Fantasy Vuelta: Week 1 round-up

Well it's the first rest day of the Vuelta, and not many of us would have put money on Chris Horner sitting pretty with the best part of a minute's lead over the likes of Giro Winner Vicenzo Nibali and Spanish hopes Valverde and Rodriguez.

Over in Fantasy Cycling land there's been plenty of healthy scores, with a revision to the way riders are valued meaning the mid-range guys are more affordable. So it's been a beanfeast when there's been successive days in the mountains, with teams building up their climbing portfolio, but this week's changeable parcours should shake things up a bit.

The end of the first week (and a bit) of racing sees team Dag Otto Lauridsen heading up the pile with 1,588 points; that's an impressive 176 points per stage and there's a 60-point gap to team turturelul in second. Things are tight from there downwards though, with third-places team elektrikuk just a single point further back.

In the purist league team blackheath wheelers have amassed a profoundly impressive 1,077 points over nine stages, ten ahead of team Rouleurs Revenge in second with team Garmin Cycling in third.

Our stage winners are listed below. Each wins an Essential Toolkit courtesy of our Vuelta Prize sponsor, Halfords.

Stage 1: eoghan39 (eoghan39) (174 points)
Stage 2: Dag Otto Lauridsen (martinlaes) 168 points)
Stage 3: dash (Etsuko Hama) (202 points)
Stage 4: dinbsky (dinbsky) (163 points)
Stage 5: Gouwe Kouwie (Gouwe Kouwie) 183 points)
Stage 6: dlewis1a (dlewis1a) (166 points)
Stage 7: tts bristol - chris (chrisgnewman) (134 points)
Stage 8: BMC (Bald Manc C___) Racing (bradders1980) (226 points, on a coin toss)
Stage 9: The Burghfield Cycle Club (ianthegecko) (211 points)
Stage 10: mshamster (mshamster) (228 points)

Play Fantasy Cycling and win great prizes from Halfords!

Have you entered your team for the Fantasy Vuelta yet? The Vuelta’s a week old, so it’s probably too late to make an impact on the overall competition, but you can still enter a team and there's stage prizes every day. And one lucky player will win an Adidas outfit worth £150 just for picking a team!

We've teamed up with Halfords to bring you a great prize pot for the third and final grand tour of the season. The high street and online retailer has hugely expanded its cycling catalogue in recent months with thousands of products from premium brands, and we've got some of that gear to give away to the top players in the Vuelta.

First prize is a Boardman Carbon Fibre road bike, Boardman's £999 carbon-framed race machine. With a full carbon frame and fork and good quality Shimano and FSA componentry it's a whole lot of bike for the money. Not that money will be involved if you win…

The players that fill the podium will be walking away with a pair of Lake CX331 shoes worth £259.99. Our Mat gave these an exceptional 9/10 when he tested them last year, they're a cracking pair of high-end, mouldable race shoes for the serious cyclist.

There's a prize every day, too. Win any stage and you'll be getting your hands on a Halfords Essential Bike Toolkit worth £34.99. This handy set contains pretty much everything you need for day-to-day maintenance of your bike, all in a strong plastic case

If you head up the purist league (no transfers during the race) then your reward will be a Gore Phantom 2.0 jacket worth £119.99. It's a high-quality softshell that's windproof and breathable, and it comes in mens' and ladies' versions too, so there'll be one to fit you just right.

On top of all that, we'll do our usual raffle: one lucky player will get a prize just for entering a team. So even if you're no good at Fantasy Cycling you're still in with a chance of winning an Adidas Outfit – short sleeve jersey, long sleeve jersey and bib shorts – worth over £150. It's worth picking nine riders just for that.

To get started, just head over to the Fantasy Cycling site. Good luck!