Silva crossed the line, throwing his hands in the air. The margin was less than a wheel's length. He had won the Tour de France.
The rain slicked the asphalt of the Champs-Élysées, reflecting the neon glow of the Parisian night. Marcus stared at the screen in his cramped apartment, his eyes bloodshot. For three weeks, he had been living and breathing the virtual gears of a cycling empire.
Three kilometers to go. Marcus clicked furiously, ordering his teammates to form a lead-out train to protect Silva from the wind. Pro Cycling Manager 2022-SKIDROW
The simulation whirred to life. The peloton was a colorful, moving snake navigating the tight corners of Paris. Marcus watched the energy bars of his riders deplete. He had to time the final sprint perfectly. Too early, and Silva would burn out against the brutal wind resistance. Too late, and the champion would overtake him.
Marcus gripped his mouse, his palms sweating. He unpaused the game. Silva crossed the line, throwing his hands in the air
On his monitor, the title was frozen on the pause screen: Pro Cycling Manager 2022 .
The young rider surged forward, leaving the saddle, his digital avatar swaying violently with the effort. The champion countered, pulling up alongside Silva's back wheel. They were neck and neck. Marcus held his breath, leaning closer to the glowing screen. The rain slicked the asphalt of the Champs-Élysées,
Marcus was the manager of a fictional, custom-built team named Les Fantômes —The Ghosts. He had spent hundreds of hours meticulously planning training regimes, scouting raw talent in the virtual mountains of Colombia, and calculating the exact drag coefficients of specialized racing wheels. Tonight was the final stage of the Tour de France.