Quote Originally Posted by Kano View Post
I"m confused.
(not necessarily a new thing)

New to this whole bike racing thing, ony ever heard of the TdF before this spring when people started talking about something called the Giro - thought that was helmets!

This "the dauphine" is a bike race?

NOT the future queen of France?

Kind of like the TdF?

And it's GUYS?
(when I realized what "we" were talking about here, I thought, hey, a womens race that seems to be famous!)

Shouldn't a guy race be "the dauphin" ???

Or does the guy who wins "the Dauphine" get the next queen of France as his prize ,
and if so, who IS she these days?
Do they still have one?
( or does HE get to be the queen of France? )

Karen in Boise
Kano, I can help a little with you're confusion.

In pro cycling the biggest races of the year are considered the "Grand Tours". There are 3 - 1 in Italy (Giro d'Italia), 1 in France (Tour de France), and 1 in Spain (Vuelta a Espana). It doesn't get any bigger or harder than these three stage races. A stage race refers to a series of races over the course of 2 days or 3 weeks (as in the Grand Tours). They have road race stages and individual time trial stages and team time trials - from pancake flat terrain to the steepest mountain climbs somebody on 2 wheels can ascend.

The Giro is in June, the Tour is in July, and the Vuelta is in September. The races that these pros do prior to the Giro are generally referred to as the "Spring Classics" which represent training races for these guys whos goals are to do well in the Grand Tour races.

The Tour de France is considered the crown jewel of bicycle racing, eclipsing the Giro and the Vuelta. Nothing is more important the "the Tour" for cycling fans and those racing in it. Over the last 60 years, the Dauphine Libere has been used as the last and final tuneup before the Tour starts in early July. All pros aiming to finish well in Paris race in the Dauphine because they 1) measure the current state of fitness they're in (also some of the Dauphine stages are the same climbs used in the Tour de France of other years), and 2) they get to see what their competition's fitness is as well. The Dauphine is only one week long so it's close enough to the Tour to measure fitness and short enough to recover completely in time for the start of the Tour.

The name comes from the Dauphine region of France that the races are held.