How does tour de france work

Hm, yes and, er, no. Yes, it's just a bike race, but no, it's not just any old bike race — it's the most famous, most challenging, most controversial bike race in the world.

The blur of the peloton. Photo: Alain Bachellier. The yellow jersey of Alberto Contador stands out from the crowd as the Tour de France arrives in Paris. Contador wore yellow into Paris the following year as well, but was stripped of his title after he returned a positive drugs test.

Photo: Josh Hallett. There are a few different categories — or classifications — and the leader of each wears a different coloured jersey.

This reduces wind resistance, and enables the sprinter to achieve faster speeds without using as much energy as they normally would. A green jersey is worn by the top sprinter.

A white jersey is worn by the most impressive rider, 25 and under. A red and white polka-dot jersey is worn by the best climber. Breakaway — A rider or group of riders who have broken away to lead the race. Slipstreaming — Riding close behind another rider in order to benefit from almost no air resistance.

Domestique — Every team has a leader, and the remaining riders domestiques support the leader in whatever way they can in order for them to win stages, accumulate points and hopefully win the tour. Directeur Sportif — Each team has a director, known as directeur sportif, that follows riders during the race and gives them instructions, water, helps with mechanical issues and replaces damaged bikes.

This is not a dishonorable term. Musket Bag — A shoulder bag containing food and water that is handed to riders at feeding stations. SAG Wagon — A vehicle that follows cyclists and picks them up when they can no longer ride due to injury, fatigue, biking failure, and also carries gear.

This means controlling the peloton and chasing down breakaways to set up a sprint finish. Like the GC team, they might also put a rider in the breakaway to ease the burden on the team, forcing rival sprint teams to chase. These pretenders to the throne tend to be opportunistic. However, it is advantageous to have a teammate in the breakaway on a key mountain stage when points are up for grabs.

Also, when defending the polka-dot jersey, teammates can contest the climbs and finish ahead of KOM rivals to spoil their attempt to take over the classification lead by scoring points. This strategy requires constant attacking in the early kilometers of the race — something most fans rarely see on the broadcast. You never know what each stage will hold, but there are a few ways you can plan ahead to catch the action as a cycling fan.

Now that you understand the basics of how the Tour de France is raced, what do you, the new cycling fan do? NBC Sports boasts about hours of Tour broadcast, including live, primetime, and encore coverage. There are daily stages for three weeks. There are some reliably important stages you can focus on to catch the key action. Pick the key mountain stages. There are usually about key mountain stages when the overall race is won and lost. The first few ordinarily come in stages before the first rest day, and the second round is often scheduled for the final week of racing.

Occasionally, another summit finish, such as Mont Ventoux in Provence, will be on the list of important stages. Watching daily? Tune in when things really heat up. On most flat stages, you can wait until the final 20 kilometers to tune in and see the sprinters fight it out.

Some rolling stages might be entertaining in the final kilometers if late breakaways occur. Look for the nuances. Try keeping track of riders who are often making the breakaway. Watch the sprint teams work together — or not — to chase an escape. Who looks to have strength in numbers, and who is not present at the front of the race? Are the GC riders staying out of trouble or tail-gunning at the dangerous back of the peloton?

Usually, at any given time in the race, any given rider is positioned where they are for a specific reason. Look for clues to sort out what is happening. I tried to explain some of the basic terms in parentheticals along the way, but it is tough to know how far to take the explanations.

Let me know if you have other terms or concepts that should be covered! Thanks for reading. It was a very informative article but if it was for novices then why not explain basic words like peloton, break aways, defending or chasing down breakaways, pacing sprinters, defending positions etc. The Tour will take place August 29 — September Great tips on how to watch the Tour..! I enjoyed this article.

Commentators like Phil Liggett and Bob Roll do an excellent job of keeping it entertaining. The scenery is worth watching the tour for. This will be my virtual vacation in Europe this year. Inside TPC. Careers Our Story Local partners Museum. Back To Blog. Points classification — green jersey The sprinters own the road on flat stages, aiming to claim the green jersey as points classification leader.

King of the Mountains classification — polka-dot jersey The King of the Mountains competition awards opportunistic climbers who escape in the Alps and Pyrenees and beat their rivals to the top of France's biggest climbs. Other prizes Can't hang with the world's best riders in the Tour's most difficult stages?