Glossary of Terms

Cycling uses a different lexicon as a sport and as such has terms or words that the casual or first time cycling fan may not be familiar with.

Peloton-a French term loosely translated as “a large group moving forward”. In cycling this refers to the largest group together on the road. In some mountain stages the cyclists are scattered all over the mountain in small groups, the largest group is often designated the “peloton” by race officials.

Breakaway-On every stage a breakaway forms at some point. Breakaways can be a single cyclist up to 20 or more depending on the stage and the tactics being employed by the teams in the race. Most of the time the breakaway consists of cyclists that have no chance of winning the race overall or the stage that day and their objective is to get TV time for their sponsors. However sometimes team managers will insert certain riders into the break to shape the race in their team’s favor. Teams that are not represented in the break are expected to do the work on the front of the peloton and reel in the break prior to the finale. Teammates of the race leader that are in the break are not expected to work to help the breakaway succeed. There are certain stages that are targeted by breakaway riders depending on where they fall into the race (i.e. after a Time Trial or a hard  mountain stage) where the break has a good chance of succeeding .

Domestique`-The domestiques (which literally translates to servants in French) are the teammates that do all of the work for their team leader. They sit in front or beside him and block the wind, go back to the team car periodically and get water bottles and food for the team, and even give the leader his bike should there be a crash or flat tire on the road.  Domestiques are selected to the teams based on their specific skill set and how they are to be used during the race.

Director Sportif-The coach/manager of the team and rides in the team car located in the caravan behind the peleton. The DS is responsible for everything associated with the team from lodging and food to training plans to team tactics during the race and everything in between.

Bunch Sprint-The first week of the Tour features mostly flat stages that are intended to end in a bunch or group sprint. When this occurs the peleton catches the breakaway prior to the finish line which allows the sprinters to race each other for the victory.

Lead out train-The lead out train also refers to sprinting. On a team without a General Classification contender (and sometimes on teams that do have a GC rider) each team member has an assigned spot in line for the last 5k of the race leading up to a bunch sprint. Each rider will be on the front of the line and ramp up the speed for a certain distance and then swing off for the next rider in line to do his part and up the speed even more. Theorectically the last rider will swing off with about 250-300meters to go until the finish and the speed will be around 35-40 mph, this lets the sprinter stay out of the wind until the last possible moment and then sprint full speed for the victory at the line.

General Classification-The General Classification or GC is what is used to determine the overall leader (and after the final stage winner) of the race. GC standings are computed using aggregate elapsed time over the entire race. Each of the 22 teams will designate a “GC rider” but in reality only about 10-12 riders actually have a shot to win. The leader of the GC is who wears the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) on the road.

Points Classification-The Points Classification is for the most consistant finisher over the course of the race. Points are awarded as follows:

]

Type		1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23rd	24th	25th
	“flat” stage finish	35	30	26	24	22	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
	“medium mountain” stage finish	25	22	20	18	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
	“high mountain” stage finish	20	17	15	13	12	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
	prologue/individual time trial	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1
	intermediate sprint	6	4	2

King of the Mountains (KOM)-The King of the Mountains jersey is awarded to the most consistant climber in the race based on a point system that uses placement as well as the difficulty of the climb.

The points that are gained by climbing the mountains are distributed according to the following classification:

• Hors Catégorie climbs: 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively for the 1st until the 10th rider to climb the mountain
• First category climbs: 15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively for the 1st until the 8th rider to climb the mountain
• Second category climbs: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively for the 1st until the 6th rider to climb the mountain
• Third category climbs and hills : 4, 3, 2 and 1 point, respectively for the 1st until the 4th rider to climb the hill
• Fourth category climbs (hills): 3, 2, and 1 point, respectively for the 1st until the 3rd rider to climb the hill.

The points of the last climb in the stage are doubled, but only for the HC, 1st and 2nd category. The organisation of the race determines which mountains are included for the mountains classification and in which category they are.

If two riders have an equal number of points, the rider with the most first places on the hors catégorie cols, is declared winner. If the riders arrived first an equal number of times, the first places on the 1st category cols are compared. Should the two riders again have an equal number of first arrivals in this category, the organization looks at mutual results in the 2nd , 3rd and 4th category, until a winner is found. If the number of first arrivals in all categories is equal for both riders, the rider with the highest position in the overall list of rankings receives the mountain jersey.

Best Young Rider-The Best Young Rider is awarded to the highest placed rider on aggregate time that is less than 26 years of age as of 1 January. The Best Young Rider wears the white jersey (maillot blanc).