TdF questions

[Kano]

Peloton -- undulating wave of color. A beautiful sight. Don't know why they named it that, but it'll do.

Feeling really new again, this is my educational tv show for the month.

What the heck is a "cheeky-boo?" That dude mentioned that something would be a "cheeky-boo" at around 9k to go.

Yellow shirt, guy who's wining
White shirt, best newbie (I could have one of those!)
dot shirt, king of the hill

green shirt???????????


Today there was new stuff for me: the climbs. And what was new about it was that the hills were "graded" -- so what's a class 5, etc. hill? It looks to me like smaller number, bigger climb, but there must be some definition to those classifications? I want to know how much of a hill they're climbing when it's called a 2 or 3, or whatever...


Karen in Boise

[snapdragen]

Green jersey - sprinter

Climbs are rated based on length and steepness Hors categorie (outside category) being the toughest, then 1 through 4, four being the easiest.

ETA - I just found this:
4th Category - the lowest category, climbs of 200-500 feet(70-150m).

3rd Category - climbs of 500-1600 feet(150-500m).

2nd Category - climbs of 1600-2700 ft.(500-800m)

1st Category - climbs of 2700-5000ft(800-1500m)

Hors Category - the hardest, climbs of 5000ft+(1500m+)

[Duck on Wheels]

or Green jersey ... Credit Agricole team member. But then I guess that goes for any color jersey, since the teams can't have colorless ones.

[SadieKate]

Here's a little guide that will help.

http://www.sportspectator.com/fancentral/cycling/tourdefrance.html

Don't think of the white jersey as the best newbie. It's for the best young rider, those under 26. Some can be in the competition for this jersey for a couple years depending on when they ride their first tour. So you can be young but not a newbie.

[Popoki_Nui]

Peloton -- undulating wave of color. A beautiful sight. Don't know why they named it that, but it'll do.
Today there was new stuff for me: the climbs. And what was new about it was that the hills were "graded" -- so what's a class 5, etc. hill? It looks to me like smaller number, bigger climb, but there must be some definition to those classifications? I want to know how much of a hill they're climbing when it's called a 2 or 3, or whatever...



Peloton = "pack" or "group", similar in meaning to "platoon" in English.

Climb/hill categories: 4, 3, 2, 1, plus "hors categorie". Cat 4 being the easiest, Cat 1 being very difficult. The toughest of all, the "hors categorie" (above category), a climb so long and/or steep it is beyond the regular classifications.

[Eden]

I'm going to have to guess that a "cheeky-boo" was a Britishism describing a nasty bit of twisty, turny or other wise dangerous bit of roadway coming into the finish or perhaps it was a small crash. An American might say something like a whoopsy doo? maybe

The climbs are classified so that the polka dot jersey can be awarded - they are classed from 4 to HC (hors categorie - or beyond catagorization in French) 4 is the easiest climb that a rider can score points on, 3,2,1 they get harder and HC is the hardest of all. Now how they are classified is a bit of a dark art. A lot of it has to do with the length and gradient of the climb, but then again the same climb might actually be catagorized differently depending on where it falls in the race. At the beginning of a stage a hard climb might be called a 1, but if it falls at the end of the race the same climb might be an HC.

[margo49]

History lesson:
Quite right the Categorisation of the climbs is based on all those things.
But originally, when they would scout out a new climb they gave the gear the organisers' "Voiture" had to use to get to the top. Hence 4th category was fourth gear and 3rd category was a hill that they got to the summit in 3rd gear and so on. When the car couldn't make it to the top at all it was HC (hors categorie = out of category)

The Green Jersey , btw, is for points . Each day there are intermediate sprints with points for the winners, points for first over the top of some climbs, and at the arrivee itself points are given on down to 20th place (iirc). Sometimes referred to as the Sprinters' Jersey
Not to be confused with Credit Agricole (Thor and Julian's team). Usually they wear it with team shorts and that is how you can differentiate it from the CA strip

There is also the Combativite' which is a red number for the rider judged by a panel to have been the most agressive (eg done a breakaway) each day. it is awarded much later since it is a matter for deliberation. Thus we generally only see that in the evening on the round-up show or the preview the next day.

[NJBikeGal]

Nice explanation of "cheeky-boo"...and here I thought it might be referring to Vino's "cheeky-boo" sticking out of his shorts for the last 20K of the race yesterday! :p

[mekira]

I'm a tour newbie too... got interested after reading all the books that exist on Lance. (now I'm reading Floyd's)

I bought a book called 'Tour Fever - The armchair cyclist's guide to the Tour de France' by J.P. Partland. It was very helpful.

Can you tell I love to read ;)

What I have trouble understanding though is why do these guys attack early, stay in front the whole race and then get back in the peloton at the end and others win? What I think I understand after 5 stages is that they collect the points and let the leaders win the stage? They attack to get others to follow and so the teams get tired and can't sprint at the end?

Anyway I love it :D

[margo49]

First of all they just might stay there till the finish. I have seen it occasionally but it is definitely rare. Usually the peloton wont let a rider get too far ahead.
Second it is about visibility for the sponsors and teams.
Third a rider who is riding through his home region or town will often be allowed to do a bit of a breakaway. Or like today Bradley Wiggins off the front partly for his own presence and confidence but also a little bit to honour another British cyclist Tom Simpson who died 40 years ago today on the Ventoux (reportedly his last words were "get me back on the bike")
When it is a break of quite a few riders it is often so there is "somebody up there" for when the team's favourite(s) come up towards the finish.
Some riders are even known for mad breakaways. The Frenchman Jacky Durand springs to mind. Used to go off into the distance for 150 km stretches stage after stage (well not the mountains obviously). A rider like this usually wins the Combativite' of that day.

Whatever they do they have to have the permission of the Directeur Sportif.
Chess on wheels!

[HillSlugger]

Here's a little guide that will help.

http://www.sportspectator.com/fancentral/cycling/tourdefrance.html


Thank you for posting this link; I was clueless about the scoring and sub-races and couldn't find this info!

[SadieKate]

What I have trouble understanding though is why do these guys attack early, stay in front the whole race and then get back in the peloton at the end and others win? What I think I understand after 5 stages is that they collect the points and let the leaders win the stage? They attack to get others to follow and so the teams get tired and can't sprint at the end?They also get money. If you're a domestique with no real chance of winning a stage, here's a nice opporunity to bring in money and make your sponsors really happy with all the time in front of the cameras.

Vino's cheeky-boo. Good one! Though it looked more like a cheeky-OW!

I'm thinking that I need to send a DVD of this year's race to Serena Williams. She could use some role models for dealing with injury during an event.

[maillotpois]

I think you misunderstood and it was actually a "cheeky move" as in a daring or audacious maneuver.

[SadieKate]

It was probably Phil. Who knows what he says half the time.

I like cheeky-boo much better.

[HappyAnika]

Hmmm, last year's tour coverage said peloton was French for "ball". Google translate says its French for "group". Now I will have to look this up in my French dictionary tonight. DH and I liked "ball", we started calling our lab's tennis balls "pelotons" when we didn't want to say the word "ball" (since she knows the word "ball", and then you're in trouble).

[RoadRaven]

Get the latest edition of RIDE

It is brilliant.

Its a Tour de France edition. Not only does it have the low-down on teams, the bikes they ride, and the individuals...

...it also has profiles of riders past and present, lists of the jersey winnners, seconds and thirds since the tour began
(I was wrapped to see Floyd is listed as 2006 winner with a little note at the bottom of the page to say he failed a drug test - well done RIDE eds... innocent til proven guilty - thats how it should be!)

Some great photographs, and of course each of this years stages is profiled well.

It even has lists of fastest TT averages, fastet stage averages etc etc - its a wealth of interesting facts, edited exceptionally well, with a minimum of ads.

There is a glossary of French cycling terms, and explainations and histories of things like the jersey colours for stage wins.

I would like to work for that mag - it has CLASS
:)

[Fredwina]

Get the latest edition of RIDE

It is brilliant.


Do they have a website? Or they do they import here? (and hopefully, not at the $8.00/issue that Cycling+ charges)
BTW, another term that I haven't seen any here mention is "Latern Rouge", which is Last Official Rider to make back to Paris. Dave Z appears to be in the running....:(

[Kano]

Green jersey - sprinter

Climbs are rated based on length and steepness Hors categorie (outside category) being the toughest, then 1 through 4, four being the easiest.

ETA - I just found this:
4th Category - the lowest category, climbs of 200-500 feet(70-150m).

3rd Category - climbs of 500-1600 feet(150-500m).

2nd Category - climbs of 1600-2700 ft.(500-800m)

1st Category - climbs of 2700-5000ft(800-1500m)

Hors Category - the hardest, climbs of 5000ft+(1500m+)

This is just the thing I needed, Snap! Looks like I ride on mostly their "lowly" hills -- 4's for the most part, with maybe a nip into 3 now and then, just barely. It kind of helps to understand what they're talking about a bit!

Thank you!

Karen in Boise

[Kano]

I'm going to have to guess that a "cheeky-boo" was a Britishism describing a nasty bit of twisty, turny or other wise dangerous bit of roadway coming into the finish or perhaps it was a small crash. An American might say something like a whoopsy doo? maybe.

I kinda thought some sort of woop-de-doo too, Eden -- cute little bit of color commentary, though! It was in reference to something geographic toward the end of the race, I think. While they were distracted from talking about Vino's cheeky boo-boo!

Karen in Boise

[Kano]

History lesson:
Quite right the Categorisation of the climbs is based on all those things.
But originally, when they would scout out a new climb they gave the gear the organisers' "Voiture" had to use to get to the top. Hence 4th category was fourth gear and 3rd category was a hill that they got to the summit in 3rd gear and so on. When the car couldn't make it to the top at all it was HC (hors categorie = out of category)

Interesting!!! Now if it was related to what gear the guys used to bike up, then ALL of mine would be hors!




The Green Jersey , btw, is for points . Each day there are intermediate sprints with points for the winners, points for first over the top of some climbs, and at the arrivee itself points are given on down to 20th place (iirc). Sometimes referred to as the Sprinters' Jersey
Not to be confused with Credit Agricole (Thor and Julian's team). Usually they wear it with team shorts and that is how you can differentiate it from the CA strip

Green, speed/go, makes sense!




There is also the Combativite' which is a red number for the rider judged by a panel to have been the most agressive (eg done a breakaway) each day. it is awarded much later since it is a matter for deliberation. Thus we generally only see that in the evening on the round-up show or the preview the next day.

ooooo, I hadn't noticed THAT! Don't recall hearing about that either...

Karen in Boise

[mekira]

Hmmm, last year's tour coverage said peloton was French for "ball". Google translate says its French for "group". Now I will have to look this up in my French dictionary tonight. DH and I liked "ball", we started calling our lab's tennis balls "pelotons" when we didn't want to say the word "ball" (since she knows the word "ball", and then you're in trouble).

I'm French canadian :)

Peloton is a group (of riders, also a military term)

Pelote is a ball (of yarn, of thread etc)

[margo49]

There are also yellow numbers for the riders in the leading team.

Riders who are national Road Race champions wear their national jerseys (Julian Dean, Christophe Moreau, Fabian Wegmanns, Big George etc.) National TT champions wear their national jerseys in the ITT's.
And the current world champion wears the Rainbow Jersey of that.
You can also see on the sleeves stripes of past national and world champions.

[Thorn]

And, now I ask a stupid spectator question....do the towns along the route "compete" for best decoration or is this just a matter of pride and a little extra television coverage?

Today has had some cute side shows. For example, there was the group of people, dressed in yellow forming a bicycle in a field. The wheels were maypoles with yellow streamers for spokes and kids running around in the "rims". Or, the stage decorated as a television screen complete with "riders" on the screen.

Or, maybe, I've spent too much time just listening to audio.

[Katiek]

The announcers said earlier in the week that in an Australian race, the Tour Down Under, the race organizers award a prize for the best town decoration, but in the TdF, it's just for fun and civic pride.

Can someone give me a "gears for dummies" summary of the difference between the "big ring" and the "little ring" and when someone uses one instead of the other?

[margo49]

The towns (well their councils) do compete for being start and finish points. Obviously it is a boost to the local economy assuming they can provide the facilities (hotels, etc).
Most of the rest of it is just the French phenomenon of "en f^ete" = on holiday or festive. Lots of fun and games along the route. Farms spelling out riders names or "Vive le Tour" in hay bales etc. I even saw a cow with a yellow cover on it today.

[Katiek]

I even saw a cow with a yellow cover on it today.


This cow is still trying to recover from the embarassment (http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/tour07/index.php?id=/photos/2007/tour07/tour075/vacca-TOUR-5a-0361)

[margo49]

Another reason to reincarnate as an Aberdeen Angus or a Hereford or a Friesian rather than a Charolais.

[RoadRaven]

Do they have a website? Or they do they import here? (and hopefully, not at the $8.00/issue that Cycling+ charges)
BTW, another term that I haven't seen any here mention is "Latern Rouge", which is Last Official Rider to make back to Paris. Dave Z appears to be in the running....:(

Yup ... Lanterne Rouge is MY jersey - sometimes I call it the Malliot Rouge too(malliot is jersey)... at the moment I am usually in last or near last in my races so am usually in the running! :p

Details for RIDE:
Its Australian

Official name of mag : RIDE cycling review
Published by RIDE Media P/L
URL: www.ridemedia.com.au
EMAIL: ask@ridemedia.com.au

RIDE cycling review is published 4 times a year, I think this issue "Official Tour Guide" is in addition to the quarterly, but not sure.

The cover has a great pic of Robbie on it, and boasts:
Exclusive interviews with Cadel Evans, Robbie McEwan, Mick Rogers
Lists and insights on Stages and Teams
Features articles on Pereiro and is he the 2006 winner?
Vinokourov as the 2007 favourite
Lowdowns on the equipment they all use
The fight against doping

It is 208 pages dedicated to the Tour - past and present - and cost me $14.95NZ