enjoy!

Just to confuse things the TdF has 4 separate competitions going on at the same time.

The main competition is for the yellow jersey and it is awarded to the rider who completes the whole race in the lowest aggregate time - based on the total time completing each days' race. So the leader will try not to finish behind his main rivals so as not to lose any time on them even if that means finishing well behind the day's winner. And, to avoid ridiculous finishes - all those finishing in a group are credited with the same time. So, if the overall leader, comes in 100th then providing he is in the same group as the winner he will be given the same time as the winner. What the eventual winner is trying to do is finish each day in a slightly faster group than his rivals in order to steal a few seconds. The rivals will avoid this happening by sitting on his back wheel and watching his every move - so it tends not to happen. But a moments inattention or weakness and a rider can unexpectedly get away. Incidentally the lowest ever margin was in 1989 - the winner was just 8 seconds faster than the next rider in a total riding time of just over 87 hours - over 3 weeks!

The next competition is for the green jersey. Throughout each day's race are a number of sprints and the winners of each get points with the most points given for the final sprint at the end of the day . This is designed for specialised sprinters, eg Mark Cavendish, rather than the riders hoping to win the yellow jersey. Not least as the sprints are incredibly dangerous so a yellow jersey contender could easily crash in a sprint and wreck his chances of the big prize. The green jersey winner, of course, is the rider with the most points at the end of the Tour

Similarly there is a polka dot jersey and this is awarded to the rider who performs best in the mountains. As with the sprints there are a number of mountain peaks to ascend and points are given to the riders first over them. The rider with the most points at the end of the Tour wins the jersey.

Lastly, there is a white jersey awarded to the rider under 26 years old who performs best in the yellow jersey competition.

Stages can take a number of forms. Usually it is a straight-forward race but each year there are time trials where each rider races individually against the clock. And sometimes a team trial where each team sets off as a group riding against the clock - aiming to ride together as a team.

For 2017 the Tour comprises 18 teams with 9 riders in each team. Each will have a team leader who is usually chosen as having the best chance of winning the yellow or green jersey. The job of the remaining members of the team is to support and shield the leader throughout the day's race. Usually they will act as pacemakers - invariably "blowing up" towards the end of each day having sacrificed themselves for the cause. One reason for doing this is that the winner of the 2 main jerseys traditionally donates his winnings to the rest of the team!

Hope that helps - and that's just for starters!!

Posted By: robert_rosario, Jun 28, 21:30:28