Abandon- French term used when rider gives up and gets in the tam
car or broom wagon.
Arrivee- The finish line of a race or stage.
Attacquer- A French verb, to attack - an aggressive ride that moves away
from the other
riders. A phrase heard frequently
on
Radio Tour*.
Autobus- A group of riders, often sprinters and rouleurs (strong flatlanders),
who are unable to climb
the mountains
well. They
all stick together and ensure they are just quick enough
to make the time limit. The "bus driver" is the
rider who does the calculations but it sometimes goes wrong
and they
all get
thrown out of the race.
Bidon- French
for water bottle.
Big
Ring- The bigger of the two chain rings (front gears) on a bike that
generates a larger gear. The Big
Ring
gives the rider
the most speed, but is the harder gear to pedal. It
is the gear used during a sprint, a flat time trial or a
mountain descent.
Blocking- Legally stopping or disrupting a rival’s effort,
so that a teammate can make progress in a breakaway.
You just ride slower in front of the rival rider.
Blow up- Sudden exhaustion due to overexertion.
Bonk- What
happens when a rider does not eat or drink enough during
a race or long training ride. The reaction
is similar
to what happens when a diabetic person suffers
a drop in blood sugar levels.
Break
or Breakaway- A group of riders (or solo rider) who have attacked
and ridden away from
the peloton*.
This group
of opponents
will often work together knowing each has some
chance of winning the race.
Broom
Wagon- A bus or van that trails the peloton to sweep up abandoned
riders after
the team cars
have
gone. (In
French Voiture
Balai)
Bunch
sprint- The high-speed dash for the line when the peloton stays together
until the end
of a race.
The extreme
effort
is not for the faint-hearted. Speeds of up
to 40 mph are possible.
Cadence- The speed at which the pedals turn, measured in Revolutions
Per Minute
(RPM).
Inexperienced cyclists tend
to ride in higher
gears than they should, pedaling at a slower
cadence.
Most experienced cyclists pedal at cadences
in the range of
70-90 RPM. This puts
less strain on the joints, particularly
the knees. Racing cyclists often use even higher
cadences
for bursts of
acceleration.
Caravane
Publicitaire- The publicity cavalcade where sponsors promote
goods and hand out
free samples.
The Caravan precedes
each stage into along the race route,
giving sponsors of the TdF a chance to advertise.
Carte- French
for map.
Chasing
Down- Riders do this when a breakaway is up the road but their team
is not
represented in
the lead
group.
Chute- A
fall or crash
Classic- Name given to the top class one-day races. These are the oldest
spring and
fall traditional races.
Col- A mountain pass.
Control
Dopage- Drug testing. (see Dopage)
Cote- Any
climb or hill, smaller than the large mountain
climbs.
Criterium- A criterium race consists of many laps
around
a short course.
The course
may
be a few
city blocks.
Criteriums are good
for spectators, but less
popular with racers.
A criterium bicycle
will often
have a somewhat
higher
bottom
bracket than a road-racing
bicycle, to allow pedaling
through the turns (there
are a lot of
turns in a
criterium!). Criterium
bicycles are designed
with
a particular eye to maneuverability,
because the
peloton in a criterium
is likely to be large
and dense.
Depart- The
starting line of the race or stagge.
Derailleur- A mechanism for moving the chain
from one
sprocket to
another to
change gears
on a multi-speed
bicycle. A
typical derailleur
consists of a parallelogram that
moves a
cage. In the case
of a rear derailleur,
the cage
will
have two chain
pulleys,
a jockey pulley and
a tension pulley. Different
derailleurs
have different
capacities to
handle different
gear ranges.
Director Sportif
(DS)- Team manager.
Domestique- French for servant - these
are the
lesser riders
who fetch
and
carry for
the team
leaders,
plus provide
him shelter from
the wind. Sometimes
they
are called
water carriers.
They
sacrifice so their
team leader can
win.
Dopage- French
for doping or drug
use
of any kind.
Hence,
use of "dope" to
mean more than
just the substances
as it would for
recreational users.
(see Control Dopage)
Echelon- A formation
of riders caused
by a cross
wind on
a flat stage
- riders form
a
diagonal-line
across
the road
to
shelter
from the storm.
The formation
can causing
massive problems
for the
rider who
don’t get
far enough forward
and are forced
to ride in the
gutter or lose
touch on the
end. The
echelon can
decide a race
if a split occurs.
Etape- Stage
of the race,
usually
one
day.
Flamme
Rouge- A red kite-shaped
banner
or flag strung
across road
that marks
1 km to
the finish
line.
Following
a wheel- The
most crucial
tactic
in the sport
of cycling
is to conserve
energy
by riding
directly
behind
another rider.
Staying
in the
slipstream
makes for
big savings
in effort,
while riders
will
often share
the load
by
circulating
and each
doing a
turn on the front
(see
Pace Line).
Fork- The part
of
the frame
set that
holds
the front
wheel.
It
is usually
refers
to the
front
fork,
the fork is
attached
to
the main
frame
by the headset.
The
fork
consists of the
two blades
that
go down to
hold
the axle (the
fork
crown
and
the steerer).
The term "rear
fork" is
sometimes
used
to refer
to
the part
of the
frame
that
holds
the
rear
wheel.
General
(overall)
classification- The
overall standings
in
the stage
race
on
time or
points.
Grand
Boucle- The
big
loop,
a
French term
referring
to
the
Tour
(loop)
around
France.
Green
Jersey- (see
Maillot Vert),
the jersey
awarded to
the most
consistent finisher
in the
Tour’s
stages. Points
are awarded
for each
stage position
to calculate
the leader.
A sprinter,
who can
finish relatively
high on
mountain stages
and time
trials, usually
takes it.
Hammering- Setting a
very fast
pace at
the front
of the
race.
Haute
Montagne- High
Mountain.
Honking- Getting out
of the
saddle and
standing up
while climbing
a mountain
easier at
first but
then much
harder
Hors
Categorie (HC)- The highest
category of
a climb.
Climbs are
categorized on
a scale
from 4
(the easiest
of the
big climbs) to 1
(the more
difficult of
the big
climbs). Hors
Categorie climbs
are beyond
category; they
are the
hardest climbs
in cycling.
Jump-
A rapid
acceleration, another
word for
attack.
Lantern
Rouge- French
for red
lantern, as
in what
hangs off
the back
of a
train.
In
the TdF,
it refers
to the
rider who
is the
lowest on
general (overall)
classification.
Leadout
Man- The
top domestique
responsible for
bringing a
sprinter within
meters of
the race
finish line,
sheltering him
from the
wind until
the final
seconds of
a race.
Top sprinters
will often
take a
trusted lead-out
man to
a new
team as
part of
their contract
Maillot
Jaune- Yellow
Jersey: the
race leader’s jersey.
The color was chosen for the color of the page of the
sponsoring newspaper, Le Auto. (see Yellow Jersey)
Maillot
Pois- Polka
Dot Jersey:
King of
the Mountains
best climber’s
jersey. It was first awarded in 1975. Poulain Chocolates,
who wanted to advertise, sponsored the jersey. The
Polka Dots came
from the sponsor’s distinctive candy bar wrapper.
Next to the Maillot Jaune, the Polka Dot Jersey has
become the second
most recognizable jersey in cycling. (see Polka
Dot Jersey)
Maillot
Vert- Green
Points Jersey:
the jersey
is awarded
to the
sprinter who
gains the
most points
for high
finishes in
the daily
stages. The
sponsor was
the Belle
Jardinier, a
department store
specializing in
gardening products.
Green was
the predominate
color of
a garden,
so they
chose green
as the
symbolic color
of their
jersey. (see
Green Jersey)
Musette- A bag
of food
handed out
to the
riders by
team support
midway (sometimes
several times)
through a
stage. Feeding
is so
important in
a long
race that
if you
drop the
mussette, you
could bonk
or knock.
Neutral
service car- This car
will give
any rider
a spare
bike or
wheel if
his own
team car
is not
nearby. This
car usually
follows the
early part
of a
breakaway and
services riders
until their
team car
arrives.
Off
the back- Riders who
have been
dropped by
the main
group (the
peloton).
Pace
Line- A
group of
cyclists riding
close behind
one another
in a
line, so
that each
cyclist can
draft the
cyclist on
the front.
The riders
take turns
pulling (riding
on the
front of
the line
breaking the
wind) and
drafting. A
group of
cyclists in
a pace
line can
maintain a
substantially
higher
speed than
even the
fastest of
the group
could do
alone. (see
peloton)
Peloton- French for
main group,
pack or
field, a
densely packed
group of
riders, sheltering
in each
other’s draft. In
a mass-start race, most of the competitors usually end
up in one
large peloton for most of the race. The word is French,
from a term that means rolled up in a ball.
Polka
Dot Jersey- The jersey
awarded to
the King
of the
Mountains, the
best climber.
Each climb
in the
Tour has
a category
(see Hors
Categorie) of
fourth (easiest)
to first,
and then
Hors Categorie,
beyond category
(the real
monsters like
Alpe d'Huez).
Points are
awarded to
the winner
of each
climb; the
harder climbs
get the
most points.
Poursuivants- Chaser(s), or
group trying
to catch
leaders of
a stage
or race.
Radio
Tour- Not
a public
station, it
is broadcast
by the
TdF officials
from a
motorbike
to
keep commissaires,
team managers,
journalists
and
public broadcasters,
to keep
all informed
of developments
during the
stage or
race.
Rouleur- A rider
that has
a very
smooth pedaling
action, who
is capable
of riding
at a
steady tempo
over long
distances.
Route- The road
or path
of the
race.
Slipstream- Where
a
rider always
wants
to
ride as
he follows
another
rider’s wheel. The slipstream makes the following
rider’s effort easier.
Soigneurs- The riders’ assistants who give massages,
hand up food and other items to team members. Festina's
former employee
Willy Voet was a soigneur until he was found transporting
drugs during the 1998 TdF.
Sprint- An all-out
burst
of
speed, usually
at the
end of
a race
or intermediate
sprint
for
points.
Sprinter- The
fastest
men
in
the
bunch
over
the
final
few
meters
of
a stage.
He
is
usually
the
slowest
over
a mountain
climb.
Stage
race- The
Tour
is
one
-
they
consist
of
various
daily
tests
with
the
winner
the
rider
with
the
lowest
elapsed
time
for
all
stages.
Team
car-
Containing
Director
Sportif
(team
manager),
mechanic,
and
soigneur.
It
follows
the
race,
carrying
the
team’s
spare bikes and wheels on top.
Tempo- The
pace
of the
race
or
fast
riding.
Tet
de
la
Course-
The
head
of
the
course
(race):
the
rider(s)
leading
(in
a
breakaway)
on
the
road
at
the
time.
The
knock- More
polite
word
for
the
bonk.
Time
Trial- (individual
and
team)
a
race
in
which
competitors
start
one-at-a-time,
usually
at
30
second
or
one-minute
intervals.
The
winner
is
the
cyclist
who
completes
the
course
in
the
shortest
time.
Since
drafting
is
not
allowed
in
an
individual
time
trial,
there
are
no
team
tactics;
it
is
just
the
cyclist
against
the
clock,
hence
the
name "the race of truth."
There
are also
team
time
trials,
usually
involving
teams
of
4
or
more.
They
allow
the
taking
turns
leading
and
drafting
each
other.
Team
time
trials
require
great
precision
in
rotating
position
within
the
team.
UCI- Union Cycliste
Internationale (International
Cycling
Union), the
worldwide governing
body of
road and
track racing.
The UCI
is located
in Lausanne,
Switzerland.
Velo- French for "bicycle” commonly used as a root
for compound words relating to cycling. (see velodrome)
Velodrome- An oval
track, also
known as
a velodrome
for bicycle
racing. Track
bicycles have
steep angles,
fixed gears,
and no
brakes. Common
track events
include match
sprints, pursuits,
motor-paced events
and miss-and-out
races. The
Japanese variant,
the Keirin,
is a
major betting
event in
Japan.
Ville
etape- The
town hosting
stage start
or finish.
Voiture
Balai- French
for the
broom wagon,
which sweeps
up riders
unable to
continue through
Wheelsucker- A
cyclist
who drafts
other cyclists
without taking
his or
her share
of pulling
(turn breaking
the wind
on the
front). Unpopular rider who
sits behind
another and
never does
any work
on the
front of
a group.
Yellow
Jersey- The jersey awardedto the man who completes
the race in shortest time,
the race
leader. It
was first
handed out
during the
1919 TdF
to Eugene
Christophe. Often
copied by
lesser races,
but the
Tour yellow
is the
true Golden
Fleece of
cycling.
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