Usually when the cycling world collides with computer games, we talk about the excitement in the indoor cycling arena, such as Turbo Trainer and Zwift, but not today. Today's announcement comes from the more mainstream computer gaming world, which typically talks about Minecraft and League of Legends.

While perhaps not boasting the same level of participation as the aforementioned duo, two of road cycling's biggest PC games have been refreshed, resulting in the launch of Pro Cycling Manager 2022 and Tour de France 2022 today.

Both titles are owned and produced by Nacon Gaming, a gaming company based in Northern France, and are released annually in conjunction with the Tour de France.

Pro Cycling Manager was originally released in 2001 under the shortened name Cycling Manager; it received the "Pro" label in 2005 and has been released annually ever since.

The basic premise of the game is to draw you, the player, into the role of a director sportif of a professional cycling team by managing recruiting, sponsorship, training, talent search, and race strategy. However, the game's alternative mode, the Pro Cyclist mode, allows you to become a single rider with the goal of winning races and building a career.

The 2022 game has many updates, including a new talent scouting system designed to help scouts learn and improve over time, tweaked race dynamics that mimic the unpredictability of reality, a new rider development process, a redesigned and easier to operate The stages of the 2022 Tour de France have also been incorporated into the new game.

Priced at £34.99,

unfortunately for Mac owners, Pro Cycling Manager is only available on PC through the Steam store.

Whereas Pro Cycling Manager takes on the role of DS or rider, in Tour de France you can be a rider, an entire team, or even a race organizer.

In Pro Leader mode, you are the rider. You can choose any type of rider you want, from sprinter to goat, and your goal is, perhaps surprisingly, to make the Tour de France a success. For some riders, that means success in the points jersey; for others, it means going for GC. In ProTeam mode, you start at the bottom of the cycling world. As a team, you must strive for success and earn invitations to races. As the number of invited riders increases, the team's profile rises, and the ultimate goal is an invitation to the Tour and, ultimately, victory in the Tour. In "My Tour" mode, on the other hand, you take the role of race organizer, choosing from 92 stages, routes, rest days, and participating teams to create a 21-day Grand Tour.

New features for 2022 include an online mode called "Race of the Week," where you can race with friends from around the world. The new race dynamics seen in Pro Cycling Manager can be found here as well, as well as stages from the 2022 Tour de France and a "Primavera Classic" inspired by "major Italian races."

Like Pro Cycling Manager. Tour de France 2022 is not available to Mac users, it is also playable on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series X,