Cycling 101: The Basics of a Stage Race

It may come as a surprise to learn that cycling is a team sport. In fact, it is one of the most strategic team sports of all. Teams at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah will have eight riders each to start the week. Each team has its own game plan for winning, and each rider plays a different role in that game plan.

Most teams have one leader. His teammates play the role of a domestique, one who sacrifices his ownchance of winning in support of the team leader.  A domestique is the “worker bee” of the team, protecting the leader from the wind, chasing  down breakaway riders, fetching water or clothing from the team car, and even sacrificing their wheels or bicycles for the leader in certain situations.

One of the most crucial concepts in team racing is drafting. Riders can conserve energy, as much as 30% or so, by riding in the slipstream of another cyclist. As a result, teams try to surround their leader with teammates, keeping him out of the wind and fresh to attack at the right moment. Different formations can increase the energy-saving benefits of drafting, such as forming an echelon, and wind can necessitate a variety of drafting formations.

Teams also develop complex strategies to win specific stages and the races within races, such as pointsfor King of the Mountain or Sprint competitions. Not only do teams designate a leader for the overall race, but many also select riders to try and win the jerseys that are awarded to the best sprinter and best climber of the Tour.

Then there is the time trial, which can be contested as an individual or team “race of truth”.  The athletes race against the clock, not against fellow competitors. In the end, of course, the winner will have the lowest time among all competitors, so that competition might be considered more “indirect” than a
road or circuit race.

For more clarification, refer to this glossary of terms about cycling.  If all the tactics aren’t crystal clear, you can at least sound like an expert by saying, “I’m so impressed by Team RadioShack on the jump and they put the hammer down for the breakaway to capture the Sprint bonus. The rest of the peloton seemed to just pop.”