Yet, the event is so much more. Steeped in history, tradition, and racing lore, the Tour defines endurance and global sportsmanship. Unlike professional sports played in stadiums and arenas filled with fans who've paid for tickets, the Tour stands alone in the sports world. Its arena extends past countries' borders, and for fans, it's the best bargain in sports, because it's free.
For riders, it's a job with an equally simple equation. While progressing along the course like chess pieces on wheels, riders face the limits of endurance. They battle inclement weather and attempt to outwit and outrace each other while using the same strategy — conserve energy as much as possible for the times when it's needed most.
Working together
Riders participating in the Tour compete at the top of the sport. The Tour is the World Cup, Web Ellis Trophy, Curry Cup, Wimbledon, and Super 14 of bicycle racing. Functioning as a team sport, the race features teams of nine cyclists selected from a larger group of teammates. Reaping the benefits of synergy, teams work as units, and each rider has varying responsibilities. As riders make their way around France and into neighbouring countries, teams that use sound racing strategies tend to have the most success — for the group and for the team captain.
Winning individually
Individuals win stages and one rider claims the overall title. Winning a Tour de France stage is the career highlight for many cyclists. Every day, one rider is victorious, and he climbs onto the finish podium after a stage win and hears fans' cheers and receives various accolades. But a rider's individual triumph, at least to some degree, is the result of selfless teammates. It's rare for a cyclist to win a stage without acknowledging teammates who've put him in a position to ride to a triumph.
Understanding those coloured jerseys
Riders on each team are required to wear the same colour jersey. Each team's jersey features logos of sponsors who pay the riders' salaries. The result is a kaleidoscope of moving billboards on wheels. Some teams' uniforms feature subtle colours; other teams opt for brighter colours. Some teams' uniforms look surprisingly similar, further adding to the blur of the often fast-moving peloton (the main pack of riders).
A few riders wear special jerseys. Throughout the race, the reigning World Champion wears his team colours, but on a special jersey with horizontal stripes. National current road champions wear team jerseys featuring their country's colours.
Four other cyclists also wear different coloured jerseys each day.
- The yellow jersey represents the race leader.
- The green jersey represents the race's best sprinter.
- The polka dot jersey designates the race's finest climber.
- The white jersey designates the highest-ranked rider in the overall competition age 25 or younger.
In most instances, cyclists wearing specialty jerseys like to wear them as long as they can during the race. But the coloured jerseys of the Tour change often, and the anticipation of those costume changes each day helps make the Tour a race of many races.
Tour de France: Time Trials, Mountains Stages, Prologues, and More
Despite its century steeped in tradition, one great appeal of the Tour de France is its flexibility. Organizers arrange the course as they choose, but always with a plan to include a balance of most of the different types of races or all of them. And each year, organizers spice up the course with something new, like successive mountaintop finishes or unique starting cities, like the 1998 start in Dublin, Ireland.
Tour organizers mix and match different types of races into the Tour:
- A Prologue (time trial): In most recent years, the Tour has started with a short individual race called a Prologue. Winners of the brief event (it's always shorter than eight kilometers) claim race leadership for the first official opening stage the following day.
- Flat and rolling stages: Flat and rolling stages across the French countryside often comprise the first week.
- Mountain stages: Strenuous mountain stages high into the sometimes snow-capped peaks of the Alps and Pyrenees are held in the second week and into the third week.
- Individual time trials: Individual time trials, in which cyclists pedal solo and are timed against the clock, are interspersed strategically throughout the race.
- Team time trials: Team time trials — that is, each team riding together individually against the clock — aren't held every year, but are added some years for variety.
Each is explained in more detail in the following sections.
Prologues and high speeds
As a ceremonial pre-race, Prologues provide a quick, exciting Tour start. Individual time trials less than 8 kilometers (5 miles) in length, Prologues comprise a few minutes of individual, high-speed pedaling for every cyclist in the field. The race's winner wears the leader's yellow jersey for the first official stage held the following day.
Prologues aren't held every year, but when contested, the short distance gives fans immediate knowledge of just how fast cyclists can pedal. Prologues also provide the first look at the condition or lack of condition of overall title favorites, and showcase the most technological advances in bikes, wheels, helmets, clothing, and so on.
In the 2004 Tour, young Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara surprised the favorites, including Lance Armstrong. Riding for the Italian team Fassa Bortolo, Cancellara claimed the Prologue in 6 minutes and 51 seconds — an average speed of 53.560 kilometers per hour (33.22 mph). As an omen for what was pending in the rest of the race, Cancellara's effort was the third-fastest Prologue in race history and 2 seconds faster than the effort of runner-up Armstrong.
Flat and rolling stages
For the first week of the race, the course usually offers long, flat stretches that are gobbled up by the peloton. Stages may include some brief, low-graded climbs, but in general, teams try to get their sprinters in position for furiously quick dashes to finish lines.
Despite the less technical nature of the Tour's early stages, the week can be dangerous. Riders are nervous when the Tour begins, and it's not uncommon for the entire peloton (pack of riders) to ride en masse into finishing towns. Race organizers utilize as much of the finishing cities' geography as possible to appeal to crowds and to capitalize on sponsorship opportunities. As such, narrow, tight turns are common in the waning kilometers of flat stages, and one false move in the group when it's moving at high speed can result in disastrous crashes.
The first week of racing in the Tour can also provide some of the most scenic and panoramic views of the race. Because early stages encompass long stretches of flat terrain, France's vast vineyards and kilometers of sunflowers are often omnipresent. It's these scenarios — large groups of cyclists moving across the country together with postcard perfect backdrops — that provide travel brochure images for Tour organizers.
Making the grade: Mountain stages
Mountains, with their snow-capped peaks, thin air, winding and steep climbs, and harrowing and narrow descents, define the Tour de France. Some Tour routes in mountains are as famous as the race itself. And it's the strength and talent of some cyclists to get to the top of mountains swiftly that separates them from the rest of the field.
Like all the stages, mountain stages included in the Tour change each year, depending upon how race organizers coordinate the route. The course logically encompasses departure and arrival cities and at least a few of the numerous famous peaks of the French Alps and Pyrenees.
Mountain stages include climbs categorized by number, ranging from 4 (easiest) to 1 (hardest). The most difficult climbs are so steep, they're beyond categorizing, or hors categorie.
Categorizing climbs is objective and subjective. The length of the climb, the difference in altitude from the bottom to the top, its average grade and steepest grade, and where the climb is positioned in the stage are all important factors. The elevation of the climb's summit and the width and condition of the road are also contributing factors.
Certain general guidelines dictate how climbs are categorized, but race directors in different races rate climbs differently. Even year to year in the Tour de France, discrepancies occur.
In general terms, Category 4 climbs are short and easy. Category 3 climbs last approximately 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), have an average grade of 5 percent, and ascend 150 meters (500 feet). Category 2 climbs are the same length or longer at an 8 percent grade and ascend 500 meters (1,600 feet). Category 1 climbs last 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) with an average 6 percent grade and ascend 1,500 meters. Beyond category climbs include an altitude difference of at least 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from start to finish and have an average grade of at least 7 percent.
A 1 percent grade means a road ascends 1 meter (3.28 feet) for every 100 meters (328 feet) it advances.
Individual time trials
More than any other Tour de France race, time trials allow the most riders to showcase their strengths. Cyclists compete individually and against only one competitor — the timing clock. Unlike road racing's team strategy, drafting (riding close behind another rider so as to cut down on the effects of wind) and the flow of the peloton, success in an individual time trial is entirely a solo accomplishment. Every split seconds counts. Riders' aerodynamics matched with their physical skills add up to a simple equation. The fastest man on a bike on any given day wins.
Course distances and routes vary greatly, but time trial routes are generally around 50 kilometers (31.2 miles) and encompass hilly, flat, undulating, and curved road sections. Riders negotiate the course as fast as possible while keeping an appropriate pace and utilizing superior bike-handling skills.
A successful time trialist is not unlike an endurance runner or an ultradistance swimmer. In some ways, time trials are cyclists' marathons. Start a time trial too fast and there's little hope for maintaining a proper steady pace for the duration of the stage. Start too slow in a time trial and a rider may never find the proper rhythm. Unlike endurance sports where certain athletes' body types are conducive to success, great individual time trial riders come in all shapes and sizes.
Race organizers can adjust starting time gaps between riders, but most time trials begin with riders leaving a starting ramp 2 minutes apart. Cyclists compete in the reverse order of their position in the General Classification (the current standings). If a faster rider is about to overtake a slower rider, he must pass while leaving at least a 2-meter distance to prevent drafting, which is illegal only at this point in the race. A passed slower rider then must ride at least 25 meters behind to prevent him from getting the drafting benefits of a slipstream from the leading rider.
A team vehicle carrying spare bikes and wheels must follow every rider in an individual time trial. The vehicle must remain about 10 meters behind the rider, and it can't pull even with its riders at anytime during the stage. Any information exchange between a cyclist and his team vehicle must occur from behind and at least from a 10-meter distance. A vehicle can be positioned between two riders if there's at least 50 meters between riders.
Team time trials
Team time trials seem like oxymorons. Individual time trials test riders' solo strengths; Team time trials bring team strategy back into the race equation. Often cited as the most photogenic cycling discipline, each team's riders ride together, beginning 5 minutes apart. They pedal in a tightly packed, single- or double-file procession.
Cyclists rotate in and out of the front of the group to take advantage of opportunities to draft. Each rider alternately blocks the wind for teammates and then returns into the team formation to conserve energy. A rider may take a turn at the front of his group for 20 seconds and then fall back into the mix of his teammates. Like fast-moving, human-powered, aerodynamic trains, teams advance around corners, over railroad tracks and undulations, and through roadside villages. Visually, the swift packs moving in unison provide excitement for spectators and delightful opportunities for race photographers' keen eyes.
Despite their intriguing nature, team time trials present unique difficulties. If a rider just slightly falls out of rotation, he can initiate a sudden and disastrous crash involving his entire team. If a rider can't keep the same pace as his teammates, he quickly falls off the back of the team and diminishes his team's collective strength.
While important, team time trials are not often held during the long racing season. Teams rarely have opportunities to practice, but done properly, a team time trial takes precise cooperation and coordination among team members. Teams must find an ideal pace despite riders' varying skills. When a team in a team time trial accomplishes its goal, synergy is defined.
Teams must start a team time trial with all their riders. Teams use different strategies. Some squads hope to finish with all riders together and rotate positions until every rider is close to the finish. Other teams have designated strong riders stay at the front for longer durations, only to purposely fall off pace near the conclusion. All teams must finish with at least five riders to get an official time. The time of the fifth rider crossing the line determines the team's finishing time.
Knowing Some Important Tour de France Regulations
Tour rules and regulations are detailed in race Articles. Listed in the Technical Guide, they range from participation to disqualification, medical care to prize money. Rules are written and detailed in French and English. Because French is the universal language in cycling (Lance Armstrong, for example, is fluent), French interpretation of rules prevails in instances in which a language barrier may cloud a definition.
Helmets: Mandatory, dude!
To reduce or eliminate deaths from crashes, every rider in the Tour must now wear a helmet during every stage of the race, including time trials. At their own risk, cyclists may remove their helmets during the final climb to the summit if the climb is at least 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) long. A Tour course marker designates the point on the course where cyclists can remove their helmets. Removal of helmets on mountain stages is never allowed before the start of a climb.
Oh, no, we're wearing the same outfit
Every rider must wear his team's official outfit — shorts, jersey, socks and shoes, gloves, and helmet. Unless a rider withdraws prior to the event, each of the 21 participating teams has nine riders, attired identically, at the start of the race.
Several exceptions exist, however. Leaders in overall standings and best climber (polka dot), sprinter (green), and young rider (white) competitions wear their respective coloured jersey. Each of the sub-competition jerseys includes the appropriate team advertising banners. In individual time trials, competition leaders are provided with appropriately coloured skinsuits instead of jerseys and shorts.
If a rider leads more than one race competition, he wears the jersey in accordance to priority of importance: yellow jersey, green jersey, polka-dot jersey, and white jersey. The runners-up or next highest-place riders in the competitions wear leaders' jerseys in the remaining categories.
The reigning world road race titlist wears a white jersey with horizontal adjoining blue, red, black, yellow, and green bands during the Tour. The rainbow jersey also includes the rider's team sponsors' logos. Reigning national road titlists also wear their national champion jerseys with the same allowance for team names and advertising banners.
Riders can wear additional clothes over or under their jerseys, including rain gear, tights or leg warmers, or other overgarments. And they can wear additional clothing at the start or during a stage. A rider seeking additional attire during a stage drops back to receive items from a team vehicle or from motorcycle drivers designated by race organizers.
Riding by numbers
Tour riders are identified by race numbers. The defending race champion wears No. 1, and his teammates follow in order through No. 9. Every rider considered as his team's overall title contender wears the lowest number on his team. He's listed first on all official rider lists; from there, there's an alphabetical order to the numbers.
Every rider must have an official double-sided number plate on each side of his bike frame and in a designated position. Riders must also wear two numbers, one over each hip. During individual time trial stages, cyclists' two small hip numbers are replaced by a larger single number affixed on their lower back. Race organizers provide number plates and race numbers, and they must be worn without alterations.
Sign on the line, or you don't pass start
Prior to every Tour stage, riders must sign in on a pre-race staging area. The procedure is required in part as tradition, in part to appease spectators gathered near the starting line, awaiting the arrival of their favorite riders minutes before a stage start.
During road stages, riders and team managers must arrive at the signature registration area at least ten minutes prior to a start. Riders who don't sign in are fined 100 Swiss Francs, or about $85. If a rider is prevented from signing in because of traffic congestion or another unavoidable circumstance, a fine is not levied.
After the entire field registers, the race manager begins a stage in one of three ways;
- A standing start begins at the riders' sign-in or signature area.
- A deferred standing start occurs if a stage begins some distance from the sign-in area because of area restrictions.
- A rolling start or flying start occurs when a stage begins when the cyclists casually pedal from the sign-in area, and then begin at the stage where the course is designated as Kilometer 0 (Mile 0).
Feed zone and feeding rules
During the Tour, riders must continuously replenish foods and liquids. Before, during, and after stages, cyclists' eating and drinking habits are reminiscent of scenes of stokers shoveling coal into steam engines — they eat and drink that much.
Riders' nutritional needs are the responsibility of individual teams, with some exception. During every Tour road stage, there's a designated area on the course called the feed zone or feeding station. Team representatives carrying musettes, or feeding bags with sandwiches, fruit, and energy bars. They hand off supplies to riders as they advance through the feed zone. It's cycling's version of take-out food. New water bottles are also distributed to riders in the feed zone, but musettes and water bottles must be those supplied by Tour sponsors or otherwise Tour approved.
Outside the feed zone, riders in a breakaway can also receive supplies from their team managers' vehicles or a Tour-supplied motorcycle. Musettes and water bottles can be used in these feeding options, but these resupply situations and the designated feed zone must follow Tour-established regulations.
Team cars: Position and passing
The group of vehicles that travels with the riders in every Tour stage is known as the caravan. Television, radio, and newspaper journalists; race officials; police escorts; and publicity vehicles all follow Tour regulations. Caravan vehicles are identified with various coloured stickers placed across front windshields. Priority is given to vehicles based on race responsibility, number of occupants in the vehicle, and how the vehicle is equipped.
The same rules apply for team vehicles, but team cars also have a complicated and vast additional list of rules. Team cars carry riders' spare bikes, wheels, water, food, and medical supplies. During the race, the primary team vehicle must be driven by the directeur sportif on the right-hand side of the road and in the order designated at the stage start. Each teams' additional team car is positioned in a second group of vehicles. Teams' second vehicles are positioned identically as the first group, but the second group of team vehicles must be separated from the first group by at least 200 meters (1/8 mile).
Every team vehicle must be equipped with a radio tuned to the Tour's frequency. Every team's place in the caravan is confirmed prior to every stage, and every team's radio must broadcast Tour radio throughout stages. Team vehicles must ask permission or must receive a request from race officials to overtake a race management vehicle.
Teams must attend to their riders under Tour and Union Cycliste Internationale rules. Fines are levied for infractions according to the sanctions list in race regulations. In addition to race penalties, vehicle infractions are subject to French legal action.
Staying within the time limit
Tour organizers have a pretty good idea how long every stage will take. They've toured the routes numerous times while planning the route during the preceding year. And after more than 90 race editions, race organizers know within a certain time frame how long individual mountain ascents and descents, long and flat sections, and wind-swept open roads will likely take. Most stages are geared toward finishing during the nationally televised broadcast in France, between 5 and 6 p.m.
Every city of every stage is designated on the itinerary according to its kilometer distance into the stage. Stage starting times are listed, as well as the time the peloton is expected to arrive. National and regional French newspapers print the itinerary, so that cities' spectators know when the Tour is likely to come to their town.
Tour stage time estimates are surprisingly accurate, but exceptions occur. On some occasions, riders race particularly fast and arrive in cities and finish sooner than expected. Stage finish times can be underestimated by a few minutes or by more than a half-hour for several reasons — a severe crash, extreme weather, or particularly unmotivated riders.
Beyond city-by-city estimated arrival times, each stage itinerary includes a topographic stage profile. It details all categorized climbs (length and gradient), stage sprints, and feed zones. An alternative course route from the stage start to finish of every stage is also provided.
Race organizers diligently estimate stage times, but circumstances can force cancellation of a stage or stages. In special circumstances, including an accident or natural disaster, race officials may:
- Change a course route
- Temporarily halt a stage
- Consider that the stage has not been held and cancel the results
- Cancel part of the stage, nullify intermediate stage results, and restart a stage where an incident occurred
- Restart a stage but keep time gaps recorded to the point where the stage was stopped
Drug testing at every stage
Every rider in the Tour is tested for banned substances prior to the race. Various cyclists are tested after every stage, according to a selection process determined before the race. Under current rules, at least 180 urine drug tests are given, including daily drug tests for the race leader and stage winner and six to eight cyclists selected at random throughout the field.
Tour drug tests are administered in accordance with the rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale and the French Federation of Cycling or Federation Françoise de Cyclisme. TheTour conducts banned substance testing under secure and strictly monitored conditions. A specially equipped caravan is established near the finish line of every stage to transport drug samples to a private location following the race. Drug test samples are then transported by private plane for analysis, and results are quickly reported to Tour officials.
