I’ve been told that I need to share my Fantasy League team selection with you, but to be honest I’d rather not cos I’m sure I’ve got the winning combination for this weekend’s race in Pietermaritzburg, and so I’d prefer it if none of you bastards were able to copy it. Despite my protestations I’ve still been told to do it, so here’s who’s on my winning ‘Reges Celeritate’ team…

Well I thought deceiving you was worth a try at least, but it seems I went a step too far in my shit team selection (no offence meant to the riders I’ve chosen by the way), maybe I should have made it a little more believable?

Anyway, with much reluctance this is what my team looked like until earlier this morning…

Why did I decide to put together this motley crew? Well first of all I decided to blow a whole chunk of my cash on Rach because if ever there’s a banker for points it has to be her. The second biggest chunk of money went on Gwin. Some might see that as a crazy move, but he’s the only rider to have beaten Minnaar at PMB, and after going to interview him recently (you can see that interview here if you want) I came away with a strong feeling that we are going to see a return to form from him this year. Yes I could well be wrong, but I definitely reckon he’s worth a punt.

Next on the team was Loic Bruni, simply because if that kid doesn’t win a World Cup this year I think I’ll eat my hat. After all that spending I didn’t have much budget left so I had to pick the best of the cheap bunch. Brayton had to be one of them, purely for his balls out riding style, which then only left me with £50k to spend. I’m not sure how many of those bargain basement riders will actually be racing in PMB, but I decided to go for Steffan Garlicki purely because I loved his name. As it turns out, he’s a PMB local and did rather well there recently. Quids in I reckon.

So, all was looking good in the world of team Reges Celeritate, but then I got into work this morning and spotted this from Rach on Instagram…

All of a sudden my ‘banker’ was looking a lot less banker like. Hopefully it’s nothing serious and Rach turns out to be OK to race, but as supremely talented as she is this clearly isn’t the best preparation for the race ahead. So, unfortunately it was time for some team changes…

So here it is, my final team. Well for now at least. I actually think this team is even stronger than my original one. I swapped Rach out for Tracey Hannah, someone who has done well at PMB before, and she saved me a bit of cash too. With that saving I managed to get Tracey’s brother Mick onto the team, and thinking about it I probably should have had him in there from day one because I really wouldn’t bet against him taking the win this weekend. He’s always been super strong on this track and after coming so close to taking the World Champs win last year I think if anyone has got a point to prove it’s ‘Sik Mik’.

That left me with two spaces, and not a massive amount of cash left. Garlicki had to stay on the team, he’s too much of a bargain at this race to miss off, and that meant I had £125k left to spend. A quick look at the riders on offer at that price and one name immediately jumped out at me… Mitch Ropelato. That lad has way too much skill as it is, and after qualifying second in PMB at the World Champs last year he was the obvious selection for me.

So there you have it, my Fantasy League team, and I reckon it’s a winner. What do you lot reckon though? Do you think I’m deluded in my confidence? What I can tell you though is that after the first round in 2012 I was top of the leader board, all on my own! That’s why I didn’t want to tell you lot my team this year!

If you still haven’t entered a team then what the hell are you waiting for? It’s free to enter and there are some rad prizes up for grabs. You can also set up ‘mini-leagues’ if you want, that way you can have battles with your mates, and beating them is probably better than any prize. Pick your team at the website below NOW!

www.dirtfantasy.dirtmountainbike.com

PS> Please don’t copy my team, instead you should copy Dave’s which is over here, cos his far better…not.