Tis' The Season

Tis' the season for the Tour de France! In most households the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Finals or World Series are the biggest and most anticipated sporting events of the year. As much as we love pretty much any sport, the Tour de France (and the Hawaiian Ironman) is that sporting event in our house. It's so great because it doesn't just last one night, or the best of 7... it's 3 whole weeks!!

Let me be honest for a moment. When we first got interested in this sporting event (about 4 years ago) I wasn't a huge fan. The British accent of the commentator, Phil, got very annoying, the tour lasted an eternity and I didn't really understand cycling. However, after falling in love with cycling more I have grown to really love this sporting event. Now that I understand how impressive it is that these athletes can race everyday, up terribly steep terrane, race with broken bones and 200 other cyclists.... I began to enjoy watching the race. Not to mention... the scenery is obviously beyond gorgeous!  Over 20 stages (or days) they race 2,162 miles!!

The daily routine in the Simmons' household changes during this time of year. The tour is recorded on our DVR each morning. I can usually catch a glimpse of it while doing things around the house in the morning. When Trent gets home and is finished training for the day, we turn on the recording until dinner time. This is Jonah's second tour but this year is so fun because he will stop playing for a brief moment and stand watching the cyclists. Sometimes he will even start saying, "Goooo!" Trent jokes that our son will be able to pronounce all of the French landmarks/ mountains by the time he's three (we fully expect that he will also say them with the British accent of the announcer)! We usually pause the recording and finish it after Jonah goes to bed.

I feel like most Americans are not very familiar with this amazing sporting event. So... if that's you... here are a few facts about the tour!

Vocabulary:
1. Peloton- The big group of cyclists
2. Stage- The race for that day (1 stage each day)
3. General Contender- The cyclist on the team who has the most promise of winning the race
4. Domestiques- (French term for servant) The cyclists on the team who work to help their general contender win (usually 8 cyclists)
5. Climbers- The cyclists who are excellent at "climbing" up mountains
6. Sprinters- The cyclists who specialize in going super fast (sometimes up to 50 MPH) for short distances
7. Drafting- When one cyclist rides very close behind another cyclist, this conserves 30% of the cyclist's (who is following) energy

Facts:
1. This is a team sport. Each team starts with 9 cyclists (if you do not finish a stage then you are finished for the rest of the tour).

2. The tour always ends in Paris. The winning team is usually decided by this point and they lead the peloton into Paris.

3. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France.

4. Just because a team is a "USA" team does not mean that all of the cyclists on the team are from the USA.

5. The cyclists can earn points for being the first one up a mountain or the first one to finish a sprint section of the stage.

6. After each stage there are 4 jersey's that are handed out (yellow, green, white and polka dot).
Yellow- The cyclist who is winning the overall tour
Green- The cyclist who has the most sprint points
White- The cyclist who has the best time and is under the age of 25
Polka Dot-  "The King of The Mountains" The cyclist who has the most climbing points

 7. Most of the crashes happen in the middle or back of the peloton.

8. Each team has a car that follows behind the peloton. The general manager of the team is in that car and communicates with the cyclists via radio.  The car also has a bike mechanic and extra bikes. If a bike gets a flat or something bad happens in a crash then the mechanic will hop out and help the cyclist.

9. Half way through the stage there is a feeding station. The cyclists are handed bags from the side of the road. Sometimes a domestique will grab the food for the general contender.

Hopefully some of these facts better help you understand the tour if you're not a fan.. yet! If you've never seen any part of the tour the good news is that you have 2 more weeks to catch a stage.