Tour de France Blog Series: Part 5

At last we've reached the last installment of this exciting blog series!  This post completes my primer on cycling and the Tour de France.  For the first four parts of the blog series, follow these links:

1. Introduction
2. TdF Classifications & Cycling as a Team Sport
3. Fundamental Cycling Tactics
4. TdF Stage Types & Single-Day Strategies

This final chapter is very short and will focus on overarching strategies that teams and individuals will employ over the course of the entire three weeks of racing as they compete for the prestigious colored jerseys.  So without further ado...

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To win any of the jerseys in the Tour de France requires not only a strong rider, but also a well-planned strategy.  A cyclist has a limited amount of energy he can expend over the course of three weeks, as well as a limit to what he can do over a shorter period of time before having to take it easy.  Therefore, a cyclist and his team's directeur sportif will study the Tour's course to determine what the rider should do on each stage.

Before commenting on these strategies - a word on the general profile of the Tour.  The Tour begins with a short time trial called a prologue, though in a few cases such as last year, a full-length time trial will be used.  Following the prologue, the Tour's general profile is: flat, mountain, flat, mountain, flat - with intermediate stages and time trials typically placed between flat stages and mountain stages.  Because the final stage of the Tour is non-competitive (by tradition) except for the final sprint, the penultimate stage tends to either be a time trial or mountaintop finish, so as to create tons of tension on that last day of real competition.

Back to the strategies.  In general, the flat stages will be battlegrounds for sprinters (green jersey), while the mountains will be where the GC contenders (yellow jersey) and climbers (polka-dot jersey) duke it out.  On the high mountains, most sprinters will struggle and merely aim to finish before the time limit (if you finish too far behind the stage winner, you are eliminated).  Similarly, yellow and polka-dot jersey contenders will play it safe on the flats and simply aim to conserve energy and not crash.  GC contenders will pick their spots to be aggressive, but since these spots are the same for all the GC contenders most of the time, this creates some exciting competition.  The polka-dot jersey competition is hardest to predict because of the large number of ways one can go about winning the jersey.  Contenders for the polka-dot jersey will pick what climbs to be aggressive on, but other contenders may have different ideas to the best path to victory.

While there are general trends we'll see as far as overall race strategy, explaining these strategies thoroughly is extremely difficult because the course changes every year, and the strategies to be employed depends highly on the nature of the course.  The fact that the course and strategies change every year is for me what makes the Tour so intriguing to follow.

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For now, I'll conclude this blog series.  The next post or two will be a preview of this year's course.  I'll make an analysis and comment on possible routes to victory for each of the three major jersey competitions.  Hopefully, the comments made then will be more helpful than the generalizations made in this post.

Tour de France Blog Series: Part 4

We're beginning to wrap up this blog series, and hopefully part 1, part 2, and part 3 of this blog series have been enjoyable reads.  Hopefully, you're also beginning to understand some of the things that make the Tour de France so awesome to follow.  Now that we've gone over some of the basic tactics applied in cycling, let's learn about all the different types of stages found in the Tour de France, and the strategies teams will employ in each type.

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Time Trials

Time trials are stages in which cyclists race against the clock to try to achieve as fast a time as possible.  Instead of a so-called "group start," competitors start riding the course one at a time, staggered a few minutes apart.  Drafting is not allowed, and thus equipment and special riding positions are used that will make the cyclist as aerodynamic as possible.  There is not much tactical racing in time trials, especially in a team sense; instead, riders are familiar with their abilities and will choose an optimal pace to ride the course.  Familiarity with the course is important for GC contenders, and so, domestiques riding the course at an earlier time will often provide reconnaissance.  Beyond the task of budgeting energy though, time trials don't have the strategies that we'll see in group stages.  Nevertheless, time trials are extremely important for GC contenders, since time gaps are always created, and riders do not have the luxury of merely coasting in a peloton and finishing with the same time as their rivals.

In cycling, there are two types of time trials: individual time trials (ITTs) and team time trials (TTTs).  The concept of the ITT is rather self-explanatory, and the Tour de France usually has 1-2 ITTs, in addition to a prologue, which is a very short ITT on the first day of the Tour.  In a TTT, an entire team will race together and are allowed to draft off each other (but not off other teams).  Riders will take turns doing the work, then peeling off to the back of the group, with the length of their shifts dependent on their individual time-trialling ability (stronger riders will spend more time at the front).  The team's time is determined by the finish time of the team's 5th rider.  Thus, a team will often make a push towards the end of the stage that would drop their weaker riders.  This year's Tour does not have a TTT, and the TTT is only found on the Tour once every few years.  This is probably because of the main argument against the TTT, which is that GC contenders with relatively weak teams are at a disadvantage.  But part of what makes the Tour exciting is that there is always something different every year, so adding a TTT once in a while is good in my book.

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Flat Stages

First, a word on mountain gradings.  The climbs on Tour are categorized, in order of increasing difficulty: category 4, 3, 2, 1, and HC (hors categorie - beyond category).  A flat stage will typically only have climbs of category 4 and 3, if any at all.  This makes it relatively easy for riders to avoid getting dropped by the peloton (i.e. falling behind).  Additionally, flat stages are worth the most points in the race for the green jersey, so it is the ideal time for sprinters to try to rack up some points.  However, flat stages can also be good opportunities for riders to make a successful breakaway.

Stage 4 of this year's Tour - a flat stage tailor made for the sprinters

A pure sprinter's heaven is a flat stage with no climbs near the finish.  At the beginning of the stage, riders looking for the stage win via breakaway will begin to attack the peloton.  The peloton will then continue to catch the attackers until it is satisfied with what riders are in the breakaway group.  Basically, the peloton will try to have the breakaway consist of cyclists who have a low chance of holding on for the win.  For example, a breakaway containing a GC contender will be gobbled up by the peloton almost immediately because the threat is too high.  Therefore, GC contenders will not even waste their energy being part of a breakaway in anything but a mountain stage.  Once "the breakaway" is established, teams with elite sprinters looking for the stage win will slow the peloton down to extend the breakaway's lead.  This is usually a good time for riders to "answer the call of nature" (yes, while riding their bike).

Why let the breakaway gain ground?  Creating a large gap between the peloton and the breakaway will discourage counterattacks, in which riders will attack the peloton and try to catch up with or pass the breakaway.  When the peloton is 10+ minutes behind the breakaway, a counterattack basically has zero chance of success.  As the competitors get closer to the end of the stage, the sprinters' teams will move back to the front of the peloton and start pushing the pace.  The increased speed of the peloton makes it much more difficult to attack, and the goal of the sprinters' teams is to catch the breakaway as late as possible (within the last 1-2 km) and while going as fast as possible.  The peloton's high speed approaching the finish will ensure a bunch sprint, where the sprinters will duke it out in the last couple hundred meters for green jersey points and the stage win.

Elite sprinting teams will sometimes use a leadout train, where domestiques will take turns at the front of the pack and use all their energy to push the pace as much as possible, then peel off.  This conserves the lead sprinter's energy and culminates in the sprinter having a very fast speed even before his burst of acceleration.  Alternatively, a sprinter may just wheel suck until the final stretch, but because the person in the lead is not able to draft, winning sprints is all about knowing when it's too early or too late to take the lead.  In any case, the conclusions of flat stages are always filled with tension and exciting to watch, in some cases because of the sprinters, and in others because the breakaway gets a second wind and manages to hold off the pack.

When there is a climb near the end of the stage, sprinters will often fall to the back of the peloton and be out of contention for the stage win.  These stages are conducive to breakaway victories and follow a dynamic similar to intermediate stages (explained in the next section), though sometimes a sprinter with decent climbing legs like last year's green jersey winner Thor Hushovd can avoid losing too much ground and grab some points by placing in the top 25 at the finish.  In fact, this is basically how Hushovd stole the green jersey over a much, much better pure sprinter in Mark Cavendish.

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Intermediate Stages

Stage 7 of this year's Tour - an "intermediate" stage

Intermediate stages typically are littered with mountains up to category 2 (with the occasional category 1) and are almost always won by a breakaway rider.  Sprinters will be dropped by the main peloton, and GC contenders will merely aim to stay in the peloton and hold ground against their rivals.  Depending on the stage's profile, you might see some early attacks by riders looking to win the polka-dot jersey or just wear it for a couple of days as they try to get points off the reasonably valuable category 2 climbs.  Eventually, a breakaway group tends to form, even if there are polka-dot jersey competitors ahead, as these riders will typically fall back to the peloton anyway after claiming their points.

In intermediate stages, the peloton's decision on whether or not to let the breakaway go will tend to be made by the teams looking to win the team classification.  The breakaway will either consist only of riders from non-competitive teams, or will have equal representation from all the interested teams (for example, one rider each), so as to not lose time on the team standings.  Any team unhappy with the makeup of the breakaway will either try to push the peloton and catch the attackers, or alternatively will try send one or more riders to the lead group in a counterattack.

In essentially all cases, all of the riders allowed on the breakaway are considered non-threats to the GC, and those uninterested in the stage win will conserve energy and ride it out with the peloton.  The excitement in the intermediate stages tends to lie in the front pack, where riders will work hard to avoid getting dropped by the breakaway, and will eventually sprint against each other for the stage win.  The breakaway group will often have such a large lead over the peloton that on the final sprint, they will employ so-called "cat and mouse" tactics, which is a strategy ubiquitous in sprint cycling on a track, but not usable in the context of a bunch sprint on a flat stage.  Because the leaders will not want to be the one in front at the start of the sprint, they will often slow down tremendously (and sometimes even come to a near standstill!).  Once a cyclist feels like he's at the ideal distance from the finish, he will make a quick burst of acceleration and make his sprint.  The other cyclists will then try to ride his slipstream and make the pass before the finish.

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Mountain Stages

Stage 9 of this year's Tour - just looking at this diagram is scary

Mountain stages contain climbs of all categories, and are the primary battlefields for those vying for the yellow jersey and king of the mountains competitions, as well as those riders with good climbing legs looking for a stage win.  As is the case with intermediate stages, riders looking to win the polka-dot jersey will attack early to try to accumulate mountain points.  If they think they can get the stage win, they'll keep going ahead, getting more mountain points along the way, but more often they will lose energy and drop back to the peloton or even farther behind.

This year's beastly Stage 17 - guaranteed action on the final climb

About half of the mountain stages in the tour have mountaintop finishes, which are where the GC contenders will make their biggest moves.  (Recall that mountaintop finishes result in the largest time gaps because rivals can't use the descent following the climb to gain back precious seconds.)  On stages without mountaintop finishes, the GC contenders still do make attacks - especially on the more difficult stages - to try to get rivals to crack, but it must be kept in mind that the returns in the form of time gaps will be diminished.  As far as stage victories go, many mountain stage wins will still go to breakaway riders.  Only on the most difficult of mountain stages and on mountaintop finishes do you really see GC contenders getting the stage win.  This happens because the breakaway moves much slower than the GC contenders, who are no longer conserving their energy.

While it's exciting to see a breakaway succeed on the mountain stages, the excitement is not always at the front of the pack, but at the GC contenders.  The traditional strategy is for all the top riders to race in the same peloton, then make attacks on climbs to try to drop their rivals (make them fall behind the peloton).  Sometimes, the whole group will be able to react and stay together, but sometimes one or more riders will not have the energy to respond, and will find himself riding alone, or with a smaller group.  This makes life very difficult for them should they still find themselves behind the leaders' group at the bottom of the descent, as they no longer have the larger peloton to draft off.

Some of the teams with multiple elite climbers will start using some more aggressive strategies that are beyond the scope of this blog series, and in some cases even beyond the scope of my understanding.  But basically, teams will use their double (or triple) threats to their advantage, as other teams' #1 riders will start having to react to moves by deeper teams' #2 riders.  This year, we can expect some of these moves from teams like Astana (with two top riders in Contador and Vinokourov), Saxo Bank (with the Schleck brothers), and RadioShack (with the trifecta of Armstrong, Leipheimer, and Kloden).

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Wow, this was a long post.  Anyway, we have just one more post left (a much shorter one), and then you'll know pretty much everything I know about the Tour de France.  After this primer, I'll be making a couple posts with a preview of this year's Tour.  In particular, I'll be commenting on this year's route and top contenders.  I may even make some predictions!  Finally, once the Tour gets under way on July 3, I'll periodically update with some commentary of finished stages and previews of upcoming stages.  Until next time!

Tour de France Blog Series: Part 3

Hello and welcome to part 3 of my Tour de France blog series. If you haven't done so yet, please take a look at part 1 and part 2 - otherwise this entry might be a little confusing. This entry will highlight some basic concepts in cycling tactics, which are applicable in cycling group races of all levels.

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Drafting and Attacking

What sets cycling apart tactically from some other racing sports such as running is the concept of drafting. While riding a well-tuned bike on flat ground, the most significant source of energy (i.e. speed) loss is air resistance. This is unlike running, where much of the energy a runner exerts is ultimately absorbed by the ground, meaning a runner cannot "coast" the same way a cyclist can. When an object such as a cyclist moves forward, it moves air out of the way. Thus, the area immediately behind the cyclist - called a slipstream - has less air, and thus less air resistance. A cyclist will often draft behind another cyclist by riding very closely behind another cyclist.

On flat ground, a cyclist can use 40% less energy by drafting, and it is relatively easy to chase anyone while riding in their slipstream. Because of this, a cyclist who wants to get a lead on another cyclist can only do so with a quick burst of acceleration - called an attack - such that by the time he reacts, the opposing cyclist will be too far behind to take advantage of the slipstream. Ultimately, in a group race, acceleration is more important than speed. This concept becomes extremely important in group races, where riders begin racing all together and can ride as a pack. Conversely, it also explains why good time-trialling (where drafting is not allowed) is a different skill from good group racing; in time trials, it is speed and aerodynamics that are key.

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The Peloton

Now that we've learned what happens when one cyclist rides behind another, let's get into what happens when you have not just two but many dozens of cyclists. A peloton is essentially many cyclists riding in a bunch. When the peloton is in formation, riders at the very front are "doing the work" while all the others draft behind. Typically, riders will take turns doing the work, then "peel off" to put someone else in front. Therefore, it follows logically that, on average, riders in a larger peloton will use less effort than riders in a smaller peloton. Similarly, a larger peloton can more easily move faster and chase down a smaller group ahead.

Now here is where team-related tactics come into play. Because the riders in front control the pace of the peloton, a team or a group of teams can push to the front of the pack and increase or decrease the speed of the peloton depending on their strategy (more to come on when and why a team would increase or decrease pace). On the other hand, a team with no concern about the peloton's speed can choose to conserve energy by never coming to the front.

Riding near the front of the peloton is important for team leaders. The most obvious reason is that if the peloton splits up, the contenders don't want to be stuck in the back and lose time (recall that all riders in the same peloton receive the same time at the end of the stage). Additionally, if a crash occurs, riders near the front will be in less danger, as they will have fewer fallen riders to avoid. For these reasons, the back of the peloton will often be populated with domestiques.

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Breakaways: Attacking the Peloton

As we will learn later in more detail, if the peloton sticks together on a flat stage, the race will favor sprinters who will conserve as much energy as possible and go all out in the last few hundred meters.  Thus, all those non-sprinters who want a shot at winning a flat stage must eventually become part of a breakaway.  A breakaway occurs when one or more cyclists launch an attack on the rest of the peloton, forming a smaller group of their own ahead of the main peloton.  The riders on a breakaway, while ultimately competing against each other, must cooperate by sharing turns doing the work and not resorting to so-called "cat and mouse" tactics.  Occasionally, a cyclist will practice "wheel sucking" by constantly drafting and never moving to the front to do the work, then using all his conserved energy to steal the stage victory with a sprint at the finish.  Not only is this practice selfish and frowned upon - it also increases the chances that the breakaway will fail.  However, one in a breakaway might "wheel suck" in an acceptable fashion if he has no interest in the breakaway's success.

The dynamics of a breakaway are different in a stage race like the Tour de France as opposed to a single-day race, and this is because the objective of a single-day race is to finish in first, while in a stage race, there are different classifications to compete in, and furthermore cyclists must budget their energy over many days.  In a single-day race, whenever an attack happens, riders must decide whether the attackers are threats to win, or whether they will tire out and get caught.  This judgment will determine whether they should join the breakaway or stay with the peloton.  Eventually, multiple splits in the peloton will occur until a winner is crowned.  In a stage race, conserving energy is important, so teams aiming for more than just individual stage victories will usually adopt strategies that will give them the most returns for the least effort.  These strategies will be explained more in parts 4 and 5 of this blog series.

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Ascents and Descents

Drafting is most important on flat ground, where it saves a cyclist the most energy.  However, while going uphill, the main factor slowing the cyclist down changes from air resistance to gravity.  Thus, the effects of drafting are greatly diminished on a climb, and accordingly, the peloton will usually crumble on the tall mountains.  However, if possible, cyclists will often tend to ride in a pack anyway to make pacing and reacting to opponent's moves easier.  While the heavier riders fall behind, the GC contenders will usually form a lead peloton where they will make repeated attacks on each other to try to cause rivals to fall behind.

On descents, the bike will naturally accelerate even if the cyclist does not exert any energy, so drafting does not really give any additional advantages.  However, cyclists will often form a paceline to minimize the risk of crashing.  While the peloton will tend to split on climbs, it will tend to reform on the descents that follow.  Riders can catch up to those ahead of them if they dare do so by adopting a more aerodynamic position.  On descents, gaining ground becomes less related to energy output and more to aerodynamics and technique.  Therefore, even poor climbers can sometimes catch up to the group on a descent.  Additionally, on the flat ground at the bottom of a descent, attacking riders will then again be at a disadvantage compared to the peloton.  These are the reasons the GC contenders will almost always make their biggest moves on stages with mountaintop finishes, or stages that end on descents - so as to maximize time gaps.

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In part 4, we'll learn about all the different types of stages found in the Tour, and the strategies that are typically used for each type of stage.  Then in part 5, we'll wrap up this primer with some insight on long-term strategies that teams adopt in order to produce a winner.  Until then, thank you for reading!

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!

Tour de France Blog Series: Part 1

While baseball fans look forward to October and college hoops fans to March, I look forward every year to July because of the glorious Tour de France! In this series of posts, I hope to teach as much as I can about all the intricate strategies involved in the Tour de France. Perhaps you're curious about pro cycling or you're just on the Lance Armstrong bandwagon, but whatever the case is, I hope these posts will encourage you to follow and enjoy the Tour this year.

Before I get under way, I'd like to make a disclaimer that I myself am not a racer, nor do I follow many other cycling events more than cursorily. So if anyone more knowledgeable notices anything wrong or missing, I'd appreciate any input.

Anyway, if my train of thought goes as planned, this series will be divided into five posts (this one being counted as the first):

• Intro, Part 1: About the Tour and why it's more than just people pedaling
• Intro, Part 2: The Tour's classifications & cycling as a team sport
• Tactical Racing: The peloton, drafting, and attacking
• The Stages: All the different types and the 1-day strategies involved
• Overall Strategy: 3-week strategies to win the coveted jerseys

Then if this series of posts goes well, I plan to continue blogging throughout this year's Tour with a preview of this year's course along with quasi-daily updates with commentary on what we've seen and what we can expect on the following stage.

Now let's get started!

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Le Tour: Le Awesome!

The Tour de France is the world's most famous cycling race and is held every July. Although there are many other races in the professional cycling calendar, the Tour carries with it the most prestige and the richest history of any competition. The modern Tour de France takes place over the course of 23 days, with 21 days of racing and a mere 2 days of rest, and takes riders around France and its neighbors, passing through the tall and steep Alps and the notoriously rugged and dangerous Pyrenees along the way, and ending along the historic Champs-Elysées in Paris. The course changes every year, and this year 22 teams of 9 riders each (so... 198 riders) will start in Rotterdam and take the clockwise route around France that goes through the Alps first and the Pyrenees second.

One unfamiliar with cycling may assume the race is just a matter of which person is most fit, which often is the case in other racing sports like running, swimming, and long-track speed skating. However, cycling races are most similar to short-track speed skating, where fitness is obviously important, but strategy and tactics are equally as important.

The complex dynamics of the Tour arise largely because of three things:

1. Cycling is a team sport, with the team (in most cases) riding strategically to maximize the advantage of an individual team member.
2. Although every competitor rides the same race, there are several different competitions covering different aspects (i.e. specialties) of cycling.
3. Different teams have different goals and formulate their strategy according to which competition(s) they aim to win.

Throughout this blog series, I will elaborate on these team dynamics and strategies. Even though the physical feat of completing the Tour let alone winning it is incredible, for me it's these strategies that make the Tour exciting to follow. The next installment of this series will get a lot of the (important) formal info about the race out of the way, as we learn about all the different classifications (competitions) in the Tour, as well as the structure of a team. Hopefully from there though, things will get really interesting. Stay tuned!