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For a while I’ve wanted to do a “Cousin Hobbes” thread every week where I review something or explain something. I even started one once on The Man Who Wasn’t There, which was an unfortunate choice since noone’s seen that movie. Consequently I got no response and my energy kind of petered out. Now I’ve decided to start again, and just write a little “Cousin Hobbes” column every week or so. Not any specific schedule but I’ll try and get one a week done (unless of course there’s no response again…). I’ve started off with a Tour de France one, part of which I’ve already posted but…very incomplete. I’m breaking it up into two parts this time, and posting the first part now. Hope you enjoy!

BannaOJ has started a couple threads on the Tour de France, but I want to start one that will go over every stage and in the process try and explain professional cycling. The Tour de France (and all major races) are done in stages. The riders will all leave the stage at the same time (except time trials when they leave at 2 minute intervals) and then just add up the time it takes them to finish each stage. The person with the lowest overall time wins the race, and in The Tour de France, that means they wear the yellow Jersey.

The Tour de France picks a select few teams of riders. A team is group of 9 riders that are sponsored by a company (or group of people). The make-up of the team is variable, some teams have riders that win on certain stages (a sprinter, someone to lead the sprinter to the finish, a climber…) and some are centered around one man. The American based United States Postal Service is based around one Lance Armstrong (from Huston Texas). The team was built with the singular goal of seeing Lance in yellow at the end of the race. They have riders to protect Lance in flat stages (make sure crashes wont affect their leader) and climbers to help up the mountains. The USPS team is considered one of the strongest teams in tour history.

Prologue
This is the Tour’s 100th anniversary. The first race was run in 1903, and all though this isn’t the 100th race (a few were missed because of the wars) it’s still a big deal. Because of this, the race starts off in Paris for the 6.5 km prologue. This isn’t a full fledged stage because of how incredibly short it is. Of course it doesn’t mean the riders don’t care since the winner of the stage will be the overall leader, which is something they all want.

Each rider leaves separately for this one, and just races as hard as they can for the short distance. The fast riders will take this stage. The ones that are no threat to finish first we return to Paris in three weeks because they just can’t handle the mountains. Bradley McGee wins the stage (as he had expected) and we move into stage 1 of the Tour de France.

Stage 1
The first few stages of the tour are made for the “sprinters”. On a flat stage almost all the riders stay in a group, called a peleton. Each one staying in the slip stream of those before them, with alternating riders leading the group. Normally a few riders try to break off the group and finish ahead of the peleton for the stage win. The peleton will normally let them go (or some of them anyways) and then use the fact that they have more people (and better rested people) to catch them at the end. When they’re trying to catch the lead riders at the end, they’ll hit speeds over 70 km/hr on the flat.

Stage 1 was just as expected, three riders break off of the main peleton and try to get a gap large enough to keep the main pack at bay. And like usual, the peleton was able to the pull them in at the end, allowing the sprinters the win. A sprinter is someone who will stay in the main peleton all the way, and then at the last 100 meters or so break off and accelerate to the finish faster than any of the other riders. Today, the winner was one Alessandro Petacchi, a top notch sprinter.

However, stage 1 wasn’t exactly as it was supposed to be. On the final kilometer there was a sharp turn, and rather narrow as well. As the peleton swept through it at 70 km/hr a rider towards the edge fell. The problem is that when one rider falls in the middle of the peleton, many more will go down. And so they did, Tyler Hamilton, an American going for a top three finish, or maybe the overall win fell and fractured his collar bone in two places. Luckily, the crash was in the last 1km, so the race rules gave everyone who crashed there the same finishing time as the leaders. Another American broke his pelvis and is out for the race. A very dramatic and very sad stage in all.

Stage 2
There were two big stories today, and neither one was the stage winner. The first one is the Tyler Hamilton is still racing with a double fracture to his collar bone. He says he’s still in the race just to help his team mate. Everyone knows that at the mountain stages he’ll have to drop out, since this injury will keep him from standing up on the bike and getting any power, though he did manage to keep with the main peleton today.

The other story was Frederic Finot and Lilian Jegou, two young riders that broke off 198km from the end of the race, a race that isn’t much over 200km long. Unfortunately, this story has the sad ending is that Finot (who outlasted Jegou) lead the race for almost exactly 197km. He was caught by the peleton at 1km to go and the race was given back into the hands of the sprinters. Today it was won by an Aussie: Baden Cooke.

Stage 3
This stage was a pretty mellow, nothing kind of stage. Another day for the sprinters accelerating in the last 500m or so. Though there was a minor crash that kept Cookey (as he is often called) from taking his second stage victory and the yellow jersey, no major contenders where affected by it. The winner was Alessandro Petacchi, again.

I’ll use this opportunity to explain how the sprint at the end of these kind of stages works. Or more precisely to let Chris Carmichael (Lance Armstrong’s coach) explain.

quote:

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The Jump
The sprint is initiated by a jump, 10-20 extremely powerful pedal strokes intended to establish a small gap. With a strong jump, you can get three or four bike lengths ahead of the other sprinters. It's like getting a head-start, and everyone else has to catch up with you. Riders often jump in smaller gears than they use for the rest of the sprint. You can accelerate more quickly in a slightly smaller gear, and if you can follow up your jump with a strong acceleration, it is difficult for others to reach your back wheel or come around you.

The Acceleration
Once you have initiated the sprint, you have to accelerate to maximum speed. Gaining speed quickly is a matter of coordinating your cadence and shifting. It is tempting to throw the chain into your biggest gear right away, but that may actually slow you down. If you immediately shift into a huge gear, the resistance increases immensely and your cadence falls as you try to muscle the gear. Instead, spin the gear up to a high cadence, then shift down one cog and keep accelerating until your cadence is high in that gear. Keep accelerating and shifting until you reach your maximum speed.

Top-End Speed
No one can maintain his maximum sprint speed for very long, so it is very important to gauge the distance to the finish line before you start your sprint. Ideally, you should time the sprint so you are able to accelerate all the way to the finish line. Most sprints, though, reach their maximum speed 75-100 meters from the line. Your jump and acceleration can get you out in front of the peleton, but then you have to have the power to maintain that speed so no one catches up.

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Stage 4
This is a fascinating stage, the team time trial. On a typical time trial each rider leaves the start separately and is not allowed to ride the wheel of any other rider that catches them (or is caught by them). It is a completely individual race. The team time trial is similar, if you think of a team as a person. They leave far enough apart from each other (since there are 9 people on the team) that riding each other’s wheels isn’t an issue. Within the team they can do whatever they want, the time of the 5th rider across the finishing line is the time the whole team gets.

When you ride the wheel of another rider you are getting two things. Most importantly you are getting blocked from the air resistance. If you stay inside that rider’s slip stream you get a huge advantage of energy (or energy saved at least) and have to do much less work. You also are getting someone to dictate the pace, which is much more minor, but important none the less. When all the riders are working together (like the teams were today) you have continual change of whose the lead rider, to make sure everyone gets enough rest to stay with the group.

An American based team has never won this event in Tour history, and Lance wanted to change that, and did. USPS finished first in the race today, placing a full 30 seconds above the next team (team Once, lead by Joseba Beloki). Today’s stage also had another first (besides USPS’s win). Because Victor Hugo Pena preformed brilliantly in the prologue stage (beating Lance by 1 second) he is now in yellow, being the first Columbian in the history of the tour to wear the jersey.

Stage 5
This was another flat stage, and one where we saw who the best sprinter is in the tour. was Alessandro Petacchi was behind the sprinters coming into the final 200m, and seeing this, jumped ahead of them and cruised to his third stage win. His acceleration and top speeds simply could not be matched by his fellow sprinters, and he walks away with the win.

Stage 6
Today was the last flat stage before the tour heads to the mountains. Stuart O'Grady and Anthony Geslin both attacked early on in the race and managed, at one point, to put close to twenty minutes between themselves and the peleton. And once again they were caught, but not until only 400m before the end. That must’ve hurt them hard, 400 meters at these speeds is under 30 seconds. Petacchi picked up his 4th tour win, and put himself and his shoulder firmly above the rest of the sprinting field.

Stage 7
The first mountain stage is upon us. Previous stages have been conducted entirely over level ground. Ups and downs are of course present, but today we’ll go over a few mountain passes. This is when many riders drop out and the time gaps go from 2 minutes to 30. Alessandro Petacchi is one of the first to drop out, leaving some feeling bitter, including Baden Cooke who called him “a wimp”.

The mountain stages are when the leaders appear. On the flat stage there is a limit to what kind of gaps can be put between riders, since the true leaders can always keep with the main peleton and stay within just minutes of the finish. In the mountains, there is no assurance of where the riders can finish, and the big break-always are made.

Armstrong, like all of the winners of the tour, gets his wins in the mountains, on stages the end on summits, which is why there are so few stages like that this year. When a stage goes to the mountains but doesn’t end on the summit, Armstrong can’t do the same kind of damage, because in a descent of a mountain other riders take big risks and catch up to him. The tour directors don’t want Lance to win again, or at least not easily, so they took away most of those stages, and we end up with stages like this one. Mountains all over the course but the finish is in a valley.

Today a young French rider named Richard Virenque took the stage. He made an early break-away and managed to keep it up all the way to the finish. Actually, today was a pretty boring stage for the first mountain stage (unless you happen to be Richard Virenque). The gaps between the main contenders are all still the same, but all of the sprinters have fallen far behind.

Lance Armstrong gets the yellow jersey today since he had such a good team time trial and all the leaders on the flat have fallen so far behind.

Stage 8
So far I haven’t mentioned Hamilton much. He was supposed to have dropped out after he broke his collar bone on stage 1 (he hasn’t fully recovered from a broken shoulder he got in the Giro d’Italy, a race that despite the break, he finished second in). He was supposed to drop out on the first mountain stage but some how stayed in. With his collar bone, he is in constant pain, and getting out of the saddle (standing up on the pedals, which gives you more power) is utter agony. Yet he’s still in the race, and today he actually put in an attack! But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Alpe d'Huez is the mountain today. Many stages have finished there, many famous stages. It is one of the mountain stages this year that ends on the top of the mountain. Armstrong is expected to attack today. His team leads out the race, as it is the tradition the team with the yellow jersey sets the pace for the main peleton. Today, perhaps from the excitement of the stage, they lead out too fast and too hard. Everyone’s legs are hurting at the beginning of the climb; the main peleton falls apart of many in the USPS team fall back, unable to help Lance.

This is a bad stage for Armstrong, his teammates fall off one by one as riders continue to attack (try to sprint out ahead of him and keep they’re distance). Armstrong is continually forced to chase down attack after attack with no help from his team. Iban Mayo, a Basque climber, makes a break the Armstrong doesn’t reel in and takes the stage. Armstrong managed to keep the attacks under control (at least from the main competitors) but he wasn’t able to attack anyone himself. He looked weak today, not the Armstrong of old.

Stage 9
This is a day to remember. It is another mountain stage, but one that ends in down hill. Armstrong knows he can not make a break himself as he would be caught at the end, but he has to make sure none of his competitors do either, as they may be willing to risk it all for a big time gap over the Texan. He makes it up the mountains and is coming down. His team has left him and he is riding with a big contender, Joseba Beloki. Beloki is taking the descent very fast, trying to catch a mini break in front of them. As they approach the bottom of the descent it looks like they’ll manage to catch the break so Beloki continue his pace, Armstrong riding perilously close behind him.

Then it happens. While careening down the mountain at 70 to 80 km/hr Beloki falls. His tire had broken and gotten stuck in the tar (that was melted due to high temperatures). It takes him about 3 meters to finish his fall, he lands hard on the pavement and doesn’t move. Armstrong was only a few meters behind him, and miraculously avoid the crash by jerking his bike off of the road and riding (a road bike) over the terrain where he meets up with the road again after it’s taken a switch back. No other biker could have managed a trick like that, but it costs Lance as the time it takes to get down a minor barrier on the road and get going again allows all the riders falling him to catch up. None the less he makes it to the finish with out being caught by any major competitor.

Joseba Beloki is out of the race now. He broke his fingers, his collar bone, and his femur. It’s a sad day for Beloki and his ONCE team, and a sad day for the race as one of the major competitors is ambulanced off of the road.

Stage 10
Stage 10 is a rest day. The riders can not allow their bodies a full day of lounging around, so they all go for a easy (for them) 2 or so hour bike ride. They have to make a move today as Stage 11 does not start any where near where stage 9 ended, but overall it gives them a chance to get their bodies back into shape. Tomorrow, we ride again.

Hobbes

[ August 11, 2003, 02:00 AM: Message edited by: Hobbes ]

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