While I was watching the Tour de France, my eleven-year-old daughter started asking
questions about the race. During an early stage, some of the riders were in a break away
(in the front), and I told her the real contenders were farther back and weren’t concerned
with these particular stage leaders at the moment. “How can that be?” she asked. “Don’t
they want to win?”
As I started to explain that some individual stage wins weren’t necessarily important to
the teams who were more concerned with an overall Tour victory, I found that I first had
to explain other details of individual and team goals and strategy. Then, I made the
whole explanation worse by saying, “In fact, a rider can win the entire Tour de France
without winning a single stage.” That did it! Now my daughter was completely lost. I
couldn’t blame her.
To the novice, the only goal of the Tour is to get the yellow jersey, and the fastest rider
wins. If that were all there is to the most amazing and challenging sporting event in the
world, there would be little point in watching anything other than highlights. If you
understand the subtleties involved, you might feel some of the same excitement you see
from the people who line the roads to get a first-hand glimpse of their favorite riders
battling it out. I don’t pretend to be an expert on the Tour, and in fact, I’m a novice. But
maybe this perspective will help the casual viewer become a hard-core fan. I welcome
your comments.
The Basics of the Tour
Yes, it’s true that the most coveted prize is the yellow jersey (Maillot Jaune) and wearing
it in Paris on the Champs-Elysees is the ultimate goal. It’s the honor given to the overall
Tour winner. Only an elite few riders have any chance at all of accomplishing this goal.
It takes a special person with an outstanding team under superior leadership. Without all
these things, it’s practically impossible to win in this modern era of the Tour. But the
Tour provides other opportunities for riders and teams to win glory.
The entire race consists of multiple stages on separate days. Riders can compete to win
the individual stages. Within those stages, they can battle to win points for sprints and
mountains. In addition, there is another competition for most consistent young rider,
available only to riders who were younger than age 26 at the start of the cycling season.
The winner of each of these competitions within the race gets to wear a special jersey and
will keep it unless another rider gets more points or shorter time depending on which
jersey he is wearing. Teams also compete for the prize of best overall team.
Some of the major factors that affect the success or failure of teams and individual riders
in the Tour are not just pure speed.
Considerations in Winning the Tour:
- • Individual and team goals
- • Individual and team strategies and tactics
- • Individual and team strengths and characteristics
- • Tour stage characteristics
Of course these things affect the race standings, but the interesting part is how they affect
it. For example, here are some true statements that reveal the complexity of the race. On
the surface, they are contrary to common sense. In reality, they are the essence of the
Tour.
True Statements about Riding in the Tour:
- • It’s not always advantageous for a team member to win the yellow jersey.
- • It’s not always useful for the leading teams to finish first.
- • The riders with the best chance to win the Tour usually do not ride first in groups.
- • The riders who do the hardest work almost never win the Tour.
- • Rivals cooperate with each other to gain advantage over other rivals.
- • Not all riders ride to win any prizes in the Tour.
What follows is an attempt to make sense of these statements and provide enough
information to gain appreciation for the richness of the Tour de France.
The Jerseys of the Tour de France
Colored jerseys represent the leaders of different aspects of the Tour. Some parts of the
Tour are actually races within the race. The jerseys are:
1. Yellow: The overall leader of the entire race (fastest time).
2. Green: The rider with the most points won on sprints. This is the second best
prize of the Tour and is won by one of the fastest riders, usually a specialist in
sprinting.
3. White with Red Polka Dots (King of the Mountains): The rider with the most
points won on mountain stages. This prize is won by the rider who is best in
mountain climbs.
4. White: The most consistent young rider based on overall cumulative time.
The rider wearing the yellow jersey is the rider with the best (fastest) overall time as
accumulated through the stages. The rider wearing the green jersey is the rider who has
accumulated the most sprint points through the stages. Sprint points are awarded to the
first (and sometimes subsequent) riders who pass sprint markers within the stages or at
the end of stages. The rider wearing the polka dot jersey is the rider who has
accumulated the most mountain points through the stages. Mountain points are awarded
to the first (and sometimes subsequent) riders who pass specific mountain markers within
the stages or at the end of stages. More difficult sections have more available points to
win. For instance, the points available for finishing a difficult mountain stage that ends at
the top of a mountain might be 40, whereas passing a marker within a less-steep section
of a mountain stage might be only 6. There is also an award for best team overall.
Stage Characteristics of the Tour de France
The idea that riders specialize in, or are best at, certain aspects of cycling but not
necessarily good at other aspects of cycling is another key to understanding this race. It
is an oversimplification (and maybe outright incorrect) to say that the fastest rider will
win the race. This is because not all stages in the race require pure speed to win and not
all riders are built the same.
Stage Characteristics:
- • Individual Time Trials: Riders depart separately and are timed over the same
course.
- • Prologue: A short time trial to mark the beginning of a stage.
- • Team Time Trials: Riders depart as a team and are timed over the same course.
The completion time is based on the position of the fifth rider in the team. Thus,
at least five riders on a team must finish to receive a completion time.
- • Flats (route elevation, not tires): All riders in the race depart at the same time.
The rider who finishes first wins the stage. After that, any riders who finish
together in a group get the same time even if they are at the back of the group.
Flat stages are usually advantageous to sprinters. The difference between winning
the stage and coming in second (everyone else) may be only a few seconds.
- • Mountains: All riders in the race depart at the same time. The rider who finishes
first wins the stage. After that, any riders who finish together in a group get the
same time even if they are at the back of the group. Mountain stages are usually
advantageous to climbers. The difference between winning the stage and losing
the stage could be many minutes as riders get separated from each other over the
climb and receive separate times in groups or as individuals. It is said that the
Tour is usually won and lost in the mountains.
Rider Characteristics, Body Type and Riding Specialties
Not all riders are the same, just as not all football players are the same. Different riders
have different specialties just as different football players have different positions.
People have various body types, some that are best for endurance, others that are best for
power and strength, still others that are best for short bursts of speed. Although
conditioning and training play a large part in a cyclist’s overall ability, muscle and body
type likely dictate how successful a rider can be in a particular specialty. Another item to
note: Not every rider enters the race to win anything at all.
Rider Characteristics and Specialties:
- • Sprinters: Sprinters are very fast, especially for short distances. Often, they are
not very good at power climbing or long distance endurance. A sprinter usually
needs a lot of help from his team to win. They often battle for the green jersey
even though sprint wins usually only provide mere seconds in overall time
advantage.
- • Climbers: Climbers are strong, with lots of endurance. Good climbers tend to be
light because heavier riders are at a disadvantage on climbs. More weight
requires more power to climb. They battle for the polka dot jersey. Because the
difference in time between winners and losers on mountain stages can be many
minutes, good climbers may have an advantage over pure sprinters when it comes
to winning the Tour.
- • Balanced Riders: Balanced riders may not be the best at either sprinting or
climbing, but they are consistent at both. In the quest to win the yellow jersey,
balanced riders may have an advantage if they at least can stay close in overall
time to the leading sprinters and climbers.
- • Domestiques: Every team has domestiques. These are riders who are “paying
their dues” and getting experience or have already had their chances at glory.
They are the team workhorses. They often hang back to get food and liquids to
bring up to the team leaders. Many times they will do the hard pulling at the front
of the team in order to protect the team leaders from the wind or keep them from
burning too much energy. These domestiques themselves often burn out from
their efforts and get relegated to finishing at the back. Although they may
sometimes get opportunities to win stages, they have no chance of winning the
Tour.
Terms to Know (all related to situations during a race)
Peloton is the French word for platoon and refers to the main group of riders in any
particular race or the top riders in cycling, depending on the context. During a race, the
stage time of a peloton that is behind a break away or chase is shown as time slower than
the break away, such as + 1:00. All riders in the peloton receive the same finish time
whether they are at the front or back of the peloton. This rule helps prevent battles for
position within the peloton which could cause crashes. Assuming the peloton finishes 25
seconds behind a break away, the riders in the break away receive individual times and
everyone in the peloton finishes at + 0:25, regardless of position within the peloton.
Gap is the space between one rider/group and another rider/group described as the
amount of time separating them. Riders up front work to widen the gap and riders in the
back work to close the gap.
Pace line is a line of cyclists riding together and working together as a group or team in
order to ride more efficiently and conserve energy. The front rider bears the strongest
workload, driving himself into the wind and blocking the wind from the riders behind.
Those behind can save as much as 30 to 40% of their energy as compared to riding in
front or alone. The riders typically ride close to each other’s wheels in order to take
advantage of the slipstream created by the group. The front rider will work for a while,
then move off the front and drop to the back. Thus all the riders take turns pulling and
drafting.
Drafting is the principle by which one or more riders ride behind each other and take
advantage of the easier movement of air created by the front rider. This riding position
can save noticeable amounts of energy and can be used to propel one rider past another as
the rider behind swings around the front rider and accelerates.
Pulling is the opposite of drafting. It’s the work one or more riders do for one or more
other riders by riding up front and easing the burden for the ones behind. The front rider
does lose some power by riding up front compared to riding alone, but not as much as the
riders behind gain. So if they all take turns pulling and drafting, everyone who rides
together saves energy or gains more power. Larger lines of riders riding together have an
advantage over one or two riders riding alone. When the peloton is together, all the riders
are saving energy or gaining more power except the ones who stay up front all the time
and do not draft behind. Pulling is also the term for getting an attacker back into a
group.
Attack is an action a rider or riders take to move ahead of another rider or riders with the
intent of breaking away from them (as opposed to simply moving within the group). A
successful attack can lead to a situation called a break away, whereby the attacker(s)
stays ahead by a noticeable gap. Riders who have been attacked may respond to the
attack by trying to catch up to the attacker and pull him back into the group, or they may
just let him go.
Break Away is the result of a successful attack (at least temporarily). Specifically, the
term is used to describe the front rider or riders who have a noticeable gap over the other
riders.
Chase is the rider or group of riders who have pulled away from the main peloton to
pursue attackers or a break away. The chase exists between the front break away and
the peloton. The position of a chase during a race is shown as time slower than the front
rider, such as + 1:00.
Race or Stage Time is for individuals and groups and is shown in 1) time since the start,
2) cumulative time of all stages thus far, or 3) time in relation to the fastest time. In the
latter case, the fastest time is designated as 0:00 and all other times are in relation to the
fastest time, such as + 1:00. These times can be cumulative overall or “live” as they
happen during a race. For example, a race-in-progress that has a leader, a chase and the
main peloton may have time statistics that read: Leaders 2:15:00, Chase + 2:30, Peloton
+ 4:20. That means the leaders have been riding for 2 hours 15 minutes, chase is behind
by 2:30 and the peloton is behind by 4:20.
Teamwork and Team Goals
Teams can ride to meet various goals, not all of them focused on winning because not
every team is capable of winning. Here are some of the goals for which teams ride.
- • Overall Tour win for a team member (first place).
- • Stage win for the team.
- • Single or multiple stage wins for sprinters or climbers.
- • Single team member overall sprint winner (second place).
- • Single team member overall mountains winner (third place).
- • Single or multiple stage wins for a young rider on the team.
- • Overall Tour team win.
- • Finish the Tour with all team members.
- • Have a single team member finish the Tour.
- • Gain experience to build a team for future years.
- • Just participate in one of the greatest sporting events in the world.
The Race, Its Strategies and Tactics
Strategies are long-term plans that have been determined ahead of time. Tactics are
choices made on-the-spot based on immediate situations. Teams and individuals almost
always have different strategies and tactics. It all depends on the current race situation
and each individual team.
The team that has the Tour leader, and thus the yellow jersey, often has the added
pressure of defending the jersey and riding to keep it. If this happens in the early stages,
they may use more energy than they might want to use just defending from every attack.
Conversely, a team that stays in a close second or third place does not have the pressure
but still has the lead in reach. Sometimes it’s ideal to wait until the end to win the yellow
jersey. Few teams, however, have the luxury or control to make this happen.
During a race in which all the riders start together, the main group is called the peloton.
They start together, and along the way riders may attack, form break aways, have chases,
sprints and climbs. How teams ride and respond to other riders depends on team
strategies and goals. A team with members in the overall lead or near the lead might not
want to push for a stage win if all they have to gain is a few seconds overall at a cost of
heavy energy expenditure. They may prefer to conserve their energy for stages that have
more at risk or more to gain. On the other hand, a team that is far behind overall might
want to help one of its members win a stage because they have nothing to lose.
On stages in which the main peloton is not far from the break away leaders, it is often not
desirable for certain teams in the peloton to expend energy just to gain a few seconds in
the standings. The reason they would only gain a few seconds riding out with the break
away is that everyone in the peloton finishes with the same time, regardless of their
position (front or back) within the peloton. Those in the break away will finish first with
individual times, but the peloton receives only one time. This rule makes it unnecessary
to battle for position within the peloton which could cause crashes, especially at a finish.
If an individual(s) or team attacks, the overall race leaders in the peloton will consider
whether or not the individual(s) or team could be a threat to their lead or their goals of an
overall win because they are close in the overall time standings. If the attackers are close
in standings, the leaders may want to chase and pull back the attackers. If the attackers
are far enough behind in the standings, the leaders may let the attackers go without
responding to the attack. In later stages, if riders are close in standings, they might battle
for every second, attacking, responding and sprinting.
While riding with their teams or in the peloton, the riders with the best chances of
winning the stage or overall Tour will usually ride toward the back more than the front
(or at least behind their team mates) in order to conserve energy or prepare for a final
sprint or final push to the top of a mountain. It’s the domestiques who pull these
“leaders” through the race.
Sometimes, rivals riding together in a break away will work together in a pace line to
conserve energy or gain power in order to stay ahead of the chase or peloton. They
might stay together until they are caught by other riders or until they must battle for the
win at the finish line. If they don’t work together, they are more likely to get caught by
the chase or peloton. A rider alone simply can not (for long) hold off the power of riders
working together.
So, you can see that simply being fast is not in itself enough to win the Tour. Many other
factors must be considered, many specialties must be employed, and various strategies
must be implemented in order to win the yellow jersey and ride into Paris as the winner
of the Tour de France.
How to Win the Tour de France without Winning a Stage
In the 2005 Tour, at Stage 20, Lance Armstrong was the leader of the Tour, and he had
yet to win an individual stage. (His team had won the Team Time Trial or TTT). He had
the fastest overall time, and did not need to win a stage to be the overall winner. He went
on to win stage 20 anyway, just because he didn’t want to win without winning a stage.
But it wasn’t necessary for the Tour win. Now you have enough information here for this
odd concept to make sense. After all this explanation, even my daughter understands.
Watching the first sprint of the 2009 Tour, I discovered a real appreciation for the
complexities, strategies, tactics, physical abilities, cleverness and timing involved in
winning. In this stage (Stage 2 of the Tour) Team Columbia worked so beautifully
together to propel Mark Cavendish past the finish line right at the last fraction of a second
to win, that I got chills. If I didn’t know a little something about the race, it would have
meant nothing to me, and I would have deprived myself of properly experiencing such an
exciting moment. That’s why I wrote this. I want more people to realize what I have
realized: This race is awesome!
To answer the question we started with: The difference between the winning times and
losing times (gaps) in each stage is the key. Here’s one possible scenario: A rider can
come in second in every stage, losing only a few seconds or minutes on each stage, and
as long as most of the winners of those stages are different each time or have lost other
stages by larger gaps overall, he can still win. Thus, a rider who wins only second place
in each stage could win the entire Tour de France, having never won a single stage.
Now why didn’t I just say that to begin with?
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