Flamme Rouge: Champion Edition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
  • Goal of the Game
  • Using the Champion Edition Rulebook
• Components
  • Basic Game Components
  • Optional Components
• Setup: Basic Game
  • 1. Track Setup
  • 2. Choose Your Colour
  • 3. Prepare the Rider Card Stacks
  • 4. Prepare the Exhaustion Card Stacks
  • 5. Choose Starting Positions
• Optional Setup
  • Weather Setup
  • Stage Cards
  • Creating Your Own Stages
• Basic Rules
  • Turn Sequence
  • 1. Energy Phase (all players at the same time)
  • 2. Movement Phase
  • 3. End Phase
• Mountain Climbs
• Optional Rules
  • Cobblestones
  • Feeding Zones
  • Weather and Crashes
  • Breakaway Variant
  • Variant for More Than 6 Players
  • Handicaps
• Optional Rules: Automated Opponents
• Achievements
• Landscape Elements
• Time Trial Variant
• Summary

Overview

Flamme Rouge is a fast, tactical bicycle racing game in which each of you controls a team of two riders: a Rouleur and a Sprinteur. You move your riders by drawing and playing cards with numeric values.

Goal of the Game

The first player to bring a rider from their own team across the finish line wins the game. If several riders cross the finish line in the same round, the one who travels furthest beyond the finish line wins. If there is still a tie, the rider who stands furthest to the right wins. It is not possible to move beyond the last space of the track.

Using the Champion Edition Rulebook

The Champion Edition contains the basic game of Flamme Rouge, the two expansions Peloton and Meteo, and various additional content.

The rulebook is divided into red sections for the basic rules (the basic game) and blue sections for optional rules (expansions and additional content). If you do not know the game yet, we recommend playing a few games with only the basic rules first. After that you can begin to play with one or more of the optional rules.

The Champion Edition also contains individual elements that can be used with the Grand Tour expansion. They are marked accordingly. The Grand Tour expansion is not included in the Champion Edition.

Components

Important: Before you read on, sort the components using the insert "Organisation of the Components" (Organisation des Spielmaterials).

Basic Game Components

• 6 rider boards (1 per colour)

• 12 rider figures (2 per colour): 6 Rouleurs and 6 Sprinteurs

  Note: "Rouleur" and "Sprinteur" are French terms describing different types of riders. They are used universally in cycling and are therefore also used here.

• 294 cards:

  • 180 energy cards: 6 Sprinteur energy card stacks and 6 Rouleur energy card stacks (1 of each per colour)
  • 90 exhaustion cards: a Sprinteur exhaustion card stack and a Rouleur exhaustion card stack
  • 18 stage cards* (*from the basic game, the Peloton expansion and the promo stage cards)
  • 6 overview cards (1 per colour)

• 21 track tiles (double-sided): 1 start, 1 finish, 7 straights, 6 wide curves and 6 narrow curves. The front sides are marked a to u, the back sides A to U.

• 13 weather tiles: 1 crosswind, 1 tailwind, 1 headwind, 1 rain and 9 clear (the back of these tiles shows "Meteo")

• 4 weather markers: crosswind, tailwind, headwind and rain

• 28 cards for automated opponents: 6 strength cards, 2 Attack! cards and 20 solo rider cards

• 34 plastic bases, for setting up weather markers, track marker tiles, fences and gates

• 19 storage compartments (see the insert "Organisation of the Components")

Optional Components

• 60 achievement stickers, one set per colour, each set made of: 1 sponsor, 4 badges, 1 yellow jersey, 3 medals and 1 trophy. On the sticker sheet the six sets are sorted by colour, and each sticker from a colour set is outlined in that colour.
• 30 landscape elements:
  • 8 decorative elements: 1 start gate, 1 finish gate, 3 trees and 3 fences
  • 1 track vehicle
  • 4 traffic obstacles
  • 1 podium
  • 16 track marker tiles: 6 uphill sections, 3 downhill sections, 3 cobblestones, 3 feeding zones and 1 sharp curve (Grand Tour)
  • 1 feeding marker table (Grand Tour)
• 9 track tiles (double-sided):
  • 1 wide start
  • 1 breakaway group tile (back: 3 lanes wide)
  • 4 cobblestone tiles
  • 2 feeding zone tiles (back: cobblestones)
  • 1 bonus tile (front: 1 / 9, back: 1 / 9)
• 4 weather markers and 13 weather tiles (see the basic game components above)

Setup: Basic Game

1. Track Setup

Take 1 stage card and lay out the track tiles as the stage card specifies. See the notes below for further details.

For your first game we recommend the Avenue Corso Paseo stage card. Use the side of the card that matches your number of players.

Building the track: On both sides of each track tile, a letter (capital or lowercase) or a number is printed in the bottom-left corner, for example a / 1 on the front and A / 1 on the back. At the top of a stage card there is a row of letters and numbers that shows the correct order of the track tiles. On the stage card the start and finish are also marked in yellow, and the start tile is additionally marked with an arrow.

Spaces and lanes: Spaces are separated from one another by broad white lines. Each space consists of 1, 2 or 3 lanes. Each rider occupies 1 lane. If a space is free, riders are always placed on the rightmost space (marked with a double line on its right edge).

OPTIONAL Breakaway variant (see p. 9): Replace the second track tile with the breakaway group tile 2 / 2. Use the side with the white 2 for 5–6 players and the side with the black 2 for 1–4 players.

OPTIONAL Grand Tour expansion: Replace the finish tile u / U of the basic game with the "Wide Finish" tile v / V from the Grand Tour expansion. Otherwise carry out all of the steps described here first, then follow the remaining setup rules of Grand Tour.

2. Choose Your Colour

Each player takes a Sprinteur figure and a Rouleur figure, the matching energy cards, the overview card and the rider board in their colour.

3. Prepare the Rider Card Stacks

Shuffle your Sprinteur energy cards and place them face down as your Sprinteur card stack on the left space of your rider board. Then shuffle your Rouleur energy cards and place them face down as your Rouleur card stack on the right space of your rider board.

4. Prepare the Exhaustion Card Stacks

Lay out the Sprinteur exhaustion cards and the Rouleur exhaustion cards face up where everyone can reach them.

OPTIONAL Automated teams (see p. 10): Prepare the card stacks of the Peloton team and the strength teams. Place their riders behind the start line as described on p. 10.

OPTIONAL Weather setup (see p. 5)

OPTIONAL Automated solo riders (see p. 10): Prepare the solo rider card stack and place the solo riders behind the start line as described on p. 10.

5. Choose Starting Positions

The player who most recently rode a bicycle first chooses 2 free lanes behind the start line in turn and places their riders there. Continue clockwise until all riders have been placed.

Example: Stefan (red) places his riders first. Jana (black) places next. Finally Jonathan (blue) places his riders on the first and third space.

Optional Setup

Weather Setup

1. Shuffle the 13 weather tiles face down.
2. Place 1 weather tile face up on each straight track tile (except the start and finish tiles). This means 7 weather tiles should be showing, 1 on each straight.
3. Replace each weather tile (except the clear tiles) with the matching weather marker. Place the markers directly next to the corresponding track tiles.
4. Then return all weather tiles to the box.

Stage Cards

Every stage card has one side for 2–4 players and one side for 5–6 players. Stages 18 and 19 are on the same card. These stages are designed for the Time Trial variant, for which special rules apply (see below).

The stages are:

No.	Stage	Players
1	Avenue Corso Paseo	2–4 / 5–6
2	Ballons Centrale	2–4 / 5–6
3	Ronde van Wevelgem	2–4 / 5–6
4	La Classicissima	2–4 / 5–6
5	La Haute Montagne	2–4 / 5–6
6	Firenze - Milano	2–4 / 5–6
7	Plateaux de Wallonie	2–4 / 5–6
8	Étape de la Vallée	2–4 / 5–6
9

Creating Your Own Stages

In addition to the pre-made stage cards, you can create your own stages. Here are some general tips, which you are of course free to ignore:

• Try not to use more than 2–3 track tiles with uphill sections or cobblestones per stage.
• Do not place a feeding zone directly in front of the finish tile.
• A stage should consist of 9 straights and all narrow and wide curves. If you use a straight from the optional components, remove one straight from the basic game in its place.
• If you create a track for 5–6 players, add the bonus tile 9 / 9 (do not remove any of the straights) and use at least 1 feeding zone.

Basic Rules

Turn Sequence

Play proceeds over several rounds. Each round consists of 3 phases:

1. Energy phase: Each of your Sprinteur and Rouleur draws 4 cards, and plays 1 of them face down.
2. Movement phase: Reveal the cards and move your riders accordingly.
3. End phase: Remove the played cards from the game, then resolve the effects of slipstream and exhaustion.

If at least one rider crosses the finish line during a round, finish that round first. The game then ends. If only one rider has crossed the finish line, their team wins. If several riders cross the finish line at the same time, the one who travels furthest beyond the finish line wins. If there is still a tie, the rider who stands furthest to the right wins. It is not possible to move beyond the last space of the track.

1. Energy Phase (all players at the same time)

1. Choose 1 rider, draw 4 cards: Choose one of your riders (Sprinteur or Rouleur) and draw 4 cards from its rider card stack.
2. Play and recycle: Play 1 of these cards face down next to the corresponding rider card stack. This card gives the rider's movement for this round. Recycle the unplayed cards by placing them face up under the corresponding rider card stack.
3. Repeat: Carry out steps 1 and 2 for your other rider. Once all players have played cards for their riders, the movement phase follows.

You may look at your played cards at any time. You may also look at your own face-up recycled cards at any time, but not at the face-down cards of your rider card stacks.

Drawing cards:

• You may draw the cards for your second rider only after you have played the card for the first rider.
• If your face-down rider card stack is used up (the first face-up recycled card is showing), shuffle the recycled cards and form a new rider card stack from them. Draw cards until you have 4 in your hand.
• If there are fewer than 4 cards in total (face-down and recycled) in your rider card stack, draw all of the remaining cards.
• If the rider card stack is empty, draw 1 exhaustion card and play it.

2. Movement Phase

Reveal all played cards. Move the leading rider first, exactly as many spaces forward as the energy value (the number) on its card. The leading rider is the rider who is closest to the finish line in the right-hand lane. Continue in the same way with the next-placed rider, until all cards have been resolved.

Example: The blue Sprinteur moves first (energy value 5). The red Rouleur follows (energy value 5). Because its movement would end on an occupied space, it must instead stop on the nearest possible space behind, which has a free lane.

Movement rules:

• Changing lanes costs nothing extra.
• When a rider finishes its movement, it is placed in the rightmost free lane.
• A rider may move through other riders, but it may not end its movement on a fully occupied space (a space where every lane already holds a rider). If that would happen, the rider must instead stop on the nearest possible space behind, which has at least 1 free lane.

3. End Phase

1. Remove played cards: Remove all played cards from the game. Each card may be used only once per race.

2. Slipstream: Move each pack that can use slipstream forward by 1 space. Begin with the rearmost pack.

   • A pack (Pulk) is a group of 1 or more riders with no free spaces between them.
   • If exactly 1 free space lies between 2 packs, the rear pack moves forward by exactly 1 space, so that the two packs form a new pack. Then check whether this new pack can in turn use slipstream. Carry out this check for all packs.
   • A rider can benefit from slipstream several times in one round.
   • In the end phase, a rider on an uphill section can neither use nor give slipstream.

   Example: Beginning with the rearmost pack 4, check the use of slipstream for the packs in the given order. Pack 1 does not move, because it is more than 1 space away from pack 2. Pack 2 moves, because it is exactly 1 space away from pack 3. The combined pack A moves, because it is exactly 1 space away from pack 4. Accordingly, the riders of pack 2 have moved 2 spaces and the riders of pack 3 have moved 1 space.

   Note: Exhaustion cards are distributed as usual.

3. Assign exhaustion cards: If one of your riders is exhausted, take 1 corresponding exhaustion card (Sprinteur or Rouleur) and recycle it.

   • Exhaustion: A rider is exhausted when it now has a free space in front of it. A free lane, on the other hand, does not cause exhaustion.
   • Exhaustion cards are treated like energy cards with value 2.

Mountain Climbs

Mountains can be helpful or a hindrance to you. There are uphill sections (all spaces marked with red chevrons at their edges) and downhill sections (all spaces marked with blue chevrons at their edges).

Uphill sections have 2 special rules:

• In the movement phase, a rider that starts its movement on a space of an uphill section and moves onto or across that section may move forward at most 5 spaces. A card with a higher energy value than 5 may be played, but its value then counts as 5 and the rest is lost.
• In the end phase, a rider on an uphill section cannot use or give slipstream.

Note on uphill sections: If a movement of 6 or more spaces would take a rider onto the first space of an uphill section, that rider ends its movement instead on the last free lane before this uphill section.

Downhill sections have 1 special rule:

• If a rider starts its movement on a space of a downhill section, the energy value of its played card always counts as at least 5. A card with a lower value may be played, but its value then counts as 5. Slipstream is handled as usual.

Note: Exhaustion cards are distributed as usual.

Example: The red Sprinteur does not move, because the blue Rouleur is on an uphill section. The blue Rouleur in turn does not move, because on an uphill section it cannot use slipstream. The black Sprinteur moves, because the slipstream rules on downhill sections apply as usual.

Optional Rules

Cobblestones

Cobblestones (all spaces marked with the cobblestone symbol at their edges) are track tiles that represent narrow, 1-lane sections of the track. As with the uphill sections of the basic game, a rider on cobblestones cannot use or give slipstream.

Example: The blue Sprinteur moves first (energy value 5). The red Rouleur then moves (energy value 3). It would land on a fully occupied cobblestone space, so it cannot complete its movement and must instead stop on the nearest possible space behind it, with a free lane.

Feeding Zones

Feeding zones (all spaces marked with the feeding-zone symbol at their edges) are track tiles that represent wider, 3-lane sections of the track. In addition, the following special rule applies: if a rider starts its movement on a space of a feeding zone, the energy value of its played card always counts as at least 4. Slipstream is handled as usual.

Note: If 3 riders stand side by side on the same space of a feeding zone, and they would move into a narrower (2-lane) space through slipstream, the 2 riders furthest to the right move first. The third rider stays where it is, but is placed in the rightmost lane. Other riders who stood directly behind these 3 riders are not moved, because they still have a rider directly in front of them (see the following illustration).

Weather and Crashes

Each weather marker symbolises certain weather conditions, which affect all six spaces of the straight next to which it stands.

• Crosswind: A rider in this area cannot use or give slipstream.
• Tailwind: A rider that starts its movement on this track tile draws 5 energy cards instead of the usual 4.
• Headwind: A rider that starts its movement on this track tile draws only 3 energy cards instead of the usual 4.
• Rain: A rider that ends its movement on this track tile, and has lost 1 or more spaces of its movement range because it was blocked by other riders, crashes.

Example: The green Rouleur (energy value 5) moves first, as usual, over the spaces with other riders. The blue Sprinteur (energy value 3) would end its movement on a fully occupied space, so it loses 1 space of its movement range and must stop on the space behind. Because this space is affected by rain, it crashes. Next the red Rouleur (energy value 3) moves. It too would end its movement on a fully occupied space, so it stays on the space behind. This space is not affected by rain, so there is no crash. Finally the green Sprinteur (energy value 9) moves. It moves its full distance, because the space with the crashed rider is not fully blocked. Had the red Sprinteur also crashed, the corresponding space would have been fully blocked, and the green Sprinteur could only have moved 2 spaces forward, up to the position of the red Rouleur.

Crashes from rain:

• As described in the basic rules, a rider that would end its movement on a fully occupied space must instead stop on the nearest possible space with at least 1 free lane. If that space is affected by rain, the rider crashes. To show this, lay the rider figure on its side, but so that it still lies in the same lane.
• On a space with at least 1 crashed rider, slipstream can be neither used nor given.
• If all lanes of a space hold crashed riders, the space is fully blocked. A rider that would normally move through this space must instead stop on the nearest possible space behind it with at least 1 free lane. If that space is also affected by rain, this rider crashes too.
• In the next round, when the crashed rider moves, it is stood up again and 2 points are deducted from the energy value of the card played for it. If that card had only the value 2 (for example an exhaustion card), the rider is only stood up (and, if possible, placed in the rightmost lane). This deduction takes effect only after the energy value has been modified by downhill sections and feeding zones. If a card with energy value 2 was played for a rider that crashed on a downhill section, the rider is first stood up and then moved 3 spaces forward.

Note: This does not affect the maximum movement on uphill sections. There a rider may still move at most 5 spaces, although because of the crash deduction an energy value of at least 7 would have to be played for that.

Breakaway Variant

Recommended for 5–6 players.

In this variant the second track tile (the one behind the start tile) must always be the breakaway group tile. Before the first round, all players must try to place one of their own riders (of their choice) in the breakaway group. For this there is a bidding phase with 2 bidding rounds. Perform the following steps:

1. Choose a rider: Choose 1 of your riders to try to break away.
2. Draw cards: Draw 4 cards from the rider card stack of your chosen rider.
3. Play, recycle and bid: Choose 1 of the 4 cards and play it face down next to your corresponding rider card stack. The energy value of this card is your bid in this bidding round. Recycle the unplayed cards. Then reveal all played cards at the same time.
4. Repeat: For the second bidding round, repeat steps 2 and 3 for the same rider.

After the bidding phase:

• With 5–6 players, the 2 riders with the highest sum of their 2 bid energy cards enter the breakaway group. The rider with the highest bid is placed in the rightmost lane.
• With 2–4 players, only the 1 rider with the highest sum of its 2 played energy cards enters the breakaway group.
• All ties are decided in favour of the rider further back, that is, the rider who stands furthest back and furthest to the left.

The played cards of the riders in the breakaway group are removed from the game and returned to the box. These riders also receive 2 exhaustion cards and recycle them. All riders who played cards for bids in the bidding phase now form the main field. They recycle the cards they used for bidding. Then all riders shuffle their recycled cards back into their rider card stacks. Then the race starts.

Example: Once the breakaway group has been determined, everyone is ready for the start.

Variant for More Than 6 Players

Everyone is on their own!

You are a mixed group that broke away 5–7 km before the finish. The main field is far behind and can no longer catch you. But nobody has a team-mate who could support them. Each rider is on their own. Good luck!

This variant can be played with up to 12 players. Once you have played the basic game a few times, this is a good variant for learning Sprinteur and Rouleur tactics, since each of you has to concentrate on only one rider.

• Do not use rider boards.
• The youngest player chooses a rider and places it according to the starting-position rules of the basic game. The other players then choose and place their riders in turn, clockwise.
• Each player takes the matching energy card stack for their rider.
• We recommend playing the breakaway variant with more than 6 players. Since each of you has only 1 rider, you can only bid for the breakaway with that rider.

Handicaps

If your group consists of players with different levels of experience, you can make the game somewhat fairer with handicaps:

• Everyone who has already played Flamme Rouge adds 1 exhaustion card to each of their rider card stacks at the start of the game.
• Everyone who knows Flamme Rouge particularly well may add 1 further exhaustion card.

Optional Rules: Automated Opponents

There are 3 different types of automated opponents that you can add to your game: the Peloton team, strength teams and automated solo riders. The following rules apply to all automated opponents:

• Your player count increases by 1 for each automated team, or by 1 for every 2 automated solo riders.
• The standard rules for slipstream apply, but automated opponents never receive exhaustion cards.
• If you play with the breakaway variant, automated opponents do not bid.

Place the automated opponents in the following order, each as close to the start line as possible:

• The 2 riders of the Peloton team are placed first, one behind the other (it does not matter whether the Sprinteur or the Rouleur is in front).
• The riders of the strength teams are placed next, with the Sprinteur directly in front of the Rouleur.
• After all human players have placed their teams, the automated solo riders are placed last. Determine at random the order in which they are placed.

The red team is the Peloton team, where the order of the riders may differ. The blue team is a strength team, whose Sprinteur starts in front of the Rouleur.

The following specific rules also apply:

Peloton team

• There can only be one Peloton team.
• Take both riders of one colour and only the Rouleur card stack of that colour. Add 2 Attack! cards (two black circles) to this stack, shuffle it and set it ready.
• After all human players have revealed their cards in the movement phase, reveal 1 card from the Rouleur card stack of the Peloton team. Move both riders forward as many spaces as the energy value of the card specifies (the normal movement rules apply). If the revealed card is an Attack! card, move the front rider of the Peloton team 2 spaces and the rear rider of the Peloton team 9 spaces forward.

Strength teams

• There can be several strength teams.
• Take both riders of one colour and both card stacks of that colour. Add 1 strength card (black pentagon) to the Sprinteur card stack. Shuffle both card stacks and set them ready.
• After all human players have revealed their cards in the movement phase, reveal 1 card from the corresponding card stack for each rider of a strength team. Move the riders forward as many spaces as the energy value on their respective cards specifies (the normal movement rules apply).

Automated solo riders

You may add as many automated solo riders to your race as you like (up to the maximum player count).

• For standard difficulty, remove all +1 cards from the solo rider card stack. To make the solo riders tougher opponents, you may shuffle a number of +1 cards of your choice into the solo rider card stack.
• Shuffle the solo rider card stack and place it ready next to the track.
• After all human players have revealed their cards in the movement phase, reveal 1 card from the solo rider card stack. If a movement card was revealed, move all automated solo riders according to their individual energy values on that card (distinguished by colour and Sprinteur/Rouleur). If a +1 card was revealed, keep revealing cards until a movement card is revealed. Then add exactly +1 to all energy values of that movement card, even if you revealed several +1 cards in a row.

Solo variant

If you want to play solo, you must play against at least 1 automated team or 2 automated solo riders. For your first games we recommend choosing either 1 strength team and 1 Peloton team, or 4 or more solo riders. Once you know the system well, you can experiment freely with the automated opponents.

You also start with 3 exhaustion cards, which you may distribute as you like across your two rider card stacks. If you want to increase the difficulty, simply add more exhaustion cards to your card stacks before the start.

The game designer's record is a win on a track with 6 exhaustion cards at the start.

Do not use the breakaway variant when you play solo, even if the breakaway group tile is part of the track.

Variant for 2 players

If you are 2 players and want to use automated opponents, we recommend playing against the Peloton team first. Later you can also play against strength teams, several automated teams and/or solo riders. Divide responsibility for the various automated opponents between you so that it goes faster.

Achievements

If you meet one of the conditions below during the game, take the achievement sticker for it in your colour and stick it on the matching spot on your team box. For the badges you only need the components of the basic game. Some of the other achievements can only be reached with optional rules. The yellow jersey and the sponsorship are achievements for which the Grand Tour expansion is needed.

Badges

• A. Use slipstream with both of your riders in the same phase.
• B. Move 1 of your riders 10 or more spaces forward in one round.
• C. Complete a whole race without either of your riders ever receiving exhaustion cards.
• D. Win a race with a rider that, on crossing the finish line, has no exhaustion cards (any more) in its card stack.

Medals

• E. Use slipstream 3 or more times in the same phase with one of your riders.
• F. Win a race with a rider that started in the breakaway group and was never caught by the main field.
• G. Crash 2 or more times in the same race.

Trophy

• H. Win a race in which your two riders take 1st and 2nd place.

Yellow jersey and sponsorship (Grand Tour)

• I. Have a rider wearing the yellow jersey after the last stage of a tour.
• J. Complete a Grand Tour with 21 stages.

Landscape Elements

Use these various elements to decorate your playing area, or to add optional special rules.

• Start and finish gates, fences, trees and track vehicle: These elements are purely decorative and otherwise have no effect on the game.

• Podium: After the race, you may place the 3 best-placed riders on the podium. If you wish, take a photo of your track and the winners and share it on BoardGameGeek or on social media under #flammerougechampions.

• Track marker tiles: These tiles serve as a visual reminder of the special track tiles (uphill and downhill sections, cobblestones, feeding zones and the sharp curve).

• Traffic obstacles: Place a traffic obstacle on a lane to block it. This lane cannot be used during the race, so the space is 1 lane narrower. In this way you can make wide spaces narrower or create bottlenecks. A traffic obstacle may not be placed on a space that has only 1 lane.

  Example: The blue Sprinteur moves with an energy value of 3. Because of the traffic obstacle the space is fully occupied, so it must end its movement one space further back.

• Feeding marker table (Grand Tour): You may place the feeding marker on this table.

Time Trial Variant

Variant (stages 18 and 19)

During setup, remove from each rider card stack 1 energy card of each value (for a Rouleur, for example, remove one each of 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7). During play, ignore the presence of the riders of the other teams for all purposes, as if each team were alone on the track. Several different riders may even be on the same lane.

The game ends as soon as every player has brought at least 1 rider across the finish line. Then calculate your final time for the first rider of your team to reach the finish line:

• Each card used by this rider counts as 1 minute.
• For each space the rider has reached beyond the finish line, 10 seconds are subtracted.

The fastest rider (the lowest total time) wins. Time trial can also be played solo, to improve your personal best.

Hard to beat: Regsa Durenarg, 8 minutes 20 seconds

Summary

1. Energy phase (all players at the same time)

1. Choose 1 rider and draw 4 cards.
2. Play 1 of them and recycle 3.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for your other rider.

Recycling: Place the recycled card(s) face up under the corresponding rider card stack.

2. Movement phase

Reveal all played cards. Move the leading rider first, forward by exactly as many spaces as the energy value on its played card. Continue with the next-placed rider in the same way until all cards have been resolved.

A rider may move through other riders, but may not end its movement on a fully occupied space. In that case it must stop instead on the nearest possible space behind it that has at least 1 free lane.

3. End phase

1. Remove played cards.
2. Evaluate slipstream: If exactly 1 free space lies between 2 packs, the rear pack moves forward by exactly 1 space (beginning with the rearmost pack).
3. Assign exhaustion cards: A rider is exhausted once it has a free space in front of it.

Special rules

• Uphill (5): A rider that starts its movement on such a space, and moves onto or across it, may move forward at most the displayed number of spaces (5). A card with a higher energy value may be played, but its value counts as the displayed maximum, and the rest is lost.

• Feeding zone (4) and downhill section (5): If a rider starts its movement on such a space, the energy value of its played card always counts as at least the displayed value. Slipstream is handled as usual.

• Crosswind: A rider in this area cannot use or give slipstream.

• Tailwind (+1): A rider that starts its movement on this track tile draws 5 energy cards instead of the usual 4.

• Headwind (−1): A rider that starts its movement on this track tile draws only 3 energy cards instead of the usual 4.

• Rain: A rider that ends its movement on this track tile, and has lost 1 or more spaces of its movement range because it was blocked by other riders, crashes.

Crashes

• If a rider would end its movement on a fully occupied space, it must instead stop on the nearest possible space with at least 1 free lane. If that space is affected by rain, the rider crashes. Lay the rider figure on its side, but in the same lane.
• Slipstream cannot be used or given on a space with a crashed rider. If all lanes of a space hold crashed riders, the space is fully blocked.
• In the next round, stand the crashed rider up again and subtract 2 points from the energy value of the card played for it.

Automated opponents

Automated opponents move according to their own card stacks and otherwise follow the usual rules of the movement phase:

• Peloton team: Only 1 card is revealed per movement phase, and both riders move according to its energy value. (Attack! card: the front rider of the Peloton team moves 2 spaces, the rear rider moves 9 spaces.)
• Strength teams: For each rider of a strength team, 1 card of its own is revealed per movement phase.
• Automated solo riders: All solo riders move according to their individual energy values on the same movement card.

Automated opponents use slipstream as usual, but never receive exhaustion cards.