Run a team from the director's seat
Pro Cycling Manager 2022 puts you in charge of a cycling team. You handle recruitment, budgets, sponsor management, objectives, race programmes, training and race strategy. The scouting system has been reworked: you send scouts to different regions to uncover talent, and they report back on potential and characteristics. Scouts get better with experience, and you are competing with other teams for the same riders. Young riders are now juniors aged 16 to 18, with a pool of 1,500 to 2,000 created each year, graded on a 6-star system for level and potential. Rider development has been redesigned for more versatile riders, and how well a rider integrates with the team and gets along with the coach affects their progress.
Race day decisions
During a race you call the shots for your riders. Stamina and resistance scores now have a bigger effect on how effort is spent, so some riders can attack several times while others manage their effort for the finish. The peloton is more aggressive and varied, with races that can be action-packed from the first hour, favourites taking the lead and attacks coming early rather than following the usual blueprint of a Tour stage. Race-day condition now lands closer to the announced provisional condition. The cyclist page has been overhauled with new statistics, highlighted capabilities and results, plus a tool for comparing rider characteristics. Simulation time runs twice as fast as before.
Playing with others and setting it up
Online mode lets you compete against players from around the world. Pro Cyclist mode lets you create your own rider, join a team, work toward becoming the leader and try to shine in the peloton. Before you start, note the customisation options: you can adjust bonus amplitude from +5 to -5 or turn it off entirely, and switch variation on or off. You can also assign specific team jerseys for a given race. The 21 official stages of the 2022 Tour de France are included.