TdF Start from the Beginning please

[sleekitcollie]

ok i know this may sound like the ultimate STUPID question to all those on here that follow the Tour and bike racing in general prob for years BUT .... i,ve only started watching it this year . never had an interest B4 now have seen Parts of a few races on TV b4 ( usually whilst sitting in some cafe in france with the motorbike parked outside and not understanding a single word from the tv )
never really understood on the tour etc how u actualy WIN the whole thing , i see teams etc but then the individual is the one that wins . and do they time the whole thing or are results taken from each stages .. oh and another point iare there races within the race . i hear them talking about sprint races and KOTM etc ... sorry but as a complete newcummer to the the world of cycle racing i need someone to explain pls

thanx

 

[beancounter]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France

 

[fossyant]

The winner is the one with the shortest overall time, and usually the one that falls off the least - well it seems that way this year !

 

[sleekitcollie]

thanks guys , getting there now

 

[simon_adams_uk]

The other big thing to remember is that each team will measure its success (certaintly in terms of £££ from sponsors) in terms of how many minutes their logo-embalzened jerseys are on TV.

Hence lots of day-long breakaways that fail and other seemingly odd behaviour that seems to run counter to conventional tactics.

Add this commercial logic to racing logic then it all becomes a bit clearer (not!)

S

 

[laurence]

the best thing to do is try and watch a stage live on TV. you'll see how it all works and the team dynamics... that will help a bit.

yellow jersey: riders are times individually every day. the one with the shortest time is the leader and wear the yellow jersey. on some stages there are time bonuses (including sprint bonuses along the route)- seconds are taken off the accumulated time for these.

green jersey: riders score points according to where they finish (within the top 20 or 30). these are added up and the one with the most wears green. again, there are bonuses in sprints along the route and these are added to the total.

polka dot jersey: points are awarded for the first people over a climb. the points relate to the severity of the climb. these are added up and the one with the most wears the whte and red spotted jersey.

whte jersey: best young rider. this is for the rider under 25 (i think) and is done on the same principle as the yellow jersey.

is a rider holds more than one jersey the next rider in the classification will wear it that day... the yellow jersey is the highest honour, so the rider will wear that and hand the others down - then green, then polka dot.

when there is a 'bunch finish' all riders will get the time of the first over the line - unless there is a 1 second gap in the bunch. in that instance the next bunch will get the time they actually finished... so a rider may be at the back of the bunch, but 1 second behind the rider in front. the one in front gets the time of the bunch, the first one after the gap will get their actual finish time - which could well be many seconds after the man 1 second ahead of the road. it's why you will see riders sprint to catch someone ahead even a long way down the field.

hope that helps.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Nice to see you back, Laurence.