If you’ve ever opened up Duolingo and searched for ‘Tour de France‘, you have our sympathy. Picking up the dialect of bike racing is not unlike going back to school and is no overnight thing. Not only are there an abundance of words and phrases that you’ve probably never come across previously, at least in this context, many of them are also in French, especially at the Tour de France. If you’re new to it, it can all be rather baffling.
We’ve put together this glossary of terms that you can save in your bookmarks to help you out while you’re following the Tour de France, and next time a commentator tells you there’s an echelon in the peloton you can nod sagely rather than going down the google route (again), or ploughing on in ignorance.
Grand Départ
We might as well start here. A French phrase that translates as ‘big start’, it refers to the beginning of a Grand Tour and, in cases where it takes place in a country that isn’t the usual host nation (such as Spain in this year’s Tour), often refers to the entire three days spent in that country.
Bidon
A water bottle, mounted on the riders bikes for hydration, often just referred to in English. These can be replenished while on the move from their team cars.
Musette
Small bag handed up by team helpers in designated feed zones containing food and gels.
Breakaway
A rider or group of riders who have managed to jump away from the peloton (see below). Often this is a speculative move and unlikely to last all the way to the finish line, but for small teams in particular it’s a way of achieving precious airtime for their sponsors. On occasions the breakaway does succeed, with lumpy days that fall between ‘mountainous’ and ‘flat’ often yielding the most success.
General classification
Often referred to simply as the ‘GC’, the general classification is the leaderboard showing which riders are leading the race overall. The leader will be the rider who has amassed the least time on aggregate across each of the stages, and they wear the coveted yellow jersey. The aim is to be at the top of the General Classification in Paris – the rider who achieves that wins the Tour de France.
Mechanical
Short-hand for ‘mechanical issue’, this term is a catch-all for just about any bike-based issue that may befall a rider during the race. Usually signified by a rider standing at the roadside looking at their machine in dismay, these can range from slipped chains and broken gears (among the most common) to a broken frame (unusual) and anything in-between. There is also the good old puncture, although this would usually be referred to as such. Whatever the problem, a mechanical can often be attended to by the neutral service (see below).
Neutral service
Provided by components manufacturer Shimano, the distinctive blue neutral service cars and motorbikes at the Tour de France provide spare wheels and bikes to riders who have been stranded by mechanical issues and are a long way from their team cars. As the name suggests, the neutral service is not affiliated to any particular team. It carries replacement wheels and bikes for many sizes and fitments but not all, and sometimes riders must simply endure a frustrating wait for their team car to appear.
Hors-cat
The toughest category of climb in bike racing, and short for the French ‘hors-catégorie’, which essentially means ‘beyond classification’. It usually refers to the biggest mountains with a challenging combination of length, gradient and altitude. Climb categories begin at 4 for the easiest, moving up through 3, 2, and 1 before reaching HC. Not all climbs on a stage will be categorised, but the big mountain ascents always are.
Grupetto
This Italian word refers to the group of non-climbers (or simply those having a bad day) that amasses on mountain days to pace each other up the climbs and ensure they finish the stage within the designated time cut. It’s sometimes referred to as the laughing group, but while they’re riding more slowly than the leaders, mountain stages are never easy for anyone, and you won’t see that much laughing going on.
The peloton of the Tour de France scythes through the countryside
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Peloton
This one you’ll hear a lot and, once again, it’s French. It refers to the main body of riders in a race, which is often also called the ‘bunch’. When all the riders are together, it’s often simply used casually to refer to the race, but if there is a breakaway up the road it’s also a useful way of denoting the main body of riders that are chasing behind, and if you’re watching on TV you may well see a small ‘P’ for peloton in the top left corner, where the time gaps are shown.
Puncheur
A word mixing French and English to create a label for a rider that does pretty much what it says on the tin. These are the riders that pack a punch, usually denoting the ability to launch powerful attacks and even win on the smaller, steeper climbs – useful on the in-between stages that don’t involve major mountains or flat finishes.
Rouleur
Another rider label, denoting a powerful rider with the ability to ride hard for long periods, typically on flat to rolling terrain. Mountains are usually hostile territory for them, where they’ll often be found in the grupetto. But once things flatten out, they can put the lightweight climbers to the sword, and will often be found at or near the front putting in sterling work for their teams in chasing breakaways.
A Tour de France sprint finish in full flow
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Sprint day / sprint finish
Theoretically, all days finish in a sprint, unless a rider wins alone. But if you see or hear a particular stage referred to as a sprint day, or that it’s expected to be a sprint finish, it usually means that the riders are predicted to be all together at the end, with the very fastest power sprinters contesting the victory. This usually applies on the flatter stages; a hill or two mid-way won’t usually change this, but one that comes near the end can really upset the sprinters’ plans.
Leadout
When sprinters thank their teams after winning a sprint finish, they’re often effusive in their praise; this is because they’ve enjoyed a good leadout – one of the most challenging, fraught and risky aspects of bike racing. Each team hoping to deliver a sprinter to victory will provide them with their own leadout – a line of riders charging ahead of them to the finish line, offering shelter from the wind and keeping the speed high.
Each rider will have their own job to do, with the first ones kicking in with perhaps 5km to go, and then pulling out of the line once their time is up and their legs exhausted. The final rider is the most important – called the ‘leadout man’ in men’s racing, and delivers their charge to the 250m to go mark, hopefully in a good position to sprint for the win.
Echelon
Not to be confused with peloton but not unrelated, this is when the bunch is forced to ride in a diagonal line across the road because crosswinds mean riders cannot find shelter directly behind each other like they usually would. Instead they shelter from the crosswinds to the side of each other, creating a line across the road.
However, this line inevitably has to end when it reaches the far side of the road, forcing riders out of the line – this is where an echelon becomes a key tactical device. The gaps created on windy days often mean the weaker teams can lose significant amounts of time.
Flamme rouge
Given that the finish line is usually called (perhaps disappointingly) ‘the finish line’ and requires no explanation, the flamme rouge, or red kite as it’s known in English, feels like an appropriate place to sign off. Suspended from a gantry spanning the road, this is a key marker in the race which signifies one kilometre to go to the finish. On a long, arduous day most riders will be extremely happy to see it, but when it comes to sprint days, it’s where the action really begins and the fast finishers prepare to earn their crust.
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