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 A bike race? What’s the big deal?
Uh, not “a” bike race. The bike race. The Tour de France is the biggest annual sports event on Earth. France practically shuts down for all 3 weeks of it. The Tour is actually multiple races, traversing more than 2,000 miles across multiple countries, scaling the equivalent of two Mount Everests. The Tour has a rich history of more than 100 years, riders from all over the world take part in it, and more than 12 million people witness it in person along the route. It’s grueling, brutal, harrowing—and beautiful.
 Why do the riders have teams?
Some people don’t realize the Tour de France is a team event. Lance Armstrong would never have won at all—much less his record seven times—if he had ridden alone. Each team usually begins with nine men, with some dropping out along the way, from injury or exhaustion. The team leader, like Armstrong, is the best and the fastest. The others play supporting roles, doing all they can to help him win. They shield him from hard-charging rivals, ride in front to allow him to “draft” in their slipstream, creating and chasing breakaways to set a pace that will benefit their leader, and much more.
 What’s a “peloton”?
It’s the main group of riders, that insanely bunched-together mass of athletes and bicycles taking a downhill curve at 40 miles per hour. Sprinters try to break out of the peloton, grinding ahead to reach the day’s finish line first. But the peloton has an advantage: bunched riders are more aerodynamic, allowing riders in the pack to work together to pursue the breakaway artists.
 What’s a “domestique”?
French for “servant,” it’s a team member who literally carries the water for his teammates, fading back to fetch water bottles and nutrients for his team, then pumping like crazy to catch back up. A domestique’s role is to fall on his sword for his team and team leader, up to and including giving up his bike if the leader has wrecked his.
 What are “stages”?
The Tour is made up of different stages: flat, rolling, mountains and time trials. Each has its own challenges and strategies.
Flat stages cover flat-out landscapes from 100 to 150 miles. The comparative ease of the stage motivates riders to try breakaways, aiming to earn points in the intermediate sprints so they can wear the green jersey (worn by the rider with the most points at any given time). But as noted above, riders back in the peloton have the aerodynamic advantage, especially on straightaways.
Rolling stages feature varying landscapes and challenging hills. They stretch from 100 to 140 miles, appealing to well-balanced teams of sprinters, climbers and domestiques. Working together, these teams have a better chance at a breakaway because rolling stages are far more difficult than flat ones.
Mountain stages are jaw-dropping, death-defying and often painful to watch. But don’t close your eyes—you have to see it to believe it. The biggest mountains dash the peloton to bits, stretching out the pack like no other stage. Mountain stages can have five or more huge climbs, with some taking more than an hour of leg-searing, lung-busting effort. Only the most superhuman athlete (say, Lance Armstrong) can shoot to the lead here with regularity. On the way down, it gets even wilder. Speeds can surpass 60 MPH, which is one reason three riders have been killed on the Tour (most recently Fabio Casartelli of the American-based Motorola team, on a descent from the Col De Portet d'Aspet in the Pyrenees in 1994).
Time Trials are about one thing: speed. It’s the only part of the Tour where it’s every man for himself, taking turns racing against the clock. Some are quick five-mile sprints, others as long as 40 miles. They offer one of the best ways to pare down a rider’s overall time, leading to the yellow jersey and victory. Since time trials were another Lance Armstrong specialty, they helped him seal his seven Tour wins.
 Why do the riders look like rolling billboards?
 Owners? What owners? You’ll find no Mark Cubans or George Steinbrenners in the Tour de France. Instead of owners, teams have sponsors. Teams really are rolling billboards, advertising their sponsors as they tear across France. Leading teams get enormous coverage across Europe and around the world, earning their sponsors priceless publicity.
 Are the teams like Olympics contingents, all from one country?
No, it’s the other way around. Many teams are like a global Olympics village in themselves. The Discovery Channel team, which Lance Armstrong rode for in his last win, has only one American rider in 2006: George Hincapie, who ground out a mountain stage win in 2005 and finished 14th overall. International teams are common in the Tour de France. The goal isn’t to ride for your country as a team. The goal is to win…or at least survive.
 What’s an average Tour rider like?
Tour de France riders are lean, gangly, and built to cut through the air like a serrated knife. They average 5’8” in height and weigh just 150 to 160 pounds. Why so lean? No one wants to haul extra weight up a mountain. (One of Lance’s advantages was that he lost pounds during his illness.) The riders burn 3,000 calories per day on the Tour, and up to 10,000 calories in the mountain stages—losing up to 3 pounds in one ride.
 What’s the deal with the colored jerseys?
 Yellow Jersey. A TdF fashion trend: everyone wants to wear yellow. That means you’re the overall time leader at the end of each stage. If you wear the yellow jersey after the race ends on the Champs d’Elysées, you have won the Tour de France. Lance Armstrong must be partial for yellow, having done this seven times.
 Green Jersey. As noted earlier, this “sprinter’s jersey” is worn by the rider with the most points awarded after each stage finishes.
 White Jersey. Worn by the 25-or-under rider who has the best overall time. Too bad, ’cause those nightclubbing young dudes look better in black.
 Polka Dot Jersey. Worn by the “King of the Mountains.” Kind of like the green jersey, this goes to the rider awarded the most points for cresting particular peaks.
 How are those bikes different from my bike?
They’re lighter, more high-tech, and they don’t have one of those CHING-CHING bells on the handlebars. Most Tour bikes are custom-made, with riders switching between standard bikes and time trial bikes. A Tour rider wants his bike to be stiff, aerodynamic, and as close to weight minimum as possible. The bikes are made of carbon fiber, aluminum, titanium, and (crazy though it may sound) even steel. You won’t find any low-end discount bikes grinding up the Pyranees.
Tour Bike Insights
Weight – Min of 16 pounds
Gears – 20 (2 front and 10 rear)
Frame – Primarily Aluminum, Carbon Fiber
Wheels – Carbon Fiber
Tires – Rubber and Kevlar
Cost – Available in high-end bike shops for $7,000 and up. Way up.
Andreu “Bike” Video Feature
 What tactics and strategies do the teams use?
Wow, I could write you a book. And a lot of people have. But basically, before the Tour begins a team’s manager will set overall goals and assignments for the team, as well as for individual riders. Daily goals and assignments are set as well. If conditions and circumstances permit, the riders stick to the game plan. But weather, competitors, and other unknowns can put a wrench in any plan, so teams have to be flexible. The biggest goals: getting your sprinter out front to win the flat stages, creating breakaways for strong riders seeking solo wins or entry into a smaller group, and protecting your overall time leader until he can break from the pack in the mountains. How do you protect him? By riding in front to save him 20% of his energy thanks to aerodynamic draft, and to protect him from crashing into competitors. Day by day, stage by stage, a team tries to shave off time and move their leader forward, ever closer to the yellow jersey in Paris.
 What are some Tour terms I need to know?
Ah, so you want to show off for friends while you watch the Tour de France on VERSUS? Sacre bleu! Click the link below for key words and phrases. If you really want to tick your friends off, use your best fake French accent on words like soigneur.
Click here for some Cycling Terms
Sources: Robbie Ventura (Coach of Floyd Landis); Tour de France Companion by Bob Roll and Dan Koeppel; VERSUS Editors.
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