Get on yer bike with Tour De France 2006 on mobile

The one snag with the Tour De France are the hills. Let's face it, there's a reason why all the cool kids go snowboarding or skiing. If the world's most famous bike race introduced chairlifts, its popularity would surely soar.

Less fun than going downhill but less painful than going up, In-Fusio's Tour de France 2006 mobile game promises to recreate all the excitement and agony of the Tour de France, except that the muscle cramp will be in your thumbs, not your thighs.

Every one of the gruelling 3,653km Tour de France's sprint and mountain stages are included (but not to exact scale, naturally), across three game modes: Tour de France, Quick Race, and Challenges.

And the careful blending of arcade style action with elements of cycling simulation means you'll have to choose the best race strategy to secure first place in each of the three official classifications of this 'Grande Boucle' bash:

Yellow jersey: players must finish first in each of the 21 stages

Polka dot jersey: players must secure the best times through the mountain stages

Green jersey: players must accumulate the most points in the sprint stages

Be warned, several important elements of the cycling discipline are simulated. You'll have to watch your breathing, relay passes, tire damage, and monitor your endurance levels for the sprints and mountain climbs.

Developed in exclusive partnership with Amaury Sport Organisation, the official organiser of the Tour de France, the Tour de France 2006 mobile game is now becoming available on the major operator's portals.