Le Tour de France

Le Tour de France Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Overview

In Tour de France you play in teams, through stages. A team consists of three riders. It is important to achieve the best possible results with your team. Per player and per team, classifications are kept. A Tour consists of several stages, in which the fastest rider over several stages wins the yellow jersey.

The player whose team sets the fastest time, and thereby wins the most points in the overall classification, wins the Tour.

Age: 8+. Players: 2-4. Playing time: 60 minutes.

Quick Summary

The Tour de France board game is played with second cards. By placing a second card on the table you may move your rider forward on the game board. You try to do this as tactically and efficiently as possible. Let the opponent do the leading and take advantage of the slipstream. Save your good cards for a sprint, when you have the feeling that your opponent cannot do that at that moment.

Components

A double-sided game board with 2 stages (one side a flat stage, the other a mountain stage)
112 second cards (secondekaarten)
32 chance cards (kanskaarten)
A notepad with classification overview (klassementsoverzicht)
12 riders + 1 yellow jersey rider

Setup

Players agree together how many and which stages they want to ride. The box contains a double-sided game board: one side is printed with a flat stage, the other with a mountain stage. We recommend starting with the flat stage.

Determine, by drawing the highest second card, which player may begin first.

Shuffle the second cards and give each player 5 cards per rider. When during the game all second cards have been used up, you receive 5 new second cards per rider.

One player at the table receives the notepad for keeping and processing the stage scores and the classification overview. Determine who will do this. By means of the URL code on each game board you can also use the supporting Tourcalculator to do this.

Starting position (diagram): Player 1 - 3 riders = 15 second cards; Player 2 - 3 riders = 15 second cards; Player 3 - 3 riders = 15 second cards; Player 4 - 3 riders = 15 second cards. The diagram shows the riders placed at the Start marker on the board.

Starting the Game

The cards are dealt; the game can begin! The first player chooses one of his second cards and places it face up on the table. He moves his first rider the number of seconds (spaces) that corresponds to the second card played. In this way you determine your own speed. The movement may otherwise only be straight ahead or diagonal. You may therefore not move sideways to the same space number or backwards. You also may not ride over spaces on which a rider already stands (see the chapter "Crashes").

The First Round

After the first player has moved rider 1, the other players also do this with rider 1. When all players have had their turn with their first rider (clockwise), the first player again gets a turn to play rider 2. Then the other players are in turn with their second rider. In this way every player has placed all of his riders.

Dynamic Turns

As soon as all riders are on the game board, from the 2nd round onwards a dynamic turn order applies. The rider who is then furthest ahead takes the turn first; the rider in 2nd, 3rd, 4th place etc. then follows in that order, until all riders have had their turn. The next round again begins with the rider who is now in the lead.

Space Numbers

One side of the course has space numbers on its spaces. Here you ride out of the wind and are therefore faster. This is also called the slipstream side ("voordeelkant"). The rider on the slipstream side is earlier in turn than the rider(s) beside him. Additions of letters from the alphabet are intended as an aid to give extra clarity in more complex corners (first A, then B, etc.).

The board diagram marks the space-number side ("Space numbers / slipstream side") and the corners labelled A, B and C ("Corners A, B, C").

Slipstream (Picking Up Wheels)

Slipstream (and as a result, picking up wheels) arises when riding in a peloton behind another rider. With slipstream, on a flat stage you may move 1 second further than the value of the card you played, if you can thereby end up behind or beside another rider. The rider in front never has slipstream, but often acts as the pacer for the chasers. Picking up wheels is otherwise not mandatory.

The example in the rulebook shows an 8-second card with +1 SEC bonuses along the slipstream side of the course.

Special Spaces on the Board

Exchange spaces (wisselvakjes). The board has exchange spaces. If you land your rider on such a space, you must discard 3 second cards and draw 3 new ones. If at that moment you have fewer cards in your hand than that, you must exchange all of your second cards (so 1 or 2).

Chance spaces (kans vakjes). If you land your rider on a chance space, you must draw a chance card and carry it out immediately, unless stated otherwise. The chance card applies to the rider who is on turn at that moment. A chance card cannot cause a crash by itself when you move a rider with it; however, it may happen that you end up on an existing crash space, or that the chance card itself causes a crash.

Intermediate Sprints

When passing an intermediate sprint, one or more riders may earn bonus seconds and bonus points. This is indicated on the board at the intermediate sprint. These second(s) and/or point(s) are recorded immediately in the classification overview. After the stage has finished, the bonus seconds are deducted from the rider's time and the bonus points are added when determining the intermediate classification. (For more information, see the section "Bonus seconds".)

The board example shows the sprint "Sprint prom. de la plage" with: No. 1 - 4 PNT + 3 SEC; No. 2 - 1 PNT + 1 SEC.

Uphill

The pace uphill is much lower than on flat stages. Uphill is recognised by the red arrows on the spaces. For the speed of the rider this means that the card value must be halved and rounded down. As long as a rider is on a space that goes uphill, no slipstream can occur.

Downhill

Downhill is recognised by the blue arrows on the spaces. Downhill the same rules apply as on a flat stage, except for picking up slipstream. Downhill you may pick up 2 seconds of slipstream instead of 1 second. There is another important difference: by using 2 seconds of slipstream you may also pass the preceding rider. You may move at most 1 space in front of the preceding rider, and thus take over the lead. As on flat stages, picking up wheels also applies here; it may be done but is not mandatory. You may also pick up 1 second instead of 2 seconds if that turns out better.

Crashes (Valpartij)

Unfortunately, cycling involves risks, so crashes (valpartijen) occur. A crash can arise as a result of a chance card, or through unfavourable conditions or a collision with opponents. Because it is not possible to place your rider over or on the same space as your fellow players, a crash occurs when two riders come into contact with each other. In a crash you must skip your next turn. In that turn you must, however, still play a second card. A crash always occurs over the full width of the road, whereby the following riders are affected by the crash:

The rider who causes the crash.
The rider with whom he collides.
All riders on the same space number across the width, including A, B, C etc.
All riders who in the same round can no longer brake in time and end up on one of the affected spaces.

NOTE! When a crash is caused by a chance card, then (after placing the current chance card at the bottom of the pile) all chance cards must be shuffled again.

NOTE! On separated carriageways, riders on the other side of the carriageway divide are not caught in the crash. The affected space must, however, be completely separated from the affected spaces.

The fallen riders are placed next to the road, at the place where the accident occurred. The fallen riders are placed in the order of arrival, from the first rider to the last rider who caused the crash. That is, after the turn skip, the starting order for the next round again. While the crashed riders stand next to the road and skip their turn, other riders may pass normally.

NOTE! If you have the choice between several lanes and in both choices a crash will be caused, then you must always cause the crash on the space that is furthest removed from the space numbers.

Passing Principle

In order not to let the number of crashes get out of hand, when making a deliberately slow move the rider must always take into account the riders who are behind him. Give the next rider who comes on turn after you the room to play a second card of value 4 to pass you, unless he can pass you anyway. On an uphill this second card has value 6 (3 spaces). Trailing riders may only cause a crash if the crash cannot be avoided. The affected player must then show his other second cards to prove that he cannot do otherwise than cause a crash.

End of a Stage

The final result of a stage is calculated as follows:

The rider who in the same round finishes furthest over the finish line has the best time and thus wins the stage. The finish time is recorded per rider as follows: the riders who cross the finish line are placed, and the number of spaces of the stage, minus the finish value, is noted as arrival time (example: on a stage of 95 spaces, a rider who finishes at -4 over the finish line gets an arrival time of 91 seconds: 95 - 4 = 91).

NOTE! Even a rider who does not cross the finish line first may thereby have a better time than his predecessors.

The board diagram shows the finish order (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and the example "Arrival time: 95 - 4 = 91 sec."

After the finish line, no more seconds of slipstream can be picked up. Also, after the finish no crash can occur any more: the rider may come in as far as there is room on the run-off strip and join up. If you have played a higher second card, the remaining value lapses.

When two or more riders in the same round cross the finish line equally far over, the player who placed his rider furthest on the space numbers is placed higher. Both riders have the same time recorded.

Often not all players cross the finish line in the same round. The players who finish in the following rounds can never have a better final result. This is due to the following rule: after each round we add 10 seconds to the finish time. If riders who have not yet finished cross the finish line in the following round, their time is:

the number of spaces of the stage + 10 seconds - the number of spaces over the finish in the following round.

In this way all riders complete the rounds until everyone is in. Note that with each new round, 10 seconds is again added to the finish time of the remaining riders.

To determine the correct number of second cards in hand, for each rider who has finished, one second card must be handed in at the start of a new round. In this way all players, for each rider still underway, have an equal number of second cards in their possession.

Immediately after a round, the riders who have crossed the finish line after their time, place and points have been recorded are removed from the course. They can then no longer form a blockade for the riders of the next round.

Bonus Seconds (Bonificatieseconden)

During the stage a player may earn bonus seconds at some intermediate sprints. These seconds are taken into account when determining the riders' final times. Suppose a rider has earned four bonus seconds; then his final time to be recorded is: stage seconds - 4 bonus seconds - the number of spaces over the finish.

NOTE! Bonus seconds are only taken into account when determining the intermediate and overall classification. When calculating the stage result in time, we therefore do not count the bonus seconds. For determining the intermediate classification (yellow jersey), these bonus seconds do count.

Bonus Points (Bonificatiepunten)

During the stage a player may also earn bonus points at some intermediate sprints. The points classification applies to the whole team. The points earned by all riders of a team are therefore added together per team.

The board example shows the sprint "Sprint route des Pugets", No. 1: 4 PNT + 2 SEC.

Scoring

Points Classification (Puntenklassement)

The points classification is a team-oriented scoring. So with all your riders you can earn points for your team. Besides the bonus points mentioned earlier, you earn points on each stage based on the place your riders finish in that stage. The formula used to calculate the points is:

points = 11 - the position in which the rider finished (the points may never be lower than 0), + bonus points earned

Place	Points
1st	10
2nd	9
3rd	8
4th	7
5th	6
6th	5
7th	4
8th	3
9th	2
10th	1
11th	0
12th	0

(The points scale is printed on the board as "place = points", followed by "+ bonus points".)

Intermediate Classification (Tussenklassement)

After each stage a new intermediate classification is calculated, and a new yellow jersey wearer, fastest team and points classification leader are determined. The rider who after a stage has the fastest total time is thus the fastest rider in the intermediate classification and receives the yellow jersey. The yellow jersey rider gains extra points at the end. If it has been agreed that only one stage will be played, there is no intermediate classification, and the points of the yellow jersey go directly to the fastest rider.

The yellow jersey rider replaces the fastest rider in the classification (figure caption: "De gele trui vervangt de snelste renner").

Overall Classification (Eindklassement)

After playing the final stage, the players calculate the overall classification. Besides the honour of having had the fastest team or rider, an overall winner is named. In the overall classification all times are converted into points to determine the final winner. The overall classification is calculated as follows:

The points from the points classification.
The team with the fastest total time receives 40 extra points.
The second team receives 15 extra points.
The third team receives 5 extra points.
The player with the rider who has the fastest total time (and thus the yellow jersey) receives 15 extra points.
The second rider receives 10 extra points.
The third rider receives 5 extra points.

The scoring form on the printed page shows the overall classification worksheet: team total; time (Tijd/Temps B+D) and points; points classification (Prt A+C); bonus points per team (team 1st = 40 pnt, 2nd = 15 pnt, 3rd = 5 pnt); bonus points for the yellow jersey / maillot jaune (1st = 15 pnt, 2nd = 10 pnt, 3rd = 5 pnt); total points.

NOTE Using the URL code on each game board, you can use the supporting Tourcalculator. This tool keeps the standings etc. for you. (Creating a free account on the website is required to use it.) Of course you can also keep these records by hand on the supplied score forms. Do you not have a smartphone but do have a PC, laptop or Mac? Then you can find the Tourcalculator via the publisher's website.

Possible Variant: Team Time Trial (Ploegentijdrit)

Besides the way of playing described above, you may also choose a team time trial.

Each rider receives 5 cards. You receive new cards only once, when there is 1 card left over for each rider. In one turn you play with all three riders (the whole team) directly behind each other. The art is to keep the team together as much as possible in order to take as much slipstream as possible. Exchanging cards can be essential in a team time trial.

Start of a team time trial: each team must start one turn later than its predecessor. On average, about 10 seconds therefore lie between each team on the course. The first player plays 3 cards for his 3 riders (team), then the same player does this again. Then player 2 is on turn for the first time and also plays 3 cards for his riders (team). Subsequently team 1 is again on turn, followed by team 2, and team 3 plays its first 3 cards for its team, and so on.

Points at an intermediate sprint cannot be earned in a team time trial and therefore do not count either.

Scoring in a team time trial: take the number 200 and subtract from it the space number of your last finished rider (your slowest rider of this stage). All your riders receive this same slowest time.

Important: immediately after the riders' times have been recorded and all teams have had their turn, the riders are also removed from the course. They therefore never form a blockade for the following riders. Riders who have been taken from the course can therefore not be used for picking up wheels either.