Tour de France Blog Series: Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of 5 of my blog series about the Tour de France and the complex and exciting strategies involved in cycling stage races. For part 1 of the blog series, click here.

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The Tour's Classifications

As mentioned in part 1 of this blog series, much of the complex dynamic in the Tour comes from the fact that different teams aim to win different classifications (i.e. competitions). Obviously then, it's important to know what all the different classifications are.

The general classification (GC) is by far the most prestigious of the race and is based on cumulative individual time. Prototypical contenders for the GC tend to be elite climbers with above-average time trial skills. Sprinting skills are not as important, because it's inefficient to try to open up a time gap on a flat stage, and because all riders who are in the same bunch (called a peloton) receive the same time at the end of the stage, even if the back of the peloton crosses the finish line several seconds after the front. The winner receives the much-desired yellow jersey (maillot jaune) and a very hefty sum of money.

The points classification is typically contested by sprint specialists and is based on points awarded according to placing on each stage. In the GC, it's the time gaps between you and your competitors that is more important, but in the points classification, the time gaps are unimportant and it's all about placing. Additionally, while GC contenders typically make their moves in the mountains where their increased efforts translate more directly to a larger time gap, sprinters excel on flat stages (which give more points for this classification than do mountain stages). The contenders in the points classification are typically heavier riders who can generate a lot of speed on flat ground because of their brute strength but struggle in the mountains because of their weight. Thus, these riders are rarely contenders for the yellow jersey and often do not even finish the Tour. The winner, who is the rider with the most cumulative points, will receive the green jersey (maillot vert).

The king of the mountains competition is a points competition where points are awarded to the riders who are first up each individual mountain, as opposed to the end of each stage. Riders who vie for this jersey must obviously be good climbers, but they typically don't have the time-trialling ability to aim for the yellow jersey or are just a notch below the GC contenders. Conversely, GC riders typically conserve their energy for mountaintop finishes (where the stage finish is on a climb) because it translates to larger time gaps and thus tend to only be marginally competitive in the king of the mountains competition. Riders going for the win in this classification will try to rack up points on mountain stages that don't have a mountaintop finish, where the GC riders will be uninterested in keeping up. However, to excel in this competition basically requires the rider to expend energy at all the wrong times when it comes to placing well in the GC, and thus going for this jersey would put the rider at a serious disadvantage in the GC. The rider with the most cumulative mountain points is the winner and is awarded the polka-dotted jersey (maillot à pois rouges).

The young rider classification is similar to the general classification, but it only counts riders who are under the age of 26. The winner is awarded the white jersey (maillot blanc). Because athletes tend to peak around the age of 30, only once in a while is a young rider a real competitor for the yellow jersey. For example, while this year, two-time white jersey winner Andy Schleck is 25 and is the #2 favorite to win the competition, and while #1 favorite Alberto Contador won the Tour in 2007 at the age of 24, more often the white jersey winner comes in 10th-20th place overall. Because GC contender Andy Schleck is still eligible in the young rider competition and should be a shoo-in to win it, we'll probably see the young riders simply battle for GC standing instead of employing tactics to gain time specifically against other young riders.

The team classification is based on cumulative team time. On every stage, the times of the first three riders from each team are added up and this makes the team time for that stage. These three riders can change from stage to stage. This classification rewards teams with depth and aggressive riders, and while this particular contest isn't as prestigious as the yellow, green, and polka-dotted jersey competitions, it does create some interesting dynamic when it comes to breakaways (this concept will be defined and elaborated on later).

An unofficial honor called the lanterne rouge is given to the rider who completes the race and comes in last place. The honor is given because the rider is on the saddle (i.e. suffering) for the longest time, but still manages to finish the entire race without dropping out. Additionally, lanterne rouge winners gain a little bit of notoriety in the cycling community, and sometimes get better salaries than those who finish slightly ahead of them because of this.

In addition to these overall prizes, there are other honors riders compete for over the course of the Tour. Individual stage victories come with a certain honor (and some cash). Teams that don't really have a contender for the big prizes (usually the wild-card teams) often aim for individual stage wins because aiming higher would be unrealistic. These teams will often have riders try to get on breakaways. Depending on the profile of the stage, stronger teams may deem it to be inefficient to try to chase down these overall non-contenders. However, even if the breakaway riders fail to stay ahead of the rest of the pack, a combativity award (and some money) is given after every stage for the most aggressive rider of the stage. Additionally, at the end of the Tour, an overall combativity award is given to the most aggressive rider of the entire Tour. This award usually goes not to the overall GC contenders, but to the lesser names who repeatedly try to get individual stage wins, and can result in higher paychecks, as by being aggressive the rider gets their team (and therefore their sponsors) more TV coverage.

Finally, because the colored jerseys are worn at every stage by the cumulative leaders in the respective categories, riders who are not realistically in contention for the overall individual prizes will just bike for the honor of getting a colored jersey at some point in the race and holding on to it for as long as they can. For example, because the GC contenders typically don't start making their moves until the second week of the race, the yellow jersey is often held by the winner of the prologue (a short time trial to begin the race) or an aggressive breakaway racer. Similarly, riders will try to hold on to the polka-dotted jersey by attacking on the easier mountains in the first week of the race before the real contenders start battling when the race hits the taller mountains with higher point values.

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Cycling As a Team Sport

To maximize the chances of achieving its goal, a team must have a good structure and a cooperative dynamic. Having the top 9 GC contenders in the world on the same team will not result in victory if the riders are competing against each other instead of cooperating with each other. Thus, the prototypical team structure will have a single leader surrounded by eight domestiques (helpers), whose job it is to work selflessly to maximize their leader's potential.

[Note: Anything that may be unclear here will hopefully be explained in subsequent entries in this blog series.]

For example, on a basic level, a domestique might have the duties of:

1. Periodically obtaining food and drink from the team car and delivering it to the team.
2. Giving up a tire or his bike to the team leader should the leader have mechanical issues. (The domestique then waits himself for the team car to get a replacement bike.)
3. Using his own energy to pace the team leader back to the peloton should he fall behind due to a flat tire or some other issue.
4. Shielding the team leader from other riders to prevent him from crashing.
5. Riding in front of the team leader, creating a slipstream for him.

On a more tactical level, domestiques can:

1. Move to the front of the peloton and increase or decrease the speed of the pack according to the team's interests.
2. Chase down breakaways should they threaten the team's standing in the team classification, or should the team be interested in setting up a bunch sprint at the finish.
3. Repeatedly attack the peloton (i.e. start a breakaway) with the intention of tiring out a rival team.
4. Pace the team leader on climbs and block rivals from attacking.
5. Set up a "sprint train" to make the final sprint faster and less dangerous for their team leader (more on this later).

Occasionally a team will have more than one leader - for example, a GC contender and a sprint specialist. It is rare, however, for both leaders to win their respective competitions because the effort of the domestiques is more efficiently expended on the goals of one leader. In other cases, teams with exceptional depth may have a #2 rider ready to assume the team leader role should the leader fall behind.

In addition to the nine riders that each team sends to each event, teams also have members who play critical roles without riding bikes. Arguably the most important during the race itself is the directeur sportif - the cycling race equivalent of a coach/manager - who rides in the team car and is in charge of creating the team's race strategy, as well as communicating with the riders during the race through radio. Thanks to modern technology, teams are always aware of the race situation (such as the time gaps separating all the riders), and directeurs sportif can always adjust the strategy accordingly and relay it to the riders.

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In the next blog post, we'll start getting into some of the basic tactics in cycling before getting into the more complex strategies that are more specific to stage races like the Tour de France. I hope that so far this has been helpful and not too confusing!