Leviathan

On my local group rides and amateur races we depend on each other to point out with hand signals and audible calls pot holes, debris in the road, a slower rider coming up fast, etc. Do racers in professional bike races, in particular the TDF, do the same for each other?

Guest

I don't know about hand signals, but last year in the team trials at the T de F, I watched as Lance rode up and down the train and communicated with the riders. I thought that was absolutely awesome. You could see how strong they are as a team and how strong Lance was. It was incredible to watch.

Koffee

ed073

Yes. You'll see a quick hand signal in the direction of an upcopming corner, or to point at a road hazard. Riders will also point to the road to show the line they are going to take so as not to chop a wheel.

gruven

I second the "quick" part of that. You really have to be watching to notice the signals these guys make!

Guest

You do have to be quick, but sometimes the cameramen pick up on the signals and Phil and Bob will comment on the hand signals too- look for that!

Koffee

timmhaan

they have ridden the course several times before the race though, right? if so, i'd imagine the riders know what's coming up fairly well and there shouldn't be too many suprises.

Guest

Still, they probably wouldn't have it all by memory, and I bet they don't ride through every stage as thoroughly as they would like if they were in the mountains, when the minutes gained are a bit more crucial.

Koffee

DieselDan

There was some traffic funiture that the riders were all pointing out to each other in today's stage. I thought Al would never shut up about that.

Smoothie104

Sometimes I think Al will never shut up

travis200

If it wasn't for hand signals some of the middle pack riders would never see what is coming up. I remember they showed a shot of what a few of the riders were seeing. It was a wall of riders they couldn't even see the road ahead. Bobke made a comment a couple stages ago pointing that out as well.

roadbuzz

Not in pacelines, but...

A couple of days ago, nearing the finish, they showed some riders signaling. One I've never seen before, the rider had his chin basically on the stem in a tuck, and signalled something (a round-about?) by circling his hand horizontally in front of him. I was thinking, 'doesn't matter what it means, nobody behind him could see it anyway.'

I've noticed lots of riders pointing to where they're going, to avoid clipping wheels.

Bruco

They must be doing a lot of signalling: France is packed with round-abouts.

ed073

that signal means he wants more riders to come through and share the workload.....a rotating motion, as in "rotate the effort".