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Outside Magazine, July 2004
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1 2 3 

2004 Tour de France: The Ultimate Guide
Chainring Circus

By John Bradley


A Tour de France Glossary
(Dominique Billout)
With Lance Armstrong shooting for a history-making sixth Tour de France victory, scores of off-and-on Tour watchers will find themselves glued to the 91st running of cycling's gnarliest race. But it's not always easy—even for gung-ho weekend roadies—to tell what's going on. The bluffing stops here, with Outside's [guide] to the terminology, mini-dramas, and offscreen hijinks you can expect during the Tour's 23 days. Still lost? Just keep cheering for the man in yellow—you can expect him to be surrounded by eight guys wearing blue.

1.) BROOM WAGON
This van trundles along at the back of the peloton, ready to "sweep up" any rider who drops out or fails to finish within the time allotted for the stage. Most dropouts, however, opt for a ride in their team car.

Tour de France 2004
CLICK HERE for Outside’s Guide to the 2004 Tour de France, and follow the race July 3-25 with our SPECIAL ONLINE COVERAGE.
2.) DOMESTIQUE
These support riders ferry food and drinks from the team car to their teammates, protect the team leader from the wind, and chase down rivals.

The 3.) PELOTON (French for "platoon") is the main group of riders, and might number from a couple dozen to every rider in the race.

4.) WHITE JERSEY
The yellow jersey for youngsters. This distinction goes to the highest-placed rider age 25 or under.

5.) TELEVISION
A helicopter follows the peloton, feeding overhead shots to broadcast producers in satellite vans parked at the end of the stage. The live feed is then beamed to living rooms around the world.

6.) BREAKAWAY
Cyclists riding off the front of the pack. If they're far down in the overall standings, they will be left to fight for the stage win. But if a real challenger gets away in a break, rivals will try to chase him down to limit the damage.

7.) ATTACK
A sudden acceleration meant to drop and demoralize other riders. These usually happen in the mountains; particularly strategic attacks can decide the Tour.

8.) FEED ZONE
A section of the course, generally midway through a stage, where team employees hand riders bags of sports gels and food to fuel them for the rest of the ride.




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