The Tour for Dummies

Happy Wednesday!

The beginning of July debuts my favourite time of year to hunker down and live in front of my TV.  I am sure you have some shock and dismay as I share that I am actually a couch potato in July.  Don't get me wrong. . . .I am still swim, ride and run but the rest of my time is spent absorbing, obsessing about the Tour.. . . . That would be the Tour de France (henceforth referred to as the Tour).  One of my training buddies suggested that I write a blog about the Tour and in thinking about it, I thought, "I don't know enough about to speak intelligently on the the Tour."  It reminded me of a comment a coach made when I asked him if I could try road racing (on a bike).  I was ready for the inevitable feedback:

You are not fit enough.


You don't train enough.


You don't have the right bike.


You are too old.

All of this, I had rolled over in my own head so it came as a shock when he said, "You are not smart enough."  I had three letters for him, first one W and last one F (you get the picture).  How is it possible that I am not smart enough?  It is cycling, for gosh sakes!!!  If you hadn't noticed my handle (email and car) is mathdva!  I may be old, slow, and ill-equipped but low IQ, I think not!  After that, I took it upon myself to get educated about cycling and there is no better place to get schooled than watching the Tour.

If you have always wanted to know how it works or at least, sound cool at your next dinner party, here are some basics:

The most important aspect of professional cycling that most people miss is that it is a TEAM SPORT.  In the TDF (the Tour), teams have 9 cyclists and each has a role.  Some some are sprinters, some are climbers, one is the team leader and the rest WORK!  For today, let's focus on the overall race.  it is easy to get caught up in the many classifications but, in simplifying the race, I think you will see how important the team is.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION


The overall winner of the TDF wears the yellow jersey (le maillot jaune) and it is revered in all pro cycling.  It is the Stanley Cup, the Grey Cup, the World Cup, the World Series, I could go on but I think you get it :)  It is earned by the rider with the fastest accumulated time over three weeks of racing through France.  The race is divided into 20 stages with a prologue (at the beginning).  One year they ride clockwise around France and the next, counterclockwise.  I tell people all the time that you must watch from the beginning in order to keep everything straight but it has already started so let's see if I can catch you up.

Teams that have a GC contender (GC = general classification) will work only to get this one guy to the top of the podium.  In my estimation, this really is a gentlemen's sport.  How many athletes do you know will ride 150 to 200 km everyday so that the 'alpha' (my word) can get the glory?  Was Lance a great bike rider? Cadel Evans? Alberto Contador?  Absolutely but they needed a great team to get there.

Ok let's back things up a bit, look at these results from this week:

RANK RIDER TIMES GAP 1 CANCELLARA Fabian 20h 04' 02'' 2 WIGGINS Bradley 20h 04' 09''  + 00' 07'' 3 CHAVANEL Sylvain 20h 04' 09''  + 00' 07'' 4 VAN GARDEREN Tejay 20h 04' 12''  + 00' 10'' 5 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald 20h 04' 13''  + 00' 11'' 6 MENCHOV Denis 20h 04' 15''  + 00' 13'' 7 EVANS Cadel 20h 04' 19''  + 00' 17'' 8 NIBALI Vincenzo 20h 04' 20''  + 00' 18'' 9 HESJEDAL Ryder 20h 04' 20''  + 00' 18'' 10 KLÖDEN Andréas 20h 04' 21''  + 00' 19''

The cyclists (otherwise known as the peleton) have been riding 817 km and the leader (yellow jersey) has covered that distance in a little more that 20 hours.  Everyone else is compared to him . . . .+7 sec or +2:05.  Every day, as they race, his competitors will try to be faster than him.  It means that to move up the GC (see above), you need to make up time on the leader or the guy ahead of you.  This is why the terrain of each day is so critical.  If it is really hilly, (or rather mountainous), riders have a chance to attack and gain time on the leaders.  This is the smarty-pants part.  The great cyclists are always on the lookout for an opportunity to gain time.  Anyone who is serious about winning has already ridden every critical stage a few times in training.  They have probably already ridden the entire course!

Your TDF homeward until the next blog is to follow le maillot jaune and watch for any changes in the GC.  I follow the Tour on twitter @letour.  It is free and supplies you with all the stats you need.  I have added the main website for TDF (check the right hand side of the blog)

Next time, I will be looking at the race within the race within the race.

Vive le Tour!!!!