Here comes ‘Le Tour’
As all of us here on the Surfcoast battle with the often unruly and unpredictable weather on our bikes at the moment, pushing ourselves to our limits, we must take time to reflect on the gruelling training schedule that our world ranking cyclist are now in the midst of, in their final preparations for the toughest cycling race on earth, Le Tour de France, which begins next month..
Running from Saturday July 4th to Sunday July 26th 2009, the 96th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,500 kilometres.
These 21 stages have the following profiles:
10 flat stages,
7 mountain stages,
1 medium mountain stage,
2 individual time-trial stages,
1 team time-trial stage.
As outlined above, stages of the Tour can be flat, undulating or mountainous. Stages are normally contested by all the riders starting together with the first over the line winning, but they can also be run against the clock for individuals or teams. The time-trials often have a significant effect because they separate riders by substantial margins, whereas in some conventional stages participants finish together or in large groups. The overall winner is almost always a master of the mountains and time trials rather than of the more straightforward flat stages.
This year’s tour route is turned upside down taking a clockwise motion starting outside France in the Principality of Monaco, passing through Spain, Andorra, Switzerland and Italy. However, due to the southern position of the Grand Départ, the clockwise route will still see the race tackle the Pyrénées first, just as the anti-clockwise route did last year.
Apart from the change to the course direction, this years course will include a longer-than-usual 15km opening time trial around the streets of the millionaires' paradise of Monte Carlo. Despite the longer opening test, the total individual time trials are reduced to just 55km with the third race against the clock in its traditional final week position. This could have disastrous implications for any overall hopefuls who are strong against the clock, but whose team is traditionally weak.
As introduced last year, there are to be no time bonuses on the line for stage winners – or at intermediate sprints. The Tour will instead be measured in real time, with the time that riders cross the line to be the one taken. No longer will slower teams be able to rely on the limited time penalties imposed in previous years; time lost on the line will translate to time lost in the overall classification.
Apart from winning the Tour, each race has three further classifications that riders can strive to achieve: the points, the mountains and the best young rider. The leaders of the four competitions wear a distinctive jersey next day. Jerseys are awarded in a ceremony after each stage, sometimes before trailing riders have finished. When a single rider is entitled to more than one jersey, he wears the most prestigious and the second-placed rider in the other classification wears the jersey. For example, in the first week it is common for the overall classification (yellow jersey) and points (sprint) competition (green jersey) to be led by the same rider. In this case the leading rider will wear the yellow jersey and the rider placed second in the points competition will wear the green jersey.
Overall leader
The yellow jersey, which is worn by the HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_classification" \o "General classification"general classification (or overall time) leader, is the most prized. It is awarded by calculating the total combined race time up to that point for each rider. The rider with the lowest total time is the leader, and at the end of the event is declared the overall winner of the Tour.
Sometimes a rider takes the overall lead during a stage and gets sufficiently far ahead of the yellow jersey wearer that his current lead is greater than his time deficit to the yellow jersey in the general classification; when this happens, this rider may be referred to as being "the yellow jersey on the road". No jerseys can be exchanged in this situation, which is why in some other languages the leading rider is referred to as the "virtual yellow".
Points classification
The green jersey is awarded for sprint points. At the end of each stage, points are earned by the riders who finish first, second, etc. Points are higher for flat stages, as sprints are more likely, and less for mountain stages, where climbers usually win.
Flat stages: 35, 30, 26, 24, 22, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points are awarded to the first 25 riders across the finish.
Medium-mountain stages: 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the first 20 riders across the finish.
High-mountain stages: 20, 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the first 15 riders across the finish.
Time-trials: 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points are awarded to the top 10 finishers of the stage.
Intermediate sprints: 6, 4, and 2 points are awarded to the first three finishers.
In case of a tie, the number of stage wins determine the green jersey, then the number of intermediate sprint victories, and finally, the rider's standing in the overall classification.
King of the Mountains
The "HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Mountains" \o "King of the Mountains"King of the Mountains" wears a white jersey with red dots, referred to as the "polka dot jersey". The competition is calculated by points awarded to the first riders at the top of designated hills and mountains, the greatest number of points being awarded for the hardest ascents.
Climbs rated "Hors Catégorie" (HC): 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points for the first 10 riders to the summit.
Category 1 climbs: 15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points for the first 8 riders to the top.
Category 2 climbs: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5 for the first 6 riders to the top.
Category 3 climbs: 4, 3, 2 and 1 points for the first 4 riders to the top.
Category 4 climbs: 3, 2 and 1 points for the first 3 riders to the top.
NOTE: For the last climb of a stage, the points are doubled (for HC, Cat 1 and Cat 2 climbs only).
In case of a tie, the rider with the most HC wins takes the jersey, then the rider with the most Cat 1 wins, etc...
Although the best climber was first recognised in 1933, the jersey was not introduced until 1975.
Other classifications
There are three lesser classifications, though only one awards the leader a jersey. The white jersey is for the best-placed rider less than 25 years old on January 1 of the year the Tour is ridden.
The "prix de combativité" goes to the rider who has done most to animate the day's racing, usually by trying to break clear of the field. It is decided by a panel of experts. The most combative rider of a stage wears a number printed white-on-red instead of black-on-white in the next stage. At the end of the Tour, an award is given to the rider thought to be the most aggressive throughout the entire tour.
The team prize is assessed by adding the times of each team's best three riders each day. The competition does not have its own jersey but since 2006 the leading team has worn numbers printed black-on-yellow instead of black-on-white. The number of riders in a team has varied but is now normally nine. Until 1930, teams represented countries, groups of countries or French regions. From 1930, but with the exception of 1967 and 1968 when there was a return to geographical teams, riders have been entered by commercial teams.
Star Australian cyclist and local Surfcoast resident Cadel Evans is once again seen to be one of the strongest contingents of the competition. You can watch every stage of LIVE on SBS TV from July 4 to 26. Best of luck Cadel, we are all behind you.
Lorenzo Moro
Torquay Cycling Factory
