Introduction to Cycling

[Cruiser23]

This is a thread dedicated to the people who are new and have become interested in the sport of cycling. I've put together a pretty simple summary on the way the sport of cycling opporates.

This is also a thread for any questions you have on the sport that i haven't covered in the write-up. I'll add to the write-up so we can get a comprehensive summary of the sport of cycling, if someone asks an question i haven't covered, i'll blend it in. I'll also keep a post dedicated to the questions ask so we can keep a somewhat of a record.

So feel free, any tactics, strategies, tours, anything extra you want to know, just pose the question in here and someone will be able to answer it.

It's not the easiest sport to get a grasp of but i'm sure once you have, you'll be hooked.

 

[Cruiser23]

Cycling 101

Cycling may be seen as a sport dedicated to the individual but in effect it is a very team oriented that requires different types of riders for an individual/team to succeed. The main attribute that the riders possess is obviously endurance with some blessed with speed on the flat/uphill and knowledge upstairs. Not all riders are able to succeed in each disciple that occurs either during a race or during a Tour and this is what makes it a fascinating sport. For the hills and mountains, lean, lightweight riders are usual the most successful as it makes them easier to drag their body up the climb. Whereas on the flats, the bigger more powerful riders excel as they can churn out huge amount of power. You then also have the sprinters who have the ability to reach speeds of nearly 70km an hour over the last 100-300m of a stage. There are also riders who are kind of stuck in between that often attempt stages victories of the one day races, summary is there are races for everyone. Finally you have the ‘domestiques’ these fellas are the work horses for the main rider(s) is their respective teams. They may be a good sprinter but their teams have a better one, instead of both trying to win, they get that good sprinter to aid the better one in a potential victory. Same goes with climbers, sometimes you may have a great climber but he may be missing something to compete with the best, so he aids the better rider. A brief rundown on what can happen during a race...

“Often, strong, aggressive riders will “attack” the group in an attempt to “break away,” or escape on their own. This is a gamble, as a group can ride faster with less effort than a solo breakaway. Riders in a group can take turns “pulling” at the front and “drafting” in the pack’s slipstream in a long, wheel-to-wheel group called a “paceline.” Because of the stamina required, drafting, or riding closely behind a rider to decrease wind resistance, is very important. A drafting racer can save as much as 25 percent of the effort expended by a lone rider. A sprinter who has been conserving his energy by drafting in the pack can use his speed to jump ahead at the finish line.

A breakaway with a number of riders forming their own paceline has a better chance of success, particularly if it contains several riders from a single team. Watch for riders wearing the same jersey -- they’ll take turns setting the pace and resting in the draft. Riders from other teams, meanwhile, may “sit in,” refusing to take a turn at the front, or take a slower, shorter pull than the others, either trying to slow the break, hoping their own teammates will catch it, or conserving energy for the final burst toward the finish line.

Watch the front of the main pack. If its leaders wear the same jersey as the breakaway leaders, they are “blocking,” or trying to keep the pack’s pace at a tempo that is slower than the break, but fast enough to discourage new break-aways. If its leaders are wearing another team’s colours, however, a full-blown “chase” may be developing.

In longer road races, a spectator may see a lull in the action and think that the riders are not racing. In races where cyclists are expected to be in the saddle for three, four or five hours, unspoken truces give the competitors a respite to eat and drink, take off jackets and leg warmers as temperatures rise or answer the call of nature. They’re conserving energy for the next attack, the next chase, efforts that in a strong group can push the pace in an instant from a sedate 25 mph to 35 mph and beyond. A rider who does not save something for those heart-pounding moments will not last long.

Finally, if the breakaway is caught and the pack re-forms with the finish line approaching, the various teams will maneuver to set up their sprinters, positioning them behind powerful riders who’ll provide a “leadout” -- a gradual acceleration to top speed over the last couple of miles -- that slingshots the sprinters toward the line at speeds in excess of 45 mph.

There is only one winner in every race, but even in top-level competition a champion needs a strong team. Nearly all criteriums and road races involve a degree of teamwork and tactics.”

Link

As mentioned above, there are different types of races/stages that favour the different riders. I’ll go on the describe them in the next few posts, they are Tours/Stage Races, One Day Races/Classics and the World Championships.

The International Language of Cycling

Teams Coming Soon...

 

[Cruiser23]

Tours/Stage Races

Tours or stage races are events ridden over several stages (days). They are very testing on the riders as the fitness, ability; mental strength etc to even complete one of these kinds of events is difficult. The teams selected will be told to select normally somewhere between 7-9 riders for the event. The director sportif, basically the coach of the team will then select the riders he believe have the best chance to either get victories or rider for a team leader. That team leader may be a sprinter or an overall classification rider, depending on the Tour (could have a lot of sprinting stages or a tour of climbs). They may also have a sprinter and an overall classification rider or they could have two overall classification riders, all depends of the team’s squad, which can vary in size, normally somewhere in the 15-30 depending on the size of the team’s budget (whether they are a UCI ProTour Team, Pro Continental or Continental Team). These riders selected are then given a number; the leader of the team will normally have a 1 on the end (eg 21, 211, 101). Tours can also vary with regards to the number of teams; the Tour de France for example starts with around 200 riders.

There is a possibility leaders change during the tour, all depends on what the director sportif believes is the best for the team. There will be some teams, normally the lesser know teams that really don’t have either an overall classification rider or a sprinter and will just either go for stage wins or get the sponsor’s name out that. When you watch a grand tour, you may ask yourself why there are normally riders you’ve never heard of in the breakaway, well that’s why.

As I said Tours can consist of numerous amount of days, days that favour the sprinters (flat stages) and stages that favour the climbers. Now the overall classification riders are normally good climbers because those are the stages where more time can be put into opponents. Time Trials are involved in the bigger Tour’s, normally one or two stages where riders will ride just against the clock. This is another stage which would benefit and sort out the overall classification though it seems this sort of discipline is somewhat being pushed out. Team Time Trials are also another discipline that may be introduced though they are rare. It’s basically the whole team riding together against the clock with the time stopping on the wheel of the 5th rider in the line. So tactics can be used to drop the slower riders early so it doesn’t slow the team time down.

The overall classification jersey winner, the major, most prestigious competition is obviously the rider with the lowest cumulative time to complete all stages. There are also other classifications for some Tours that may or may not have jerseys, the climber’s jersey/classification, sprinters jersey/classification and young rider’s jersey/classification. These jerseys can vary in colour depending on the Tour. Points are given for the climber’s classification at the top of each categorised climb. Depending on the classification, 4 being the lowest, 1 being the highest and in some races, HC climb, which are the hardest and are award more points if you finish on top. Normally points are spread out, like first is given 20, second 18, third 16 etc. Similar thing for the sprint classification. Points are award by crossing the finishing line, eg first 30 points, second 26, third 22 etc all the way down to zero. Then there are certain check points all the course on certain stages that allow a few points to be collected, first 6, second 4, third 2 etc. The young rider’s classification is award, same as the overall except for rider 25 or under.

The 3 main Tours in the world are called Grand Tours and they are the:

- Giro d’Italia (In May)
- Vuelta Espana (Late August early September)
- Tour de France (July)

These go for three weeks, on flats, over mountains, riders don’t make it for either crashing out (not being able to ride again) or not completing the course is a certain time frame. This is normal the time of the winner +25% of that time. These Tours all have the classification jerseys so the leaders of the Tour can be recognised.

Strategies/tactics during a Tour stage:

- Normally off the get go you’ll see riders trying to constitute a break. Not everyone is let go to be given a lead. The peloton (the main group) has the ability to close gaps really quickly simply because of the number of riders and the aerodynamics. The general rule of thumb on a flat stage is for every 10km, the peloton is able to bridge a 1 minute gap. Depending on the strength of the breakaway (numbers, quality of riders) this could be less, or more. Say a general classification rider is trying to break or in the break, teams who feel that rider is a threat will send riders to the front of the peloton to chase and won’t let that group get away. On a mountain stage, the rule of thumbs is different, gaps can be chased down so quickly because the quality or gap between riders ability is far greater than on the flat. Normally though you won’t see general classification riders (GC riders) trying to break early because it is just a waste of energy, especially over a 20 day Tour like the Grand Tours. The riders that do the chasing are only the domestiques, GC riders and sprinters don’t normally chase if they’ve got riders in their group, as they can conserve energy whilst gaining ground.

- During a mountain stage, a director sportif might find a section of the stage difficult for some, if that team leader is feeling good the director sportif will rely a message to the riders (they all have radios) to up the pace. Upping the pace, especially on climbs can do serious damage to some. This is an advantage because that team is controlling the race, they can dictate the pace, keep the pace high so no one can attack, or if they try to they have to be incredibly strong.

- During a climb you’ll also hear commentators going on about how many team mates they have. This is an advantage for a few reasons. In case the leader has a malfunction, the team mate may give his bike up so the leader can continue without losing much time. Also can help with regards to water as riders take on water all the time during races. Normally that job is dedicated to team helpers/domestiques. Slip stream is also a major part of cycling and the leader is able to sit behind a team mate and conserve some energy. Finally that team mate may be able to close down an attack of a contending GC rider. If the team mate can grab the wheel, it’s one less wheel for the leader to chase, it may not seem like much but halting a contenders attack without doing much yourself may help in the long run.

- The final 15km on a flat stage is frantic as teams are trying to position their sprinters. The strong teams will make a train, 3, 4, 5 riders leading out the sprinter at the back. The leading sprint teams also have a lead out man that helps the sprinter over the last few km’s, basically a sling shot as when that lead man can’t sprint anymore, the leader take off from his slip stream. Riders without too much help from a team normally try to position themselves behind a top sprinter to grab their slip stream for the final dash, pulling out off their wheel at some stage to potentially out sprint the other.

 

[Cruiser23]

One Day Races/Classics

Classics can be frantic, riders trying to time the right break to perfection, attacks happen often and only the fittest survive. Classics are races normally for the all-round rider, there will be flat sections, cobblestone sections, hills section, not really mountain climb like the major ones in the Tour, some uphill finishes, some flat. Basically the rider who is the classiest on the day and the strongest takes the cake. Teams are the same, 7-9 though the director sportif will normally pick riders that can win the stage rather than a fair few helpers and a leader. This is so they don’t throw all their eggs in one basket. There are still a few as early on team/teams may want to close a gap on a dangerous rider but near the end, when a peloton has been whittled down due to a high pace, that’s when teams become less helpful. Though if there is a group of 6, and a team has 2 riders, they’ve got an advantage. Potentially one rider will attack, leaving the others to chase while that other team mate tags on the back. If that breakaway riders gets caught, that ‘fresh’ (use that term loosely) rider can attack and potentially break the others.

The oldest and most-prestigious classics are:

- Milan-San Remo
- Tour of Flanders
- Paris-Roubaix
- Liege-Bastogne-Liege
- Giro di Lombardia

There are cobbled classics, races that go over 50-60km of cobble stones. There is a fine art in going over cobblestones, not everyone has the ability to do so quickly. The trick seems to be to find the flattest part possible, normally that is up the side or directly down the middle, the flatter the cobbles, the easier it is to ride on. The riders also need to keep as looser grip on the handle bars as possible for traction. These classics are:

- Ronde van Vlaanderen (Early April)
- Gent – Wevelgem (Early April)
- Paris – Roubaix (Mid-April)

Then there are the Ardennes Classics held in the Ardennes region in Belgium and Holland. The races are notable for their hilly courses, and often have similar riders competing for the top positions as the races are held close after each other. The races are:

- Amstel Gold Race (Mid-April)
- La Fleche Wallonne (Mid-April)
- Liege-Bastogne-Liege (Late April)

They aren’t the only classics/one day races; there are a few others like San Sebastian, Paris-Brussels etc.

Strategies/tactics during a Classics race –

- If teams have a man they believe is strong and has the ability to win, they may set a high tempo early to drop team mates of competing riders leaving the leaders of other teams isolated.

- Attacks are the main aim of the game in classics, judging the right ones are crucial. The riders though need to be careful with the way they use their energy because there is no other day to make up for lost time. Every slip stream, every team mate is crucial.

 

[Cruiser23]

UCI World Championships

The World Championships are now late in every year. It consists of a Road Race and Time Trial, each separate titles for both male and female, and at under 23 level. Basically countries put forward riders they believe can win or help a fellow country man win. The world championships are located in a different city or region every year. The event can be held over a relatively flat course which favours cycling sprinters or a hilly course which favors a climbing specialist or all-round. In each case the course is usually held on a circuit of which the riders complete multiple laps. The winner of each category is entitled to wear the rainbow jersey in races of that category (either mass start or time trial) until the next championships. The recent winners of the mens division have been:

2005 – Road Race: Tom Boonen (Belgium), Time Trial: Michael Rogers (Australia)

2006 – Road Race: Paolo Bettini (Italy), Time Trial: Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)

2007 – Road Race: Paolo Bettini (Italy), Time Trial: Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)

2008 – Road Race: Alessandro Ballan (Italy), Time Trial: Bert Grabsch (Germany)

2009 - Road Race: Cadel Evans (Australia), Time Trial: Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)

2010 – ??

 

[Cruiser23]

Questions & Answers

 

[Andronicus]

UCI World Championships

The World Championships are now late in every year. It consists of a Road Race and Time Trial, each separate titles for both male and female, and at under 23 level. Basically countries put forward riders they believe can win or help a fellow country man win. The world championships are located in a different city or region every year. The event can be held over a relatively flat course which favours cycling sprinters or a hilly course which favors a climbing specialist or all-round. In each case the course is usually held on a circuit of which the riders complete multiple laps. The winner of each category is entitled to wear the rainbow jersey in races of that category (either mass start or time trial) until the next championships. The recent winners of the mens division have been:

2005 – Road Race: Tom Boonen (Belgium), Time Trial: Michael Rogers (Australia)

2006 – Road Race: Paolo Bettini (Italy), Time Trial: Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)

2007 – Road Race: Paolo Bettini (Italy), Time Trial: Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)

2008 – Road Race: Alessandro Ballan (Italy), Time Trial: Bert Grabsch (Germany)

2009 - Road Race: Cadel Evans (Australia), Time Trial: Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)

2010 – ??

2010 race seems to be dragging on for a bit.........

 

[Vader]

2010 race seems to be dragging on for a bit.........

You did decide to indulge in thread necrophilia, dragging up a thread that hasn't been touched for almost 6 years.

 

[blue gunslinger]

You did decide to indulge in thread necrophilia, dragging up a thread that hasn't been touched for almost 6 years.

probably can say the same about his bicycle

 

[Andronicus]

probably can say the same about his bicycle

Truer than I'd like it to be.

As far as old threads go, in my defence, it was stickied, so only a handful of threads from the top.

 

[Vader]

Probably the kind of thread that should be locked & stickied.

 

[Andronicus]

Probably the kind of thread that should be locked & stickied.

Do you overreact this much to every little joke?

 

[Vader]

Do you overreact this much to every little joke?

Not about you. I hadn't even read the thread, until you posted in it. Then I looked at the original posts, and discovered that it was intended as an introductory thread - not really one intended for discussion. Hence my comment.