Enjoying the Tour de France

With the absence of Lance Armstrong, as well as a major doping problem, I wasn't expecting much from this year's Tour. However, it has been can't miss TV through the first 10 stages.

Granted, I'm a cyclist, nonetheless, I've enjoyed the Tour for so many reasons, many of which go unnoticed by the casual observer.

I watched a stage with my roommate, who asked a variety of questions about cycling procedure and protocol. After answering his questions as best I could, I could see he began to appreciate the sport more.

That conversation got me thinking about the aspects of cycling the average observer is missing. So, here are a few things to look for to help you enjoy the Tour de France…

A TEAM SPORT

One of the first questions my roommate asked, was why they have teams in cycling, when it's really an individual sport. This is a great question.

Cycling, in the Tour de France, is a team sport more than you can possibly imagine. No winner of the event would dare claim he could have done it alone. Lance claimed the work his teammates did saved him up to 40% of his energy, leaving him fresh at the end of each stage to attack and lose his opponents in the mountains.

Teams are generally comprised of a star the team will protect, two or three climbers, two or three all-around riders, and a few riders known as domestiques.

The star is the best overall rider who the team will protect and do everything they can to put into the best situation to place as high as possible in the overall standings.

Climbers do the hard work in the mountains, riding in the front, setting a killer pace that breaks other teams. They also chase down attacks by other teams, letting the star conserve energy while the climber "sits" on the wheel of attacking ridings, making it harder for that rider to pull away. Finally, climbers ride the first part of the final climb at an impossible pace, pulling the star up the hill, before he attacks, trying to win the stage.

All-around riders do the hard work for the majority of the day. The Tour is won in the mountains, but a rider rides over a hundred miles a day to even reach that final climb in position to win. To get in that position, a team protects it's star throughout the day. The star rides behind his teammates who break the wind, protect the star from crashes and aggressive riders on others teams.

Finally, domestiques are up and coming riders, who simply do the grunt work. A domestique might carry extra food for the team during the day or be asked to drop back to a team vehicle and get new water bottles for every other rider on the team. Domestiques get no glory, but earn their stripes first before graduating to other positions on the team.

UNWRITTEN RULES

Each sport has its' unwritten rules of conduct. Cycling is no different.

For example, if a top cyclist crashes, has a bike problem or similar problems, the other riders will not take advantage of that rider's misfortunes by increasing the pace in an effort to put distance on that rider. Instead, the leaders will slow their pace and wait for the rider to catch up before they begin riding hard again.

Countless other small considerations are made as well, like allowing a rider who has worked hard to cross the line in front of you as a tribute to his hard work. If a rider wears the yellow jersey for a few days, it's respectful to congratulate him on the ride to the line at the end of the day if you know it's the last day he'll be in the lead.

OVERALL PAIN

We probably all agree it's difficult to ride close to 2300 miles in 21 days, but I don't think many of us really understand how difficult it is. I had a cycling friend recently say to me, "If there were no daily time limits on how fast we had to finish, we could finish the Tour de France."

I just smiled at him.

These guys ride over a hundred miles a day over some of the steepest mountains in the world, on hot days, eating no more than granola bars and drinking electrolyte-packed water. It takes most riders several tries before they even finish a Tour de France, let alone compete and win stages.

To get an idea of what these guys are doing, imagine your local ski resort. Now think of the city at the base of that resort where you grab McDonalds on the ride home. Now imagine riding your bike from that city, up to the top of the ski resort and all the way back down. Now do that ride four to five times each day and you have yourself a single stage in the Tour de France. Now do that for 21 straight days. Get the idea?

There is a lot more to cycling than what I've attempted to explain in this article. However, hopefully by taking into consideration a few more of the nuances of cycling, you can appreciate this event in a better context and give it the respect it deserves.

I love sports and love the joy I get from watching sports and appreciating the unique aspects of each sport. Tune in to the Tour de France sometime this week and see if it makes a little more sense.

Don't worry about waking up early to watch it live, The Versus network show replays at least three times a day.

If you need a favorite to cheer for, root for Holland's Johnny Hoogerland; he got hit by a car on Sunday, was thrown into a fence and still finished the race! 33 stitches later, he's plans to continue riding.