The Secret Lives of People We Know: cycling season!

YES!
cycling season is upon us!!
That means that all those cycling god's, including Andy & Frank Shleck, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Carlos Sastre, are all going to be out!!!! For all you non-cycling watchers and basically cycling may be somewhat of a mystery.. What is the strategy? Is it just the fastest man wins? Here is the lay person and American's guide to Cycle Sport.

There are three major grand tour races that are the ultimate boon in cycle sport racing and if you are new to the sport they are must sees. Everyone is aware of the Tour de France, through its famous and heretical standing. And it really is true. Le Tour de France is the biggest and most prestigious race in the World Grand tour standings. Le Tour de France is one of the reasons I wanted to learn french. But beside this tour their are two others that hold almost as much prestige.

-Le Tour de France

-Giro d'Italia

-Vuelta a Espana

These are grand tour races because they are stage races that cover over 200km a day. The Tour, which is the biggest, usually contains 20-21 stages. They are also grand tours because they have different qualifications for different classes. That means that Le Tour de France is raced in stages, over a period of days, and not in one go.

You can not only win the general classification, or the shortest time overall, but there are classifications for mountain climbing and sprinting as well as best young rider. The leaders of these classifications get to wear a jersey, denoting their position in the group. This can easily change from day to day, but the man wearing the yellow on the final day is the winner. The green jersey is for the points or sprinting classification. The polka dotted jersey is for the "King of the Mountain" or mountain climbing classification.

Maillot Jaune

Maillot à Pois Rouges

Maillot Vert

YES! Cycling is a TEAM sport.
In all the video footage you see in America, they always seem to forget to tell you that. The only hopeful for the general classification win is the team leader, the only job of the others is to help that leader position, draft, and get and deliver food to the other teammates. Just like motor sports, positioning and drafting are the strategy of cycling. If you move too fast, you will crack, run out of energy, and get dropped -- move to late and you will be left behind. If your team is not strong enough and can't give you a good position at the top of the peleton, or main group, you will not have a viable position for the win. If the main leaders aren't threatening it is foolish for you to go for a stage win, if they are attacking the lead, you have to make a move, tired or not.

CRASHES!

sadly, one of the most exciting elements of a grand tour race is the crashes. when the cyclists get tired turning those corners and focusing on staying up right becomes harder.. here are some of the best crashes..