Fantasy Cycling Premium goes live

Today we're launching a new premium version of road.cc Fantasy Cycling. With a premium subscription you'll get a much fuller season and the chance to win some great prizes in the grand tours, including three bikes worth £1,500 each! All for less than 20p a stage for the extra races. There's £3 off the £10 season fee until the start of the Giro, and if you're one of the first ten to sign up we'll throw in some road.cc socks too! Plus there's the chance to win a signed Team Sky jersey. Want to know more?

Why a premium game?

Well, it takes a lot of our time to run the Fantasy Cycling, and we need to make it sustainable. That's the bottom line. We love putting the game on, and we hope that everyone enjoys playing it, so we're looking to ensure that we can continue to offer it in the future.

Are you phasing out the free game?

Nope. We'll continue to run the free game. The grand tours (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a España), the Classics and the World Champs will form the basis of the free game with other races to fill the gaps. We'll confirm the rosters for the premium and free games for 2013 later in the year.

What do you get with the premium game?

We've added eight extra tours for the 2012 premium game, and updated the game engine so you can play different teams in different competitions, at the same time. That means that as a premium user you can pick a team for the Criterium du Dauphiné and play the overlapping Tour de Suisse too, with a different team for each race. We've also added the Tour of Britain – the UK's top premier calendar race – to the game, along with a host of other tours. Here's what we've added:

• Amgen Tour of California
• Tour de Suisse
• Tour de Pologne
• Eneco Tour
• USA Pro Cycling Challenge
• GP Cycliste Quebec/Montréal
• Tour of Britain
• Tour of Beijing

That's another 53 stages of racing on top of what's already on offer in the free game. That works out at less than 20p a stage! The premium prizes for the grand tours are listed below. There'll still be daily prizes available to everyone, both premium and standard users.

Giro d'Italia

First place: A Jamis Xenith Comp 2012 road bike worth £1,599

Jamis' award-winning Xenith is even better for 2012, with the frame upgraded to include FSA's PF30 system and kitted out with Shimano's 10-speed 105 road group.

Second place: A pair of Suplest Supzero Streetracing Road Shoes worth £249.99

Third place: A Louis Garneau Quartz helmet worth £99.99

Stage and spot prizes: TBC. Stage and spot prizes can be won by both premium and standard users.

Tour de France

First place: A BMC Roadracer SL01 Tiagra Compact 2012 Road Bike worth £1,699

With the BMC Roadracer SL01 Tiagra Compact 2012 Road Bike, BMC are appealing to endurance orientated riders and enthusiasts. In addition to technical details, the quality and the weight of the bike are critical for these customers, making the roadracer the perfect long-distance performance bike.

Second prize: Full BMC team kit including jersey, shorts, windproof gilet and gloves, worth £260

Third prize: Louis Garneau X-Lite Helmet worth £124.99

Stage and spot prizes: TBC. Stage and spot prizes can be won by both premium and standard users.

Vuelta a España

First place: A Pinnacle Evaporite Two 2012 Road Bike worth £1,499

Second prize: Louis Garneau Carbon Pro Team Shoe worth £249.99

Third prize: Louis Garneau Futura XR Road Shoe worth £129.99

Stage and spot prizes: TBC. Stage and spot prizes can be won by both premium and standard users.

So I won't win anything for winning a tour if I'm not a premium user?

Yes, you will. there'll be a prize for standard users too. It won't be a bike, mind...

And that's it?

Well, it is for now. there's other premium functionality in the pipeline too, which we'll be rolling out over the next couple of months. We'll continue to develop the game, and we'll be concentrating our efforts on making road.cc Fantasy Cycling the very best game there is. Not that it isn't already, of course...

Early bird discount: £3 off until the Giro!

Sign up for a premium account before the start of the Giro d'Italia and you can get a premium account for just £7! Your discount will be processed automatically at the payment stage. Offer ends 5 May.

Sign up now for even more!

If you're one of the first ten players to sign up to the premium game then you'll receive a free pair of road.cc socks worth £6.99 - that means the first 10 users signed up will pay just 1p for their subscription! The first 100 players will be entered into a draw to win a signed Team Sky jersey from our friends at the IG Markets Pro Cycling Index with autographs from the likes of Bradley Wiggins, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Juan-Antonio Flecha, Chris Froome and many more.