I'm wondering what the colored numbers are that are numbered 1-5? Are they Category measurements of climbing difficulty - 1 being the hardest? Also, what is the green S and the blue dinner plate thing? Thanks for any clarification, I'm a TDF newb.

http://versus.img.cdn.dayport.com/tdf/img/profiles/profile09.gif

dv

Actually, after a 2nd look the numbers are actually 1-4 unless the green is a 5..

dv

green 5 is actually an S for Sprint. Its a sprint prime

1-5 are categorized climbs. 1 means hard as heck, 5 being the easiest climbs

Cool, thanks for the reply. Are these ratings per stage or per total TDF? In other words, are the two cat. 1 climbs as hard as it gets for the whole race or just this stage?

dv

The dinner plate is the official feed zone where riders pick up bags called "musettes" from team managers and helpers. In the bags are various nutritional needs to help get through the rest of the stage. They also pick up water bottles from the team cars during the race. One of the lower placed team mates (called "domestiques") goes back to the car, grabs a bunch of bottles and rides back up to the pack to pass them out to his team mates.

As SwimBike stated, the "S" marks are for point sprints that are accumulated towards the Green Jersey prize, which is given to the rider each day who has the most sprint points. You can also get sprint points at the finish line as well.

The categories are 1-4, and like SwimBike said, 4 is the easiest and they get harder from there. There is also an additional "HC" category which stands for Hors Categorie, and that is even tougher than #1. The difficulty of the climbs are assessed from several factors including steepness, length, and position in the race.

Cool, thanks for the reply. Are these ratings per stage or per total TDF? In other words, are the two cat. 1 climbs as hard as it gets for the whole race or just this stage?

dv

If you get a chance, watch the telecast of stage #10 on Monday (July 14th) as it has two "HC Category" climbs, one up the Col d'Tourmalet and the other up the Hautacam. Both climbs are super difficult and will definitely help to split the field up, with the good climbers moving ahead to gain valuable seconds and minutes on their rivals. The more you watch the race, the more you get into it and learn many of the tactics and other details! :)

And BTW, don't apologize for being a newbie, we were all there once! The dumb question is the one that doesn't get asked.

Ok, thanks for all the great info. A question from my wife, a little on the gross side.. what happens when a rider needs to go #1 or #2? Do they go #1 in their shorts? To stop for a break would probably mean elimination?

dv

They pull over and let it go (every once in a while you will see a rider taking a piss on the side of the road), as far as #2 goes....i think you're just **** out of luck.

Yeah, we saw one guy on the side of the road which is why she was wondering. Didn't know if he had crashed or what..

The length and average grade:

4th Category - the lowest category, climbs of 200-500 feet(70-150m).
3rd Category - climbs of 500-1600 feet(150-500m).
2nd Category - climbs of 1600-2700 ft.(500-800m)
1st Category - climbs of 2700-5000ft(800-1500m)
Hors Category - the hardest, climbs of 5000ft+(1500m+)http://www.faqs.org/faqs/bicycles-faq/part1/section-22.html

The length and average grade:

4th Category - the lowest category, climbs of 200-500 feet(70-150m).
3rd Category - climbs of 500-1600 feet(150-500m).
2nd Category - climbs of 1600-2700 ft.(500-800m)
1st Category - climbs of 2700-5000ft(800-1500m)
Hors Category - the hardest, climbs of 5000ft+(1500m+)http://www.faqs.org/faqs/bicycles-faq/part1/section-22.html
Please go the the site that rollin referred to. That site sums it up very well. There is a lot more to it than just the altitude of the top of the climb or the number of feet climbed. It is, in fact, rather complicated.

If it helps, there's a story from the old days (probably apocryphal) that explains the categories: It supposedly had to do with what gear the mapper's cars could climb the stretch in while setting up the course. HC meant they had to push the car up.

It does have a certain charm, and makes a certain amount of sense of you've ever messed with an automobile from the 1920's.

Often they take a leak as they've moving. I've seen Lance do that once a few years back. As far as #2, never heard of it happening but I suppose they just head for the bushes. Unless you're Lemond. That story though is for another day.

And climb categorization is quite complicated. It has to do with length, steepness, road surface and where in the stage the climb is located. It's also surprisingly subjective.

Oh it does happen, and not just in the TdF. Hopefully there is a bush nearby (preferably one with soft, Charmin like leaves).

If it helps, there's a story from the old days (probably apocryphal) that explains the categories: It supposedly had to do with what gear the mapper's cars could climb the stretch in while setting up the course. HC meant they had to push the car up.

It does have a certain charm, and makes a certain amount of sense of you've ever messed with an automobile from the 1920's.


The legend has that it was supposed to be the Citroën 2CV, or at least the current one. That car was made 1949-1990 with the old 1949 equiped with a 375 cc 9 hp engine. :lol:

Of course, there may have been something before the 2CV in the legend, whether accurate or not, maybe different cars at different times. Be nice to know if the legend was real or myth.

Wow, thanks for all the good information. This TDF stuff is getting addictive. I'm already thinking about traveling to France in two years during sabbatical, to wave the American flag on some mountain pass!

Thanks again,

dv

An added complication is that climbs used for points in early, flat stages would be ignored in alpine stages.

They pull over and let it go (every once in a while you will see a rider taking a piss on the side of the road), as far as #2 goes....i think you're just **** out of luck.

Usually the camera people have the decency not to film people taking a leak by the side of the road.

With the TdF there are a number of tacit understandings about what you can and cannot do. One of the things you aren't supposed to do is attack (not physically, but to try and pick up the pace to gain advantage) while the leader of the tour is taking a "nature break". There isn't a rule against it, of course, but the peloton has a way of voicing displeasure with anyone breaking these rules.

A few years back Lance was ticked off at Filippo Simoni, and Simoni got into a breakaway. Lance jumped ahead of the peloton and hung with the breakaway. There was a tacit understanding by everyone that Lance was doing this to screw Simoni that he was upset with, so the peloton didn't chase Lance down. The other guys in the breakaway were annoyed because they didn't want Lance up there as if nothing happened, so Simoni was obligated to leave the breakaway.

http://velonews.com/article/6653

Just so there is no confusion, it was Filippo Simeoni, not to be confused with Gilberto Simoni.

And climb categorization is quite complicated. It has to do with length, steepness, road surface and where in the stage the climb is located. It's also surprisingly subjective.

It's entirely subjective in the sense that there are no rules about categorization... but they do tend to be consistent. Stories about the same climb being categorized differently depending on the position in the stage (middle or late) are exaggerated. The same climb in different races (Tour vs Paris-Nice eg) may well have different ratings.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/DiabloScottsBikeBlog/RsttHuIFo-I/AAAAAAAABTQ/VoTvhaNVnhE/s800/Tour%20de%20France%20Rated%20Climbs%20Compared%20to%20Mount%20Diablo.JPG


I have an engineer buddy who was in France during the Tour one year and he asked his French colleagues why they didn't just change HC to Cat 1 and move all the other ratings down a notch; it would make more sense in an engineer's viewpoint... they told him in true French fashion (use a French accent when you tell this story)... because they are BEYOND CATEGORY!