than the Tour. Therefore the new Jacky Attack bonus will be for breaks of 5 or fewer riders on breaks of 100km or half the stage (whichever is less). Further, the bonus will be bigger for smaller groups: a break of 5 riders will get 25 points each; 4 will get 35 each; 3 will get 45; 2 riders will get 60 each; and a single rider on a Jacky Attack breakaway will get 90 points as a bonus for the breakaway.
Killer Solo Finish -- It's impressive if you win a race with a gap on the field. Therefore the Killer Solo Finish will be changed to any finish that is 10 seconds or more ahead of the second-place rider on the stage. The reward will now be a flat 50 point bonus.
Yellow Jersey Wearer -- To diminish the incentive to go for the easy points of being conservative by picking up the Yellow Jersey winner in the doldrums between mountain sets, the yellow jersey will still be 50 for the first consecutive stage on which the rider wins it, but it will now only be worth 10 on consecutive stages.
Points/KOM Jersey winner -- Along the same philosophy, picking up the KOM or points jerseys will now be worth 40 points on the first consecutive stage on which the rider wins it, but will be worth on 5 on stages where he continues to win it.
Prologue or Stage 1 Jersey Points -- If you don't have the winner of the first stage, you're playing catch-up the entire rest of the race. The winner not only gets winner points, but also gets yellow jersey and points jersey points. So we're changing the philosophy of the jersey points: you get the big (50 or 40) jersey points if your guy takes the jersey away from somebody else. But, if your guy is the first wearer of that jersey, he has not taken it from anybody... therefore you get only the small (10 or 5) points.
New Bonus: Andreas Kloeden Consolation Prize -- We don't like dopers, but we feel bad for their teammates who burn themselves out working for a cheater only to be booted when that cheater has a "non-negative" doping control. Therefore, any teammates of dopers who get booted because of the doper will get 30 points on their way out the door (to be applied to the last stage they were allowed to ride).
New Bonus: Street Sweeper -- If you're going to finish outside the time cut, you might just want to get in the team car instead. Still, it happens every year... so if someone finishes a stage outside the time cut, they'll get 20 points.
New Bonus: Lanterne Rouge -- Daily last place finisher (within time cut) gets 5 points.
We've got some other changes in store as well so be on the lookout for those.