"the Louvre and across the Place de la Concorde back to the Champs-Élysées). In past Tours, the riders would complete ten laps before the Tour was over. When a rider has reached a significant milestone over the course of the concluding Tour, it is customary for the peloton to let him enter the Champs-Elysées section of the stage in first place. Such an honor was bestowed upon American George Hincapie in 2012, in recognition of his final and record setting 17th Tour de France. While a number of riders will try to pull away from the peloton on the Champs-Elysées,"
"Autobus (cycling) The autobus or the gruppetto is in bicycling terminology the name given to the group of cyclists in a road cycling race who form a large group behind the leading peloton. The autobus forms on mountain stages when non-climbers fall off the back of the peloton during the climb. Gradually some riders fall off the back of the peloton and form a large group at the end of the race. These riders are generally sprinters or domestiques unconcerned about their finishing positions in the mountain stages. Their primary concern is beating the elimination time to ensure their survival"
"Peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close (drafting or slipstreaming) near (particularly behind) other riders. The reduction in drag is dramatic; in the middle of a well-developed group drag can be reduced to as little as 5%-10%. Exploitation of this potential energy saving leads to very complex cooperative and competitive interactions between riders and teams in race tactics. The term is also used to refer to the community of professional cyclists in general, as in 'the professional"
"a single large group, the ""pack"" (in French, the ""peloton""), with attacking groups ahead of it and the occasional struggling rider dropping behind. In mountainous stages the peloton is likely to become fragmented, but in flat stages a split is rare. Where a group of riders reach the finish line together, they do not race each other for a few seconds of improvement to their finishing time. There is a rule that if one rider finishes less than three seconds behind another then he is credited with the same finishing time as the first. This operates transitively, so when the"
"any time one bicyclist is riding behind another, energy is conserved, especially at higher speeds. In road bicycle racing, the main (largest) group of tightly packed cyclists in a race is called a ""peloton"" where cyclists ride in a long formation with each (but not the first rider) drafting behind the others before them. When cyclists ride fast they form a ""paceline"". Each cyclist, except the first, is drafting behind another one. In order to ride very fast, a team of some skilled cyclists may form the ""Belgian tourniquet"". Successively, each cyclist leads the group. Drafting can be ""cooperative"": several"
"2004 Tour de France, helped Richard Virenque win the mountains classification while helped Robbie McEwen win the points classification. Smaller teams may simply get riders into a long breakaway to get coverage on television. Most professional teams have 10-20 riders. Teams are generally sponsored in exchange for advertising on clothing and other endorsements. Sponsorship ranges from small businesses to international companies. The Tour de France between 1930 and the late 1950s was for national teams which carried no prominent commercial advertising. Cycling team A cycling team is a group of cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train"
"at the rear to minimize fatigue due to air resistance until the last hundred meters or so, when the sprinter will choose the moment to dash out from behind his leadout rider to charge to the finish at the highest possible speed. In mountainous races, the winner routinely arrives at the finish alone, because only the winner was willing and able to endure that degree of effort and suffering. Peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close (drafting"
"L'Étape du Tour L'Étape du Tour (French for 'stage of the Tour') is an organised mass participation cyclosportive event that allows amateur cyclists to race over the same route as a Tour de France stage. First held in 1993, and now organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), in conjunction with ""Vélo Magazine"", it takes place each July, normally on a Tour rest day. L'Étape du Tour is normally held over mountain roads in either the Pyrenees or French Alps, up climbs such as the Col du Galibier, Col d'Aubisque, Mont Ventoux or the Col du Tourmalet. Around 15,000 riders"
"2 or 3 subgroups ahead of the main peloton, and 2 or 3 subgroups behind, as riders come to grips with individual limits to endurance at maximum energy output on a particular day. A group of riders behind the main peloton is often called a 'grupetto,' Italian for 'a small group.' While technically every subgroup on the road could bear this appellation, in common usage it refers only to those at the rear of the main peloton, typically fatigued domestiques, along with sprinters striving to survive mountainous stages within the time cutoff, so to race again tomorrow. When a break"
"group's members have all been caught by the peloton, announcers say 'groupo compacto.' Team members make every effort to shield their principal rider from fatigue due to wind, until the last possible moment, so to give their principal rider the best opportunity to win the race. In single stage races, the principal rider is normally the best sprinter. In races involving multiple stages, the principal rider is called the GC (General Classification) candidate. Those hired to usher the GC candidate (or sprinter) to the finish are called 'domestiques' (after the French word for servants). In races where the finish is"
"(or remains) the general leader. The general leader does not generally react to breakaways by riders who trail substantially in cumulative time. Such escapes usually achieve other goals, such as winning the stage, collecting sprinting or mountain points, or just creating air time for their team sponsors as a dedicated camera bike typically accompanies the escape. Notable cycling races include the Tour de France, a three-week stage race principally through France and ending in Paris, the Giro d'Italia in Italy and the Vuelta a España in Spain. Each of these races is considered a ""Grand Tour"". Professional racing is governed"
"Grand Tour (cycling) In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ""Grand Tours"", and all three races are similar in format being multi-week races with daily stages. They have a special status in the UCI regulations: more points for the UCI World Tour are distributed in Grand Tours than in other races, and they are the only stage races allowed to last longer than 14 days. The Giro d'Italia is generally run in May, the Tour"
"Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists of 21 day-long stages over the course of 23 days. The race was first organized in 1903 to increase sales for the newspaper ""L'Auto"" and is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except when it was stopped for the two World Wars. As the Tour"
"Broom wagon The broom wagon is the name for the vehicle that follows a cycling road race ""sweeping"" up stragglers who are unable to make it to the finish within the time permitted. If a cyclist chooses to continue behind the broom wagon, he ceases to be part of the convoy (and the race), and has to follow the usual traffic rules and laws. In the Tour de France the vehicle used was traditionally a Citroën H Van. The expression ""broom wagon"" is a translation of the French, ""voiture balai"", and it was seen first at the 1910 Tour. The"
"Bike bus A bike bus, also known as a bike train or a cycle train, is a group of people who cycle together on a set route following a set timetable. Cyclists may join or leave the bike bus at various points along the route. Most bike buses are a form of collective bicycle commuting. A bike bus is often seen as a cyclist's version of a walking bus, although walking buses tend to be seen as exclusively for children travelling to school. Bike buses may have social, environmental, or political aims. One of the founders of the Aire Valley"
"a ""critical mass"" of riders dense enough to occupy a piece of road to the exclusion of drivers of motorized vehicles. Authorities in New York, California and Oregon have expressed concern with the difficulty of coordinating with the riders, due to the lack of leadership. Critical Mass rides vary greatly in many respects, including frequency and number of participants. For example, many small cities have monthly Critical Mass rides with fewer than twenty riders which offer safety in numbers to cyclists in those locales, while on the opposite extreme, in what have been the largest events using the name Critical"
"from all over the world, and many ride as clubs or teams. There are dozens of organized teams on the ride. In 2007 and 2008 Lance Armstrong organized a LIVESTRONG team of about 200 riders and participated in RAGBRAI; each rider raised $1000 or more towards fighting cancer. Teams create a social and support system that adds a non-cycling dimension to RAGBRAI. While some of the teams have a well-earned reputation for hard partying and heavy drinking, most are serious bicyclists. Teams often customize old school buses and vans. The team buses serve as transportation to and from the ride,"
"the first and second week. The stages are a mix of long massed start races (sometimes including mountain and hill climbs and descents; others are flat stages favoring those with a sprint finish), as well as individual and team time trials and non-competitive exhibition and rest days. Unlike most one-day races, stages in the Grand Tours are generally under 200 kilometers in length. Controversy often surrounds which teams are invited to the event. Typically, the Union Cycliste Internationale (""International Cycling Union"") prefers top-rated professional teams to enter, while operators of the Grand Tours often want teams based in their country"
"roads towards the climbs as teams try to position their captains in the front of the group. A climb is usually followed by a bigger road for some recovery, before taking the next small roads and climb again. As most hills are in rural locations or along small villages, the climbs themselves and the roads leading to them are often narrow, causing the peloton to stretch into a long line and frequently break into smaller groups. Consequently, the best riders are forced to continually fight for space at the front of the pack. The race is therefore both renowned and"
"Podium girl Podium girls, formally known as ""Tour hostesses"" (French: ""hôtesses du Tour""), are women who are best known for presenting prizes and kisses to the winners of the Tour de France and other major cycle races, including the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. In the Tour de France, a team of four podium girls is employed by the race's main sponsor, the French bank LCL S.A.. They are responsible for entertaining clients of the sponsors before the morning departure of the race and in parties after the end of the race, but their most visible and prestigious role"
"bike handling skills in order to ride at high speeds in close quarters with other riders. Individual riders can reach speeds of while descending winding mountain roads and may reach 60–80 km/h (37–50 mph) level speeds during the final sprint to the finish line. Across a long stage race, such as a Grand Tour, the winner's average speed is usually near 40 km/h. In more organized races, a SAG wagon (""support and gear"") or broom wagon follows the race to pick up stragglers. In professional stage racing, particularly the Tour de France, riders who are not in a position to"
"per day. Some races have recently become popular that recall the early era of professional bike racing in which riders were unsupported and raced day and night. The most popular of these is the Transcontinental Race, which covers approximately across Europe and was inspired by the off-road US event called the Tour Divide. As in ultra-cycling events, there is a mass start, but in bikepacking races, drafting is not allowed and all support is forbidden, so there are no support vehicles and riders must find all of their supplies, accommodation, etc. from commercial sources along the route or bring it"
"riders the use of the words 'front rider' and 'rear rider' are far more descriptive to modern tandem riders. Tandem bicycles are used in competitions such as the Paralympics with blind and visually impaired cyclists riding as stokers with fully sighted captains. Cycling at the Summer Olympics featured a men's tandem event in 1908 and from 1920 to 1972. Tandems can have more than 2 riders — tandem refers to the arrangement of the riders one behind the other rather than the number of riders. Bicycles for three, four, or five riders are referred to as ""triples"" or ""triplets"", ""quads"""
"Flèche (cycling) A flèche is a team cycling competition, undertaken by randonneurs; the term is derived from ""flèche velocio"". It differs from the more common randonnees or brevets, which are individual events and not specifically competitive. As with other randonneuring events, flèches are governed by national and local authorities, such as Randonneurs USA (RUSA) which publish the governing rules. The object of a flèche is to ride the maximum distance in a fixed time, usually 24 hours, and usually finishing at or near a specified location, riding a route that the team has specified before the start; different teams generally"
"to have won an Olympic gold medal in a velodrome; they were both on the team which won the Team Pursuit Gold Medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Four riders have won five times: Jacques Anquetil (FRA), Eddy Merckx (BEL), Bernard Hinault (FRA), and Miguel Indurain (ESP). Indurain achieved the mark with a record five consecutive wins. Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists of"
"Bicycle A bicycle, also called a cycle or bike, is a human-powered or motor-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bicycles were introduced in the late 19th century in Europe, and by the early 21st century, more than 1 billion were in existence at a given time. These numbers far exceed the number of cars, both in total and ranked by the number of individual models produced. They are the principal means of transportation in many regions. They also provide a popular form of recreation,"
"can be seen posted by the BC Randonneurs. Flèche (cycling) A flèche is a team cycling competition, undertaken by randonneurs; the term is derived from ""flèche velocio"". It differs from the more common randonnees or brevets, which are individual events and not specifically competitive. As with other randonneuring events, flèches are governed by national and local authorities, such as Randonneurs USA (RUSA) which publish the governing rules. The object of a flèche is to ride the maximum distance in a fixed time, usually 24 hours, and usually finishing at or near a specified location, riding a route that the team"
"work as domestiques for team leaders, reeling in breakaways, or go on the attack to force rival teams to expend energy to close them down. Puncheur Puncheur, or puncher in English, is a name given to a road bicycle racer who specialises in rolling terrain with short but steep climbs. Ideal races for this type of rider are the one-day spring classics. These races are characterized by multiple hills that have a 10–20% gradient and are 1–2 km long. Examples include climbs at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the Mur de Huy in the Flèche Wallonne and the Cauberg in the Amstel Gold Race,"
"few of its riders take a death pull towards the end of the TTT event, in which the riders take as hard a pull at the front as possible in order to resist the pace at the cost of exhausting themselves with no hope of being able to latch onto the back of the formation for drafting. They then drop back and leave the remainder of the team to finish the time trial. At the professional level, cycling teams are frequently accompanied by motorcycle outriders, team cars and official scrutineers. In a large stage race, the TTT will involve all"
"event for the first time. Madison (cycling) The madison is a relay race event in track cycling, named after the first Madison Square Garden in New York, and known as the ""American race"" in French (""course à l'américaine"") and in Italian and Spanish as ""Americana"". The madison is a race where each team must complete more laps than any of the other team. Riders in each team alternate during the race, handing over to the other member, resting, and then returning to the race. Teams are usually of two riders but occasionally of three. Only one of the team is"
"time trials, the passage through the mountain chains of the Pyrenees and the Alps, and the finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day-long segments (stages) over a 23-day period and cover around . The race alternates between clockwise and counterclockwise circuits of France. There are usually between 20 and 22 teams, with eight riders in each. All of the stages are timed to the finish; the riders' times are compounded with their previous stage times. The rider with the lowest cumulative finishing times is the leader of the race"
"gained prominence and popularity, the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe. Participation expanded from a primarily French field, as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite. Traditionally, the race is held primarily in the month of July. While the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same with the appearance of"
"Feeder ride A feeder ride is a bike ride where a group of cyclists get together to ride to a destination which is itself the starting point of a major bike ride event. Critical Mass rides and Ciclovia events typically attract feeder rides. Depending on the geography, feeder rides can sometimes take on the appearance of a star when represented on a map, hence in German. Feeder rides may have developed from so called ""tributary marches"" which were common in the anti-war movement. Feeder rides facilitate the communal participation of a loosely connected group of riders who may share the"