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NEARLY EVERYTHING YOU WANT (OR AT LEAST NEED) TO KNOW ABOUT LE TOUR DE FRANCE
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NEARLY EVERYTHING YOU WANT (OR AT LEAST NEED) TO KNOW ABOUT LE TOUR DE FRANCE    John Kerry, the former US Secretary of State, is a keen follower of le Tour de France; he once broke a leg while cycling. He has connections with the American team Cannondale who regularly enter a team in the Tour. With one week to go this year’s edition is proving to be a gripping Tour. Just over two minutes separate the top six riders - Sky’s Chris Froome, Astana’s Fabio Aru, AG2R La Mondiale’s Romain Bardet, Canonndale’s Rigoberto Uran, Quick-Step’s Dan Martin, Sky’s Mikel Landa and Orica-Scott’s Simon Yates. Following my last post about the Tour de France, my good friend pocogato12 commented that I need to post again to explain the tactics of the race. So here goes; my apologies to the many that aren’t that interested and the few that already know all about le Tour de France! Le Tour de France always takes place in July, mainly but not exclusively in France. As a Grand Tour - the Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta a España are the other two Grand Tours, le Tour de France lasts just over three weeks, with two rest days, before finishing on the iconic Champs-Élysées in Paris. The Tour normally spans about 3,500 kilometres (about 2,200 miles) over 21 day-long stages. Normally there are about 20 teams, with 9 riders in each team, entering the Tour. This year there are 22 teams, with 198 riders from 32 countries, entered onto the Tour. When le Tour first started the teams were country-based but now they are company-sponsored teams. There are four jerseys up for grabs in le Tour. The coveted yellow jersey is the rider who rides to Paris in the least time. The other contested jerseys are the green jersey given to the best sprinter, the polka dot jersey given to the best climber and the white jersey given to the best young rider. The big budget teams, like Astana, BMC, Movistar and Sky, always go for the yellow jersey. Other teams may go for the green and polka dot jerseys. Teams not going for these jerseys often go for stage wins; some lower-budget teams go for the early breakaways just to get television coverage for their corporate sponsors. It’s very difficult for a team to go for more than one jersey. Given that there are many races within the race, I’m going to focus on how a team can win the yellow jersey, le maillot jeune. This post is about how a team can win the General Classification, known as the GC, and have its rider completing the Tour in the least time. There are different types of riders in the Tour. There are climbers who can climb very long and steep hills; there are rolleurs who can ride long and flat stretches at a steady and relatively fast pace; there are puncheurs who can quickly accelerate and attack especially uphill; and there are sprinters who are quick over a few kilometres to the finishing line. The key point to understand about cycling is that a cyclist riding behind another cyclist or other cyclists saves up to 40 percent of their energy than the cyclist immediately in front of them. This is why there's a peleton, a large group of cyclists; they’re all saving energy riding behind each other and taking turns to be at the front. It’s very difficult for a breakaway group of riders, and especially a solo breakaway rider, to win a race; they just use too much energy for them to keep going until the finishing line! A GC team must then assemble a group of riders who can propel their leader to Paris in the quickest time. Teams’ GC riders have to be great climbers, rolleurs and puncheurs but they don't have to be great sprinters. Sprinters have different bodies than the rest of the riders - they are very brawny and muscular with tree trunks as thighs unlike the rest of the riders who are very lean and clearly in need of a good hearty meal! A GC rider will need a team of domestiques, especially rolleurs and climbers, to help them win the yellow jersey. The role of domestiques is to totally sacrifice themselves for the leader of their team. They'll ride at the front so their leader saves energy; they'll ride at the pace their leader dictates; they'll protect their leader from any cross-winds on the road; they'll fetch and carry food and water to their leader; they'll continually watch what the other teams are doing; they'll cover any breakaways of rival teams; they'll give up their bike if their leader’s bike has a mechanical problem; and they'll help their leader have a pee on the wheel! A top team may even have a super-domestique who can do everything, like Sky’s Geraint Thomas and Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde. As well as being their leader’s wingman, they are a team’s Plan B in case their leader crashes out of the Tour. Basically that’s how you win le Tour de France. Like most sports, it helps to have money. Sky spends over £30 million a year to maintain its operation; many teams are operating on a quarter of that budget. Cynics will perhaps mention drugs as a way of winning the yellow jersey. Yes, this was the way for Lance Armstrong, who now claims he was best drugged-up rider of all other drugged-up riders. But I now believe that cycling is gradually getting on top of doping because le Tour de France stage times have slowed over the last decade. I think doping in cycling is far more individualised now and far less team-organised as in the Lance Armstrong years over a decade ago. Sky's Bradley Wiggins, a recent Tour de France winner, is the case in point; he got official exemption to use a banned drug because of his health. But his use of drugs was cynical; he just took this normally banned drug just before certain key stages of le Tour de France and not for his other races. Despite its rhetoric, Sky isn’t squeaky clean and I can understand why Sky’s Chris Froome gets a hard press in France. But I think the crowd’s boos levelled at Chris Froome this year are more about the vast majority of the crowd wanting the French rider Romain Bardet to wear the yellow jersey in Paris. I think I’ve gone on enough and the Alps are coming! Do you think sport should be drug-free? For other Tour de France blog posts, see BICYCLE RACE, LE TOUR DE FARCE, THE PELOTON AND A WHEELSUCKER, A DOMESTIC GODDESS AND A DOMESTIQUE, WATCH ME NAKED ON THE TOUR, BACK FROM LYON, LE MAILLOT JAUNE, SOME COLOMBIAN, AN INCIDENT AT THE SWIMMING POOL, MEN CAN MULTITASK, THE CURSE OF YELLOW, A COCK WAS SHOWING AND THE ALPS ARE COMING, EL DIABLO39S NAKED GRAND TOUR, LE TOUR DE FRANCE, BRITS WEARING SUNGLASSES INVADE FRANCE, LE TOUR EST FINI, LE TOUR DE LYCRA FROM DSSELDORF TO PARIS and NO SUMMER FUN IN FRANCE.    |
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I still think Chris Froome will win the Tour with Romain Bardet and Rigoberto Uran to join him on the podium in Paris. Richie Porte has crashed out and Fabio Aru hasn't got a team to support him.  
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so Aru is a single cyclist without all the runners to assist? wouldn't it be something if he won. You cannot conceive the many without the one.
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btw...... thanks for this, it's the first time, I've ever felt I understood any of the dynamics of the sport. You cannot conceive the many without the one.
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so Aru is a single cyclist without all the runners to assist? wouldn't it be something if he won. Fabio Aru's team is very depleted so now he has to be a wheelsucker and just follow the wheel of Chris Froome or Romain Bardet, both supported by strong teams. It's a long time since a wheelsucker won le Tour de France and if Fabio Aru does it, it'll be an incredible achievement!
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I think all sport should be drug free....which is probably never going to happen. Irish riders had a fairly good day today.  ~~Anais Nin~~
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I think all sports should be drug free.. It was sure an excellent ride yesterday I was watching. The scenery in that part of the world is awesome hugss V Become a blog watcher sweet_vm
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Do you think sport should be drug-free? All sports should be PED drug free.. When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
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Drug free! In theory at least the sport competition should be more important than a tainted win.
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Do you think sport should be drug-free? I prefer to think that the players are playing fair and not using drugs that enhance their performance. I've never been big on watching sports with the exception of "Women's Beach Volleyball." I like playing sports or at least I used to... I wonder if I could get a spot on a women's beach volleyball team?  Vive La Difference
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Bonjour Spunky Merci de ta très bonne explication des tactiques de la course pour les néophytes. Tu devrais écrire " Le tour de France pour les nuls" Je suis un grand fan et cette année nous pouvons voir entièrement les étapes en direct à la télé. Malheureusement les équipes ne laissent pas beaucoup de chance aux baroudeurs. Heureusement il y a la montagne. Enfin cette année les espoirs de gagner sont encore ouverts pour plusieurs coureurs Ils restent les Alpes où tout va se jouer Et j'espère que nous n'aurons pas la mauvaise surprise de savoir que le gagnant c'est doper Que le meilleur gagne ♥ Poton ♥ Bisou ♥ Annie ♥ Hello Spunky Thank you for your very good explanation of the tactics of the race for the neophytes. You should write "The Tour de France for Dummies" I am a big fan and this year we can see the full stages live on TV. Unfortunately the teams do not leave much luck to the scouts. Luckily there is the mountain. Finally this year the hopes of winning are still open for several riders They remain the Alps where everything is going to be played And I hope we will not have the nasty surprise of knowing that the winner is doping May the best win ♥ Kiss ♥ Annie ♥
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I haven't watched a great deal of the tour this year. I did watch the British Grand Prix though  
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Well done, well summed up. Yes I think sex and sports should be drug free. Sommaire Et la souffrance vgtale L'être idéal ? Un ange dévasté par l'humour. E.M. Cioran
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Yes, all sport should be drug free. Excellent post McPunkster!
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Spunky, my man, THANK YOU for this enlightening, detailed post. It really helped me to continue watching the Tour!!! All sports should be drug free with the exception of a participant who has an infection and needs to be on something such as amoxicillin.. The pics that are posted are also super. Thank you again for making this so more more enjoyable to watch  (Virtual Symposium Group) use Virtual Symposium Group
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btw...... thanks for this, it's the first time, I've ever felt I understood any of the dynamics of the sport.
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I think all sport should be drug free....which is probably never going to happen. Irish riders had a fairly good day today.
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I think all sports should be drug free.. It was sure an excellent ride yesterday I was watching. The scenery in that part of the world is awesome hugss V
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Do you think sport should be drug-free? All sports should be PED drug free..
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Drug free! In theory at least the sport competition should be more important than a tainted win.
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Perfor,ance-enhancing drugs should definitely be banned; I'm not sure about non-performance enhancing drugs being banned. Thopugh illegal in many countries, cannabis and cocaine are hardly likely to enhance sporting performance!
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Do you think sport should be drug-free? I prefer to think that the players are playing fair and not using drugs that enhance their performance. I've never been big on watching sports with the exception of "Women's Beach Volleyball." I like playing sports or at least I used to... I wonder if I could get a spot on a women's beach volleyball team? [image]
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Bonjour Spunky Merci de ta très bonne explication des tactiques de la course pour les néophytes. Tu devrais écrire " Le tour de France pour les nuls" Je suis un grand fan et cette année nous pouvons voir entièrement les étapes en direct à la télé. Malheureusement les équipes ne laissent pas beaucoup de chance aux baroudeurs. Heureusement il y a la montagne. Enfin cette année les espoirs de gagner sont encore ouverts pour plusieurs coureurs Ils restent les Alpes où tout va se jouer Et j'espère que nous n'aurons pas la mauvaise surprise de savoir que le gagnant c'est doper Que le meilleur gagne ♥ Poton ♥ Bisou ♥ Annie ♥ Hello Spunky Thank you for your very good explanation of the tactics of the race for the neophytes. You should write "The Tour de France for Dummies" I am a big fan and this year we can see the full stages live on TV. Unfortunately the teams do not leave much luck to the scouts. Luckily there is the mountain. Finally this year the hopes of winning are still open for several riders They remain the Alps where everything is going to be played And I hope we will not have the nasty surprise of knowing that the winner is doping May the best win ♥ Kiss ♥ Annie ♥
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I think you should be able to see the Tour de France via the Internet, though it's nearly ended now.
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I haven't watched a great deal of the tour this year. I did watch the British Grand Prix though
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Well done, well summed up. Yes I think sex and sports should be drug free.
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