How Does One Qualify For the Tour De France?!?
Individuals do not qualify for the Tour de France. Teams qualify for the Tour de France based on overall rankings maintained by the International Cycling Union (the governing body for all forms fo cycling, commonly known as UCI). Each of the teams gets to enter nine cyclists. As far as who those nine cyclists are, it's like any other professional sport. The teams go out and hire cyclists and then choose which nine of their cyclists get to compete in the Tour de France. If the question is how does one get noticed, it is like with any other sport. You start competing in local and regional youth events. If you perform well, you get noticed by the smaller teams and start competing in the lesser professional events. If you do well in those events, the top teams notice you and sign you to ride with them.
What year did wearing helmet became mandatory in Tour de France?
A crash by Italian pro Fabio Casartelli on July 18, 1995, changed all that. The Olympic gold medalist lost control on a descent in the Pyrenee Mountains and died of head injuries. At first, Tour officials said a helmet would not have helped Casartelli. But the doctor who examined the cyclist's body said otherwise.
Why do Tour de France stages start relatively late in the day?
Christopher Berry is correct (unless things have changed radically since I worked with the Tour de France in the 1990s). Stage starts are orchestrated on the basis of an assumed average speed, working back from a desired finish time. The finish time, in turn, is usually set so as to maximise TV coverage (although online coverage and the globalisation of Le Tour in the past decade or so make this less of a critical or Europe-centric issue than used to be the case). The overall schedule of each stage - of the estimated times at intermediate distances as well as at the finish - aids in promoting the best viewing points/times for spectators and in helping local communities along the route to maximise their engagement with the race. It also helps local authorities and public services to plan for contingencies around the road closures necessary to create a 'sterile' route. When the Tour came to South East England in 1994, these ranged from the closure of airspace over Gatwick and Heathrow airports (to allow the race's aerial convoy of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to pass through) to the need to keep hospital emergency department operational and forewarn businesses (funeral directors were a memorable target group) about the potential impact on their activities.Although each schedule shows a ''best guess'' time bracketed between estimates for quicker- or slower-than-expected progress (head and tailwinds are a big factor on some stages), things sometimes go wrong. Bad weather has often forced last minute route and schedule changes, particularly in the mountains, as has industrial action, rider protests and - very movingly - such demonstrations of rider solidarity as followed the death of Fabio Casartelli on stage 15 of the 1995 race.Following breakfast and a meeting to discuss the team's tactics for the day, riders travel from the team hotel (which may be some distance away) to gather before each stage at the start village where they'll fulfil obligations to sponsors, talk to the press or generally ''chill'' before signing on and warming up for the Départ.
Why do cyclist go in group in tour de france?
Well, first off, there are teams of riders that have particular sponsors and work together as a group towards the finish. Often times the best rider in the group will be escorted as much as possible by a teammate, so he will have a better chance of winning. This means the teammate will ride infront of him and allow him to draft to reduce the load. At the speeds that these men reach, pacelines (long lines of riders often single file) are incredibly successful and riders at the back often have to ride the brakes to avoid from smashing into the riders in front of them. Its all about aerodynamics. The less wind that is hitting the rider, the easier the ride. This of course means that the front rider will have to pedal at a very fast pace to have a successful draft Valverde is actually a rider, not a team. He's a premier rider from Spain and is very much in the running for the tour win (as far as i know, i didnt get to watch today) His team is Caisse d'Epargne. Groups basically help the riders to ride faster and better. Teams are, like i said, riders who are together, live eat sleep together and help each other get to the finish line. Much like football teams compete against each other
Why are there teams in the Tour de France?
Bicycle road racing is a team sport. This surprises many new spectators. First, as already mentioned, only teams get invited to the Tour de France and other major races. Individuals just could not be competitive over 21 long stages without team support.Drafting is a very important skill for road racing. It enables a team member to "pull" a team leader, giving the team leader an aerodynamic advantage. This allows the team leader to use up to 30% less energy. This comes in handy in the super fast sprints to the finish or very steep mountaintop finishes. Really strong teams, like Team Sky this year, learn how to control the race tempo, chase down breakaway groups, and protect their team leader from crashes.Some races have a team time trial stage. This is a fascinating test of team strength and unity. The whole team of 9 riders start together. They race only against the clock. They ride very hard in a single file line to take advantage of drafting aerodynamics. At least 5 team members must finish together. The team with the shortest time wins the stage. It's beautiful when it works.Teams often include guys who can sprint fast for flat stages, climbing specialists who excel on mountain stages, domestiques who do whatever needs done, time trial specialists who can go hard and steady, and the rare GC contenders who can do lots of things well. These guys have multiple skills to win big stage races like the Tour de France.