Berets, baguettes and bikes – oh la la!

I have never watched the Tour de France

Explain this to me     s  l  o  w  l  y  .

• Over 23 days (from July 6th – July 28th), 176 riders will race over 2,000 miles for a series of 21 ‘stages’ through mountains, hills, towns and sprint days. At the end of each stage, every cyclists’ individual time is added to his previous stage times. The cyclist with the lowest cumulative time wins the Tour de France and iconic yellow jersey.
  • 22 teams of 8 riders who use varying strategies to win
  • 28 riders in the young rider classification this year
• There will be 7 flat stages, 5 hilly stages, 7 mountain stages (with 5 mountain top finishes), 1 individual time trial stage, 1 team time trial stage and 2 rest days
  • Each stage gives its own points and prize money.
  • Stage 1 started in Brussels (you’re not crazy that is in Belgium not France)
  • Every year the route changes but it always ends the same
  • Stage 21 will end on the Champs-Elysees
  • Rest days are 7/16 and 7/22
• Who is in the lead? Here are the updated standings.
  • One of the favorites, GBR’s Chris Froome is not competing this year after a serious cycling accident earlier in the year. He won the TdF in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017
• It will be televised everyday on NBCSN live at ~7am CT and replays most days @ 8pm
  • Every year the TdF has ~3.5Bn views (now granted that is over 21 days) which is a similar figure as the World Cup. The most viewed Super Bowl had ~111MM

How hard is this course really?

• This year’s course is 2,150 miles
  • Better wear those padded shorts – Each stage is usually 5 and a half hours and 230km
  • Riders average 25mph over the course as a whole
  • The longest TdF of all time was 3,570 miles in 1926
  • The group of riders will go through 790 tires over the entire race
• 4 cyclists have died during the race; most recently in 1995
• In 1919, only 10 cyclists finished the race which still holds the record of the least number of finishers
• 3 new cities host at least a part of a stage this year: Binche (stage 3), Saint-Die-de-Vosges (stage 5) and Pont du Gard (stage 17)
• The time trials are often called the ‘race of truth’ as there is no hiding from the clock
  • For the individual time trial, riders start at intervals and race through a shorter course that is then added to their overall time
  • For the team time trail, the 1st 4 from a team get the 4th rider’s time added to their overall race time. All others who fell off the pace of their teammates, get their own time added to their cumulative race time
    • So if you get 5th on your team but you were close behind that 4th guy, its not a big deal. But if you are the 8th guy on your team to cross the line and its multiple minutes after your team, then that can mess up your overall race place.
  • If you do not finish the time trail in the time limit, you are eliminated from the entire race
• Most racers do not actually ‘rest’ on rest days, the cyclists usually still ride for about 2 hours to flush out their system
• Notable stages:
  • Mountain Stages:
    • Alpe d’Huez – fans have been abusive in this stage in the past
    • Mont Ventoux – due to its harsh conditions
    • Col du Tourmalet – most popular mountain on the TdF
    • Col du Galibier – most visited mountain on the alps
  • Champs-Elysees (finishing stage since 1975)

Soooo many jerseys….

All teams wear matching jerseys but certain colors mean certain things and are very prestigious. Here are what they mean:

Yellow Jersey (‘maillot jaune’): 

It is worn by the rider with the lowest cumulative time in the race so far (under general classification). Keep in mind that the guy in the yellow jersey may not be the same guy who won the last stage and the overall winner may never wear a yellow jersey after any stage. Think of this guy as the race leader.

• The rider awarded the yellow jersey everyday can be seen in a photo-op with stuffed loin, which is the symbol of Credit Lyonnaise, the bank that has sponsored the yellow jersey since 1987.
• July 19th, 2019 will be the 100th anniversary of the first yellow jersey ever won in the Tour de France

Polka Dot Jersey:

It is worn by the rider who has the most climbing points

• Climbing points are given to the 1^st 10 riders to reach the top of each climb.
• Climbs are categorized by steepness and length; the higher the difficulty, the more points you get

Green Jersey:

It is worn by the rider winning the ‘points classification’ (usually a sprinter)

• Points are given to the first 15 riders to cross the pre-determined sprint point during the stage (usually around half way) as well as the first 15 riders to finish the stage
  • Flat stages win the most points as it makes it more likely a sprinter will win the classification.
• Why green? The classification was first sponsored by a lawn mower producer

White Jersey: 

It is worn by the rider with the fastest cumulative time under the age of 26 (as of January 2019)

• 4 riders have won the young rider and general classification in the same year: Laurent Fignon, Jan Ullrich, Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck (2010)

Other notable colors worn:

• White numbers on a red background: Most combative rider. This is determined by a jury after the stage is completed to be worn the next day. Things the jury takes into consideration time spent in breakaways, number of attacks on the leaders, etc.
• Rainbow stripes on white: worn by the World Champion
• Jerseys with national colors are often worn by the champions of individual countries
• ‘Lanterne rouge’ (which translates to red light): the rider who is last and sometimes even carries a small red light in saddle

If I want a yellow jersey, who should I hit up?

• Reigning champ: GBR Geriant Thomas on Team Sky
  • The winner of general classification gets €500,000
  • $4.3MM of prize money is given out to stage winners, classification winners, etc.
• Most wins: 5 tied between FRA Jaques Anquetil, BEL Eddy Mercks, FRA Bernard Hinault, ESP Miguel Indurain
  • Obviously as Americans we all remember Lance Armstrong who won the TdF 7 times from 1999-2005. Those years declare no winner to this day.
  • Only 1 other American has won the Tour de France: Greg LeMond and he did it 3xs
  • It took 8 yrs from the first race to have a non-French winner (LUX)
  • Other countries with winners: GBR, ITA, AUS, LUX, ESP, GER, DEN, USA, IRE, NED, BEL, SUI
• Most stages wins in a single TdF: 8 by 3 different riders
• Total cumulative stages won: Eddy Merckx with 34 (he has spent the most days wearing the yellow jersey at 96)
• Youngest winner: 19 yr old in 1904 and the youngest stage winner is also 19 but in 1931
• Oldest winner: 32 in 1922
• Smallest margin of victory: 8 seconds in 1989
• The TdF was not competed during WWI 1915-1919 and again during WWII 1940-1946

Move over golf, we found the new gentlemen’s sport

Cycling has more etiquette involved than it first appears

• Different teams have different strategies. Usually the team has 1 signature rider and the others protect him, set the pace and run down lead groups for him.
  • Most riders in the main pack are ok to let the lead group (‘peloton’) get ~5-10 minutes ahead because that group usually gets tired and falls back before the end of the stage
• If a crash takes out riders within the last 3km of a flat stage then riders can be awarded the same time as the rest of peloton (‘3km rule’) – not always though it is at the course regulators suggestion
• After a crash, it is not unusual to see the group slow down to allow others to catch back up after a crash or puncture
• Although the classification lead is still be contended, there is usually a gentlemen’s agreement not to challenge for it during the final stage down the Champs-Elysees.
  • Why would competitors allow this? Because by this time in the race the leader usually has enough time built into his cumulative race time that he cannot be caught. This final stage is usually the easiest stage thus, without an extenuating circumstance taking out the leader, there is no point trying to beat him for it.  This stage is more about aesthetics and celebrating the sport
  • Back in the day, the leader had a glass of champagne in their hand during this final stage
  • It is customary to honor the leader (or someone else for a great achievement) by letting them enter the Champs-Elysees in 1st place
    • In 2012, American George Hincapie was given this honor as it was his final and recording setting 17th TdF.
• The winner usually shares his $600,000 prize evenly between his teammates

Ok that’s dandy but what about those dirty details?

Not everyone can ‘hold it’ when they are on a bike for 5 and a half hours but you never see the riders use the toilets. How? Some riders do go to the bathroom on their bikes and do not stop – understandably other riders do not overtake them while they do this. Ew.

Other times the group of riders will agree to stop in an area with no spectators and the TV cameras will cut away to some cute animals, pretty flowers or local architecture during those moments.

The riders also eat and drink on the bike. There are feeding stations where a support staffer from their team will hand them a bag of food, gels, energy bars, etc. The whole TdF will cause the riders to burn ~123,000 calories.

Remember these?

We can’t talk about the Tour de France without talking about Lance Armstrong…

Remind me what happened:

When most of us hear cycling or doping, we think of Lance Armstrong. He was by far the most popular and the most successful in the Tour de France, having won 7 consecutive tours before he was banned. One month after his 7^th tour win, Armstrong was featured in an article showing proof he had used EPO and he tested positive for hormones (although below the DQ threshold). In Jan of 2013, Lance Armstrong admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he had doped despite fighting against those claims in the past.

How early did this start?

From the first TdF in 1903 people have been trying to cheat. In the early years riders would drink alcohol to dull the pain or used ether (a general anesthetic). Other early tactics included amphetamine (increase concentration, muscle endurance, delaying onset fatigue and increases muscle strength), cocaine, chloroform and horse ointment. Alcohol was finally banned in the 1960s as it was considered a stimulant.

The TdF in 1904 was already plagued by a cheating scandal when the supposed winner, Maurice Garin, was caught taking a train during the Alps part of the race. Another rider tied a cork to a string which he put in his mouth and had a car drag him up the mountains.

When did things start to change?

Doping really came to a head in the 1998 “Tour of Shame” (aka Tour de Farce) when an assistant of the Festina team was arrested with EPO (erythropoietin), growth hormones and testosterone. This team was later found guilty of organized doping along with the TVM team. Only 96 riders finished the race that year. 50 riders have now been confirmed to either fail an EPO test or admit to doping.

This is a hilarious satire about doping in cycling. Careful not suitable for all ages – its HBO people.