UPCOMING CLASSES / TOUR DE FRANCE:
This issue celebrates the greatest bicycle event of the year, the Tour
de France. The tour this year is even more special because of its 100th
anniversary.
The first week has played out, as it often does, as a “shake out”. As
we enter the crucial final two weeks, I offer you this viewing guide to
help you follow along. In addition, my classes during the tour will
attempt to put you on the saddle of tour riders as we recreate the
events from the prior week.
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Classes beginning Saturday, July 6th will cover events during Stages 1 to 7. This period includes the July 2 (Stage 4) team time trial.
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Classes beginning Saturday, July 13th will cover
events during Stages 8 to 13. July 6th (Stage 8) is the first mountain
finish. July 10th (Stage 11) will feature an important individual time
trial.
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Classes beginning Saturday, July 20th will cover
events during Stages 14 to 20. July 14 (Stage 15) ascends the famous
Mont Ventoux “moonscape” climb. July 18 (Stage 18) is perhaps the best
stage of this year’s race - a never before attempted double climb of
Alpe d’ Huez. July 20 (Stage 20), represents the last chance for
reshuffling the field on this climb.)
Nothing prepares you to understand the difficulty of this race. 2100
miles in 21 days - not of riding but of the hardest racing! This is
often compared to running 21 marathons in as many days. Think of it
this way:
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The “average” good rider rides about 17–18 mph on flat roads. The
Tour rider cruises about ten miles per hour faster. That is “cruising”
speed. As I write this, I watched Peter Sagan’s team racing at 40mph to
bring him back to the main pack after a mechanical incident. I’ve
always thought it unfortunate that so many of the TV images are taken
from motorcycles riding alongside the racers. The reality of speed is
lost since the motorcycles and bikes are traveling at the same speed.
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Another comparison is watts. Watts, like horsepower, is a measurement
of power. Many of you know your typical watts from your Keiser indoor
cycling bike. At threshold a pro can hold 400-plus watts for an hour or
more. And, in a sprint, the pro’s watts can briefly go as high as
1,400.
A FANS GUIDE TO THE 2013 TOUR DE FRANCE: I invite you
to enjoy this year’s Tour de France with me. I’ve been a huge fan of
this fascinating spectacle since the early 1980’s. Let me warn you it
takes some effort to follow. But once you begin to appreciate the
complexity it becomes a fascination. Once you learn it, it becomes
engaging, endearing and enduring. Here is some help to get you started.
The Tour is the third most popular sporting event in the world. It is
exceeded in viewership only by the Olympics and World Cup Soccer. You
just can’t imagine the pandemonium of up to 15 million people lining the
roads of France. And those are just the people watching in person!
But your question is, “Is the sport now clean?” I believe announcer
Bob Roll’s answer. He said that in the Lance Armstrong era about 90% of
the riders cheated and about 10% road clean. Today, according to Roll,
90% or more are clean. I wrote a long piece about Lance Armstrong’s
drug cheating and I can send that back issue to you if you wish.
In America, understandably, we are most interested when an American is a
contender. After decades when no American even raced in the Tour, a
few brave Americans began making their way to France in the 1980's.
Jacques Boyer was the first in 1981. And two American’s have been
dominant in their own era’s, Greg LeMond (winner in 1986, 1989 and 1990
and Lance Armstrong (first finisher but no longer the official winner
from 1999 through 2005).
This year the particular American to watch is Tejay van Garderen with
Team BMC. He is young and I think will play a role this year. Most
consider him a future tour winner. He has the crucial combination of
being able to both climb and time trial. He was 5th last year and will
work for his team leader Cadel Evans. Evan’s is 36 and will likely turn
the team leader role over to van Garderen sometime.
Not One Race But Many. The Tour is complicated.
That’s what’s good about it. I think one of the most important things
to understand is that the tour is many races within a race. It is not
just a race for the Yellow Jersey.
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General Classification (GC). This is the one we all
hear about. The Yellow Jersey is awarded each day to the rider each
day with the lowest cumulative time for the entire event.
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Sprinters. The leader in this category wears a green
jersey. Along the way, points are awarded for the first finishers in
the flat stages. Riders in a close group arriving at the finish at the
same approximate time are awarded the same finish time, but the first
one to actually cross the line wins the points towards best sprinter.
This contest results in furious sprints at breakneck speeds
elbow-to-elbow and many of the tour’s crashes. These are the tough guys
of the tour. A team with a contender for the green is usually
surrounded by strong riders that can give him a lead out to build up a
furious speed over the final hundred years.
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King of the Mountains. Similar in concept to the
green sprinters jersey, this polk-a-dot jersey designates the rider who
has won the most points as awarded on the mountain climbs. These riders
are the physical opposites of the sprinters. They are lean and light
to help them achieve the power to weight ratio necessary for them to
climb the highest mountains quickly.
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Young Rider. This white jersey is awarded to the highest place rider in the general classification who is under the age of 25.
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Most Aggressive Rider. This subjective award is
awarded by race officials to the rider who does the most to stimulate
aggressive riding in the race. The rider is awarded a red number to
wear on his jersey.
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Stage Winners. Each day is a race onto itself. The
winner of the day’s race is recognized on the podium. Winning any day
of the Tour is a prestigious win for a rider and for his sponsors but
there is no jersey recognition.
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Team Classification. This award is for the team with
the lowest cumulative time for the entire team. It is also important
from a sponsorship perspective.
An important implication of these multiple prizes is that different
teams will be employing different strategies simultaneously. Different
teams will have different strengths and goals. Given these different
goals, teams are in an ever-shifting set of alliances and competitions.
This is the fascination of the tour. It is a big chess match played
out at 30mph.
Stages: Just like the teams have different goals, each
day’s race is conducted on a different course and often in a different
format. This adds still more complexity.
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Road Stages. These are longer stages over mostly
flatter road. These stages are often dominated by the big, strong
riders and often finish in a sprint finish. Average finishing speeds
will be 40mph plus.
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Mountain Stages. Mountain climbs are conducted in
the Alps or Pyrenees. Many of them are famous in cycling lore for their
extreme difficulty and for the courageous acts performed on them over
the years. Most teams have riders who specialize in this area and lead
their team when their turn comes as the road goes up.
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Time Trials. This is another speciality, being able
to ride fast and alone. Each rider leaves individually at one minute
intervals. The individual times are compared and are added to the
riders cumulative time. There is no team help. The rider is alone
against the clock. A particular kind of rider excels here, one with the
ability to focus and ride within themselves.
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Team Time Trials. This is a true speciality because
not only are all the technical talents of the individual time employed,
teamwork is also needed. The team races together in a tight aerodynamic
formation at very high speeds. Each rider takes a brief turn at the
front doing the hard work of breaking the wind. The length of time each
rider stays there depends on the riders strength and team strategy.
The riders are inches from each other navigating turns and changes at
the front. But the catch is this, each individual rider on the team is
given the teams’s time for the day. The teams time is taken on a middle
rider to cross the finish line. That means that a strong rider on a
weaker team could be penalized because his team slowed him down.
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Teams: Teams are commercially sponsored and
international although sometimes a team will reflect a certain national
image or make up. Each team is led by a master strategist and manager
(Director Sportif) and various support staff in addition to the riders.
Riders can be thought of as filling several roles.
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Team Leader. On the better teams this person is probably a contender for the general classification victory i.e. Yellow Jersey.
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Top Lieutenant. This position, given various names,
is the teams number two leader and often called upon to provide special
work in difficult situations.
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Sprinters. These are the big beefy riders who often struggle in the mountains but excel in the rough and tough of the flat stages.
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Climbers. These riders, called “Angels of the
Mountains”, are specialists in the mountains. They are often tiny, with
power to weight ratios that are just off the charts but usually without
the ultimate power to contend on the flat roads and time trials
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Domestiques. French for servants, domestiques
perform multiple duties for the team. These include chasing down
breakaways, delivering messages or water, and even giving up their bike
to someone higher in the pecking order after a crash or mechanical
problem has occurred. Any of the riders - except the team leader -
might be called upon to perform domestique duties. The domestiques
worth is determined not by their standing but by the value of the work
they give the team. They are the “grunts” that make it all possible.
Tactics and Terms. All this comes together in the individual tactics performed during the day. Here are a few as they occur to me.
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Peleton. The peleton is the largest group of riders
on the road. It is an amazing organism with a life and will of its own.
It moves up and down the road with a kind of collective will and
judgment. Riders from different teams will co-exist on the peleton
supporting one another and advancing their efforts. During easier times,
there can even be friendly conversations as they cruise along at 25mph.
But just as the peleton can be benign and friendly, it can become
mean, demanding and fierce. It is a temperamental beast.
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Breakaway. A breakaway is a group of riders who have
separated themselves from the peleton by attacking or “going off the
front”. If the breakaway group contains a contending rider, the
peloton will fight to bring them back in. If the break is thought to be
“harmless” it may benignly let it go, at least for awhile. The peleton
has the advantage over the breakaway because of the aerodynamic
advantage of a larger group over a smaller one i.e. the ability of more
riders to take a turn at the front. An attack or breakaway can be
opportunistic or can be a tactical way to wear down opponents.
Breakaways are usually caught by the larger, more powerful, peleton but
occasionally they succeed. There is great drama as a breakaway is
chased by the peleton. It’s a classic David and Goliath scenario.
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Chase. An attack group is sometimes followed by a
chase group. This is a second group of riders who set off from the
peleton in an attempt to catch the attack group. The effort to move
from one group on the road to another is often called bridging.
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Teamwork. There are many examples of teamwork during
the Tour but in the context of a breakaway and the peleton a frequent
strategy is blocking. Often there will be teams in the peleton who want
the breakaway to succeed just as there will be ones wishing it to fail.
Teammates of those in the breakaway may impede the progress at the
front of the peleton by positioning themselves in an obstructionist way.
Oftentimes, this is accompanies by soft pedaling i.e. pretending to be
pedaling harder than they actually are.
Contenders and Riders to Watch:
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Chris Froome. Froome is the future. He is a Briton,
born in Kenya. He is young and has twice finished second in grand
tours. He has won four smaller stage-races this Spring. With his team
leader, and last year’s Tour winner, Bradley Wiggins out this year,
Froome will lead the powerful Team Sky. This year’s course, with its
emphasis on climbing, seems to favor him. To emphasize the strength of
his team, his top lieutenant, Richie Porte, could also be a podium contender.
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Alberto Contador, 30, is expected to be Froome’s main
rival. Contador was the initial winner of the 2010 Tour de France but
was stripped of the title having been found guilty of a doping offense.
Contador is controversial but is widely considered to be the best
climbing specialist and stage racer in the world today. He has won five
grand tours. But he has shown weaknesses this Spring and his team is
rated a bit below Froome’s.
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Cadel Evans. Evans won the Tour in 2011 and was
second in 2012. The Australian is tough, wily and experienced, but some
wonder if he is perhaps becoming too old.
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Andy Schleck. Schleck did not race last year due to a
broken pelvis. He is a former runner up and a great climber but not
considered to be on form this year.
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Joachim Rodriguez hasn’t ridden the last two Tours d
France but has had podium finishes in the Tours of Italy and Spain. He
is regarded as one of the world’s best climbers.
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Thomas Voeckler. Fun to watch. He is unpredictable
and popular with fans. His melodramatics add to the drama of the race.
He is French and they love him.
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Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan must be regarded as
the favorites to win the green sprinters jersey. Cavendish goes into
the tour with 23 stage wins sprints. Sagan is a young, immature
character with enormous talent. Also watch for Andre Griepel in the sprints.
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Jens Voigt is a
cult personality in professional cycling. He is known and loved for his
aggression and his willingness to embrace the pain of professional
cycling. He is German, and an older rider perhaps riding his last
tour.
How to watch: The Tour will be telecast on NBC Sports
(channel 73 on Des Moines Mediacom). The coverage is repeated throughout
the day so it is easy to catch or to DVR. Be sure to watch for three
telecasters that are as much a part of the tour as the event itself.
Phil Liggett has covered more than 40 tours and he is master of
understanding and describing events. He is very capably assisted by two
former Tour riders Paul Sherwin and American Bob Roll. Roll is a bit
impertinent in contrast to Liggett’s British restraint. On the web, I
suggest www.velonews.com or www.cyclingnews.com or
http://www.steephill.tv/.
QUOTE: “Anima Sana In Corpore Sano” (A Sound Mind in a Sound Body.)
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