With school and work having started up again after the summer break for some of us, it feels pretty good to have reached the weekend. To make the day even better, check out the exciting new projects included in this edition of the news below!
Take part in the Mini Man-Game
We are pleased to announce a new addition to the Management Game, dubbed the 'Mini ManGame'. 24 teams are available to be claimed right now, on a first come, first serve basis. They will participate in a 10 race calendar, as part of the current Management Game season. The sign up thread is now open, and please use the general discussion thread for any questions.
How the Story of the Month-award will work
Alongside the obvious excitement, last week's announcement that a previous award for story writers would be making a return later this year was also met by some scepticism and worry that the same members would win the award every time. An understandable concern, but not to worry - Mresuperstar has worked out a set of rules to avoid such problems.
Click "Read More" to find out the details.
Enjoy the Vuelta with the other members
The 68th edition of the Vuelta starts later tonight, as most of you probably know. If you want to have some extra fun watching it, make sure to check out the discussion thread in the real life cycling section of the forum. You'll find all the information you need there, thanks to Malkael - who is once again doing a terrific job posting previews and other interesting stuff.
French community DB now available from the downloads section
After several days of small problems with the upload, Rin has successfully added PCM France's Full Cycling Manager DB to our own downloads section. It's definitely one of the most complete DBs available at the moment, so if you're excited to start a career, it's certainly worth downloading.
There is still time left to join in PCMdaily's Fantasy Vuelta a España league on Velogames.com. The deadline for picking your team is this Saturday, the 24th, at 18:30 CEST.
alexkr00 and Smowz took victory in the first two Grand Tours of the season. Who will triumph at the Vuelta?
As some of the the long-time members might remember, there was once an award given out monthly to the most popular story on the site. Unfortunately, it didn't last long and hasn't been around for several years. However, newly appointed crew member Mresuperstar has now decided to make an effort to bring this back.
So, story writers - make sure to write the best reports you can in the next couple of weeks, as the first "new" award will be handed out at the end of August. Further details surrounding this will be revealed in next week's news.
Stages forum running strong
There has always been at least a few talented stagemakers active on the forum, but during the past couple of weeks, the activity is excellent and many members are frequently updating their showrooms.
The last time the ManGame Tour was mentioned in the news - two weeks ago - it had only reached stage 7 and not really begun yet in terms of decisive stages. That has now changed, as we've made it all the way to stage 16 and the 3rd week - with the potential for some amazing final stages ahead.
Team B&O's Aleksandr Pluchkin was the man in yellow two weeks ago, but the Moldovan champion has since then suffered a poorly timed puncture that cost him over 5 minutes to his main rivals, and subsequently all chances of winning his first Tour ever.
Instead, the fight looks to be the same as last year - ManGame legend and defending champion Damiano Cunego vs. young supertalent Angel Madrazo. At the moment, it is the former who has the upper hand, leading Madrazo by 27 seconds heading into the final five stages. However, a long ITT and several mountain stages remain - meaning that anything can still happen. Don't miss the end of this very exciting race!
Lastly - not a part of the ManGame? Stay tuned for next week's news for an opportunity to join a new development in the game.
With another week coming to an end, it's time for a new edition of the news.
Meet the new admins
Their new tags may not have been spotted yet, but two new moderators have been chosen. Please welcome Mresuperstar and Rin to the PCM.daily crew!
Both went into great depth in their applications, showing their interest in making the site an even better place. Some of their new tasks include helping out with these news articles, keeping the betting section active and uploading files. Make sure to wish them good luck with the new roles!
Graphical artists wanted by the Daily DB team
If you're skilled with graphics and interested in helping out with the upcoming Daily DB, then here's your chance. Some help creating team logos, minishirts and a number of other similar things is requested by lluuiiggii, so let him know via PM if this sounds like something for you.
valv321 starting strong with new story
With stories about Ryder Hesjedal, Caisse d'Epargne and, most famously, David Veilleux, to his name, everyone's favourite Canadian member valverde321 is certainly one of the most famous story writers on the site. He has now returned to the stories forum - this time with the small Czech AC Sparta Praha team.
After only a week of existence, the thread has already reached page 8 and seems to be very popular among the site's members. If you haven't payed a visit already, make sure to do so!
bigggassi, master of variants
Ever since posting some high-quality stages for PCM12 last year, bigggassi has been a known face (or avatar, really) in the stages forum. The German has now moved to PCM13, and has probably been the most productive stagemaker so far, with no less than five Tour variants, plus a number of other races. If you're looking for a good variant, his showroom is the place to go.
The last attempt to revive the weekly news feature may have come to an end after only six editions, but after just over half a year of absence it's back again - this time hopefully to stay!
New crew members to be announced soon
People who applied for adminship, following the request for such a few weeks ago - your wait is almost over. Several strong applications have been received, and a final discussion among us current moderators is ongoing as we speak. A decision is not far away, so look out for some new administrator-tags in the forum during the next few days.
Video-story involving site members launched
With help from a number of PCM.daily members, brewers90 has assembled a team of riders that are looking to make themselves famous through Youtube videos following all their races. There may not be any spots left in the team, but you should still check out the thread to see how this interesting project progresses.
Graphical experts finishing new team pack
A few months ago, Danish graphics designer anderspcm started assembling entire packs of complementary equipment for some of his high-quality jerseys. Since then, he has been joined by fellow Dane bwiggins, and the couple have produced a number of stunning packs for a variety of teams. Their latest project, Bunzl-Centrica, is now coming together nicely, with plenty of national champion's jerseys already available. Look into their graphics center if you want to check it out.
Fight for overall victory at Man-Game Tour de France heating up
Missing some action since the Tour ended? Check out the Management Game version of it, then! The events of the biggest race in cycling is covered by CountArach, who is reporting from a 2nd Grand Tour in a short period of time - having also done the Vuelta.
As for the race itself, it has reached the end of the first week - which means that the GC contenders are becoming the main stars of the race. Defending champion Damiano Cunego captured the first tough climbing stage, but lost the yellow jersey to Moldovan Aleksandr Pluchkin by the fraction of a second after stage 7's individual time trial. It's still all to play for however, with 14 riders within two minutes. Make sure not to miss any of the remaining stages!
