Tour De France question.

[SwtwtrMstngs04]

How does someone win a stage but not get the lead in the race?

[pero chato]

I think the lead refers to the overall time, each stage is a seperate entity.

[SwtwtrMstngs04]

Ahh got it. Thanks

[Old Tiger]

Phil C will know for sure, lol

[Phil C]

pero is absolutely correct. Moncoutie winning it today and Casar getting second today was great for the French because it is Bastille day and both of these riders (especially Moncoutie) will be national heroes.

[Phil C]

It is possible for the overall winner to not win a stage at all but still have the best overall time.

There are several jerseys awarded at the end of each stage. The yellow jersey is awarded to the one who has the best time overall and sometimes it changes hands over the course of the tour. This is also called the race leader's jersey. The main time to have it is at the end. This is the big money prize but all of the others are profitable too. This is the Jersey that Lance and Ullrich and others are trying to get.

The green jersey is given to the leader of the sprint points competition. The points are awarded at certain points in certain stages. This jersey is mainly for those like McEwen who is a great sprinter but not a good mountain climber and is not expected to challenge strongely for the yellow jersey.

The polka-dot jersey is given to the best climber which runs on a point system like the green jersey. The winner is called the King of the Mountains.

The Stage Winner may not get a jersey but does get recognition.

[Phil C]

Also at the end of the tour the yellow hats are awarded to the team that has the best time in the total of its' top three riders.

There is also a white jersey awarded to young riders (those less than 25 years old on January 1 of the year of the tour. Also each day a red jersey is awarded to the most combative rider and the judges award points to riders who make particularly attacking moves that day with the rider getting the most points getting that jersey.

[Phil C]

Some common terms you may hear me or others use in this sports are as follows:

peloton refers to the large group of riders that stay together nearly all of the race

an attack is an aggreesive, high-speed jump away from other riders usually the peloton but it can be other groups.

a break or breakaway is is a rider or group of riders who has escaped from the pack which is usually the peloton. They are also called escapees.

General Classification (CG) refers to the overall standings in a stage race.

patron is an unofficial term used to refer to the leader of the peloton. You won't hear it on the air but it is common. Usually it is several riders nowadays who are co-patrons so to speak.

Stage - refers to each day's race during this multiple-race event.

Time trials like stage 4 when riders are spaced apart and race more against the clock than each other.

[BTEXDAD]

I assume they wash the yellow jersey every day when it changes hands?
Otherwise that might be one reason Lance doesn't want to maintain the lead over the entire Tour.

[3afan]

uh, maybe there's more than 1 of each color? ya think? :D

[lostaussie]

i keep up with the tour because i think armstong is remarkable. however, i have learned a great deal over the last few days folowing these threads. keep em' coming. question? what is bastille day? i'm figuring it's some sort of french holiday.

[Phil C]

There is pressure in wearing the yellow jersey which is why Lance doesn't object to not wearing it in early stages where is sometimes changes hands regularly. Of course in the later stages you are reluctanct to lose it. As another note I was right about the stage winner not necessarily getting a jersey but he does receive a trophy at the podiem. Also if a rider is eligible for two jerseys one is given to the second place member of the team to wear for him.

[Phil C]

Originally posted by lostaussie
i keep up with the tour because i think armstong is remarkable. however, i have learned a great deal over the last few days folowing these threads. keep em' coming. question? what is bastille day? i'm figuring it's some sort of french holiday.


los it is a French holiday celebrated on July 14th of each year. It is a day when all French citizens can feel themselves to be a member of a republican nation. In the 1780's due to abuse and oppression by Kings some of the French citizens organized to form a republic. Some of them were put in the Bastille - a French prison. On July 14, 1789, many french citizens stormed the Bastille and freed these prisoners and started the revolution that lead to the downfall of the King and the start of France as a republic. For all citizens of France, the storming of the Bastille came to symbolize liberty, demoncracy in the struggle against oppression.