The 2019 Tour de France starts on July 6, and these days you have a variety of legal, dependable ways to watch it live or on demand. But knowing when and how to tune in is only half the battle, especially for viewers unfamiliar with the race’s rules and traditions. After all, the Tour is one of the oldest and most prestigious events in sports, one filled with foreign terms and arcane jargon that can confuse and sometimes alienate new fans.
But don’t worry: We’ve got you covered with this Tour de France glossary. Use it as a guide help you navigate what the commentators are saying and why.
[Related: 6 Bold Predictions for the 2019 Tour de France.]
More From Bicycling
Alpe d’Huez - The most famous climb in the Tour, it has 21 switchbacks and is always a coveted win for climbers.
Arrière du peloton - French for “rear of the peloton,” or those riders at the back of the main group. See: peloton.
Attack - An aggressive, high-speed jump away from other riders.
Bidon - French for “water bottle.” Riders go through several a day. While grabbing one from the team car, riders can often receive a “sticky bidon”—that is, they hold onto the bottle for a few seconds as the driver accelerates, thus towing them along and giving them a brief pull.
Blocking - Legally impeding the progress of riders in the pack to allow teammates a better chance of success (see: soft-pedal).
Blow up - To suddenly be unable to continue at the required pace due to overexertion.
Break, breakaway - A rider or group of riders who escaped the pack.
Bridge, bridge a gap - To catch up with a rider or group that has opened a lead.
Broom wagon (voiture balai) - A van that follows the race each day, picking up riders who have dropped out and giving them a ride to the stage finish. It also signals the end of the race itself, meaning local authorities are free to open the roads to traffic.
Categorized climb - Most of the Tour’s major ascents are ranked according to certain guidelines, though it’s not all set in stone. In decreasing order of difficulty, official climbs are rated 1, 2, 3, and 4, though the toughest climbs are considered “beyond category” (see: hors catégorie).
Champs-Élysées - The famous cobbled boulevard in downtown Paris that hosts the finish of the final stage of the Tour de France. Riders make several laps of a circuit that takes them around the Arc de Triomphe, through the Place de la Concorde, and up and down both sides of the Champs.
Christian Prudhomme - A former journalist who is now the general director of the Tour de France. As head of the sport’s biggest and most important race, Prudhomme is one of the most powerful people in cycling.
La Course - A one-day women’s event created in 2014 and run by Tour de France organizers. First run as a circuit on the Champs-Élysées during the final stage of the men’s event, the format has changed each year. A two-day event was tried in 2017 with a summit finish and a time trial, but the race reverted to a one-day format in 2018.
Directeur sportif - A French term essentially meaning head coach. The DS is responsible for planning team strategy on each stage and throughout the overall race. He’s usually the one directly answerable to sponsors, so he also operates as PR director, chief corporate liaison, head cook, and bottle washer.
Domestique - A French term for those riders willing to sacrifice their own ambitions for the sake of their teams. Domestiques do things like grab water bottles, ride into the wind to give their leader a draft (see: drafting), or pace their leader back to the peloton in the event of a flat tire.
Doping - Originally meant in reference to blood doping, or withdrawing blood to re-inject it later on to boost red blood cell count and oxygen uptake. Now meant to include any performance-enhancing substances, most of which are banned from competitive use and only some of which are testable.
4 Aero Helmets We Love
Drafting - Tucking in closely behind another rider to escape the wind, therefore saving you energy. See: slipstream.
Dropped - To be left behind by the rest of the field. Also known as “off the back” or “out the back.”
Echelon - A form of paceline in which following riders angle away from the leader to get maximum draft in a crosswind.
L’Équipe - A French daily newspaper covering sports. Used to be called l’Auto and serve as chief sponsor of the Tour.
Feed zones - A designated point on a stage where team personnel can pass food (often little pastries or finger sandwiches) and water bottles to riders. Huge groups of kids will wait after the feed zones because riders tend to toss away empty bottles and musettes once they’re done chowing down.
Field sprint - The dash for the finish line by the main group of riders. Also known as a bunch sprint or pack finish.
Flamme rouge - A red flag that hangs from an inflatable banner 1K from the end of each stage to let the riders know the finish is approaching. For sprinters, the flamme rouge indicates when they should launch their final dash for the line. For climbers, it means the pain will end soon.
Full tuck - An extremely crouched aerodynamic position used to achieve maximum speed on descents.
General Classification (GC) - The ranking of riders from first to last according to their total elapsed time, with the first rider boasting the lowest or fastest time. The yellow jersey goes to the GC leader at the end of each day.
Green jersey (maillot vert) - First awarded in 1953, it goes to the leader of the Points Classification. Riders can earn these points at stage finishes and certain mid-stage sections (see: intermediate sprint). Flat stages award the most green jersey points, which is why field sprinters often win the competition.
Grand Départ - French for “great departure,” it’s the start of the Tour de France. This often takes place in France itself, but has increasingly gone to foreign cities to generate international interest in the race.
Grand Tours: The three most prestigious road races in professional cycling, each held annually over the course of three weeks: the Tour de France in July, the Giro d’Italia in late spring, and the Vuelta a España in late summer.
Grupetto - Large groups of dropped riders that often form at the back of the race on mountain stages. Grupettos are generally filled with sprinters and riders who have finished working for their team leaders.
Hors catégorie - French for “beyond category,” a rating reserved for the most challenging climbs, such as the Alpe d’Huez.
Hors délai - See: time limit.
Intermediate sprint - Found in the middle of each stage, this section awards points in the Tour’s green jersey competition. The first 15 riders to cross the line at these locations earn points.
King of the Mountains (KoM) - A competition for the best climber, which runs on a points system like the green jersey. The leader wears the polka dot jersey.
Lanterne rouge - The last rider in the General Classification. The term, which means “red lantern,” originated in the early days of the Tour, when a car bearing a red lantern would follow the last rider, signifying the back end of the race.
Leadout - A race tactic in which a rider accelerates to maximum speed for the benefit of a teammate in tow. The second rider then leaves the draft and sprints past at an even greater speed.
Lieutenant - The team leader’s right-hand man who helps keep things organized during the stage. The lieutenant also plans and executes strategy, like chasing down breakaways or setting up the final sprint.
Musette - A small cloth bag filled with snacks and water bottles that riders pick up while passing through feed zones. They’re notorious for causing crashes after they’ve been discarded, making feed zones—and the sections immediately following them—some of the most dangerous moments on each stage.
Off the back/out the back (OTB) - See: dropped.
Paceline - A group formation in which each rider takes a turn breaking the wind at the front before pulling off, dropping to the rear position, and riding the others’ draft until he reaches the front again.
Pau - Only Paris and Bordeaux have hosted more Tours de France than Pau, a city at the foot of the Pyrenees that the race visits almost annually.
Peloton - The largest cluster of riders on the road at any given time. Also called the bunch, group, pack, or field.
Phil Liggett - A British TV broadcaster and perhaps the most legendary announcer in cycling. He’s done commentary on the Tour for decades.
La Planche des Belles Filles - One of the newer summit finishes, found in the Vosges. With an average gradient of almost 9 percent and several pitches that hit 20 percent, the climb always serves as an early indicator of the Tour’s true overall contenders.
Polka dot jersey - First given in 1975, it goes to the leader of the King of the Mountains competition. Riders earn points at the top of each categorized climb.
[Related: What the Tour de France Jerseys Mean]
Poursuivant - French for “pursuer,” it refers to those riders who break away from the peloton to chase the race leaders (see: “Tête de la course”).
Prologue - A short stage held as the opener of the Grand Tours. It’s usually less than 5 miles long and designed mainly as a showcase kick-off (and a way to get the yellow jersey on someone’s back right away).
Publicity caravan - A huge procession of vehicles that traces the day’s route before the pack. Each Tour sponsor has at least one car, making the caravan bigger than the race itself in terms of personnel.
Pull (pull through) - To take a turn at the front.
Pull off - To move over after riding in the lead so another rider can come to the front.
Pyrenees - A mountain range on the border between France and Spain.
Rollers - An indoor bike trainer that works like a treadmill for bikes. (Also, a series of short hills.) Tour riders use them to warm up prior to a stage.
4 Great Rollers and Trainers
Tacx Antares Retractable Rollers
Simple, durable, and designed to help you stay on, these rollers are affordable and great for riders looking to try out rollers.
Simple and durable, these traditional rollers will stand the test of time.
Zwift Hub
The most affordable, fully immersive smart trainer for those wanting the virtual riding experience.
This is a reliable trainer that lets you get into the virtual world for far less than most.
Slipstream (draft) - The pocket of calmer air behind a moving rider. See: drafting.
Soft-pedal - To pedal without actually applying power. If a rider is in a solo break, his teammates will impede the chase effort by soft-pedaling at the front of the pack. If a racer in a break doesn’t want to take his pull, he’ll soft-pedal.
Soigneur - Team staffers that basically take care of anything not covered by the directeur sportif or the team mechanics. That includes things like finalizing hotel arrangements, assembling the day’s musettes, giving massages, doing laundry, and countless other necessary, thankless tasks.
Summit finish - Stages that end atop a categorized climb are called summit finishes. Time gaps here are usually large as climbs separate riders into groups, with often one rider winning alone or “solo.”
Switchback - A 90-degree or greater turn.
Take a flyer - To suddenly sprint away from a group.
Team time trial (TTT) - A race against the clock with two or more riders on a given team working together. See: time trial.
Tête de la course - French for “head of the race,” it refers to the rider or riders in the lead at any given point on a stage.
Time bonus - Awarded to the first three finishers at the end of each stage (besides the time trials). Bonuses of 10, six, and four seconds count toward each rider’s place on the General Classification. Time bonuses of eight, five, and two seconds are also awarded at special sprints near the end of key stages.
Time limit - Riders must finish each stage within a certain time limit, calculated based on difficulty, average speed, and the winning rider’s finishing time. Those who fail to finish within that time are considered hors délai, or “beyond the limit,” and must leave the race.
Time trial (TT) - A race against the clock in which riders start at set intervals and cannot give or receive a draft. Racers may use aero bars and helmets, which aren’t allowed in ordinary stages.
Le Tour - Whenever someone says le Tour, it’s plain they mean the Tour de France. No other race gets this treatment.
Tourmalet - First appearing in 1910, the Tourmalet has been climbed more than any other ascent in Tour history. Located in the heart of the Pyrenees, it can be approached from two equally difficult sides.
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) - The official governing body of professional cycling worldwide.
Vosges - A mountain range in eastern France.
White jersey (maillot blanc) - Created in 1975, it recognizes the Tour’s Best Young Rider, or the rider under age 26 with the highest position on the General Classification.
Yellow jersey (maillot jaune) - First awarded midway through the 1919 Tour, it identifies the rider currently leading the General Classification.
