Thought #35                                                              July 2009
Author: Bill Thurston

The 96th Tour de France  2009

We are going to continue to hear about the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong for the rest of the month. Many of us will watch some of the race of TV but understanding race results is far from obvious. This should help.

 When is the Tour de France  2009?

The 96th Tour de France is held from Saturday the 4th July to Sunday the 26th July, 2009.

What comprises the Tour de France  2009?

It is comprised of 21 daily stages and will cover a total distance of 2,174 miles:

10 flat stages
7 mountain stages
1 medium mountain stage
2 individual time-trial stages
1 team time-trial stage

Map of stages: http://www.letour.fr/us/homepage_horscourseTDF.html

How do you win the Tour de France?

The winner of the Tour de France is the rider whose overall time is the shortest.

Who is competing in the Tour de France  2009?

20 teams with a maximum of 9 riders each, or 180 competitors. This year's teams:

France: AG2R, Agritubel (Continental Pro), Bouygues Telecom, Cofidis, Francaise des Jeux
Belgium: Quick Step, Silence
Spain: Caisse d’Epargne, Euskaltel
United States: Columbia, Garmin
Italy: Lampre, Liquigas
Netherlands: Rabobank, Skil (Continental Pro)
Germany: Milram
Denmark: Saxo Bank
Kazakhstan: Astana
Russia: Katusha
Switzerland: Cervelo (Continental Pro)

Who wears what jersey?

During all stages competitors must wear only their own team’s jersey, cycling shorts and cap. There are two exceptions. World and national champions who are required to wear their jerseys. Winners of specific jerseys of The Tour de France.

The Tour de France specific jerseys and their order of priority are as follows:

1. The yellow jersey is worm by the leader of the general time ranking.

2. The green jersey is worn by the leader of the general points ranking.

3. The red polka dot jersey is worn by the leader of the best climber ranking. This competitor is commonly called "The King of the Mountains."

4. The white jersey is worn by the leader of the general young riders ranking.

5. Team time rankings. (wears a yellow number for the next stage)

6. Most aggressive rider prize. (wears a red number for the next stage)

When a rider is the leader of several general rankings, he only wears the jersey with the highest priority. The other jerseys are then worn by the runners-ups.

What is the prize money?

    $11k for each stage victory.

    $14k for the team time-trial stage.

    $630k for the winner of the final classification (Yellow Jersey).

    $35k for the winner of the classification on points (Green Jersey).

    $25k for the winner of the “mountain classification” (Polka Dot Jersey).

    $28k for the Best Young Rider (White Jersey).

    $28k for the Most Aggressive Rider Prize.

    $70k for the overall winning team.

How do you determine the different rankings?

Here is where it gets somewhat complicated!

1. General individual time ranking

The general individual time ranking is established by adding together the times achieved by each rider in the 21 stages, including time penalties. In the event of a tie in the general ranking, the hundredth of a second recorded by the timekeepers during the individual time trial stages will be included in the total times in order to decide the overall winner and who takes the yellow jersey. If a tie should still result from this, then the places achieved for each stage are added up and, as a last resort, the place obtained in the final stage is counted.

2. Individual points ranking The individual points ranking is obtained by adding together the points recorded in the individual rankings for each stage, according to the following tables, and taking into account penalty points:

For the “flat” stages: 35, 30, 26, 24, 22, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point for the first 25 riders to finish.

For the “medium mountain” stages: 25, 22, 20, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point for the first 20 riders to finish.

For the “high mountain” stages: 20, 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point for the first 15 riders to finish.

 For the individual time trial stages: 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point to the first 10 riders to finish.

For each intermediate sprint, the first 3 riders to finish will receive 6, 4 and 2 points respectively. In the event of a tie in the general ranking, the number of stage victories are added up for each rider, followed by the number of intermediate sprint victories.

3. General best climber ranking

The general best climber ranking is established by adding together the points obtained on all passes and hills, according to the following tables. The steeper the climb, the higher the points:

“Non-graded” passes: 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively for the first 10 riders to finish.

Category 1 passes: 15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively to the first 8 riders to finish.

Category 2 passes: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively to the first 6 riders to finish. Points awarded for the category “non-graded,” 1 and 2 passes are doubled for the final pass of the stage.

Category 3 passes: 4, 3, 2 and 1 point, respectively to the first 4 riders to finish.

Category 4 passes: 3, 2, and 1 point, respectively to the first 3 riders to finish.

In the event of a tie between two riders in the general best climber ranking, the rider with the most first places at nongraded pass summits is declared the winner.

4. Young-rider ranking

The young-rider ranking is reserved for riders born since January 1st, 1984. The daily leader of this ranking is the highest placed young rider in the general individual time ranking. After the final stage, the leader of this ranking is declared the winner of the young-rider ranking.

5. General team ranking

The general team ranking is established by adding together the three best individual times of each team in all the stages. If there is a tie between teams in stage rankings, the three best places achieved in that stage by each team are added together. If there is a tie between teams in the general ranking, the teams are separated by adding up the number of stage victories per team, then by the number of second places, and so on, until the number of places obtained by one or the other team allows for a clear ranking to be established. If there is still a tie, the winner will be the team with the rider in the best position in the general individual classification.

6. General most aggressive rider

The competitiveness prize rewards the rider who has made the greatest effort and who has demonstrated the best qualities of sportsmanship. The competitiveness winner of a stage wears red bibs in the following stage. A Super Competitor is designated by members of the jury at the end of the Tour de France.

Some Miscellaneous Information

Technical Assistance

All riders may render small services to each other, such as lending or exchanging food, drink or accessories. However, the lending or exchange of wheels or bicycles is only permitted between riders of the same team.

Feeding

Refreshments for riders are distributed in two ways:

Feeding stations Supplies at feeding stations are handed out by the staff accompanying the teams. Stations will be set up on only one side of the roadway, the rules specifying on the right side only.

Outside feeding stations Supplies of drinks from the organizer's motorcycles are permitted for riders who have made breakaways and their sports manager’s car is not present at the front of the race. Any spraying of competitors from a vehicle is strictly forbidden. Competitors who accept food or drink from spectators do so at their own risk, including that of criminal prosecution.

Timekeeping

At a finish, all the riders in the same peloton are credited with the same finish time. At each real break, the timekeeper records a new time. He officiates until the arrival of the broom wagon. A broom wagon is a support motor vehicle following long races to pick up riders unable to complete the event. He also records the times of riders who arrive outside the permitted times and delivers this list, with the corresponding times, to the chairman of the stewards committee. All times registered by the timekeeper are rounded down to the nearest second, and only these rounded times are taken into consideration for the general ranking. The ranking for time trial stages is determined by using hundredths of a second, as several riders may indeed finish within a second or less of each other.

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