A lot of sports are pretty easy to figure out from the moment you start watching, even if you’re a complete novice.
Whether we’re talking football – in one variety or another – or cricket, or tennis, or golf, the object of the game is pretty straightforward, and the current score readily available to give context.
Cycling might sound fairly straightforward too. After all, the obvious goal should be to beat your opponents across the finish line.
However, when it comes to an event like le Tour, things become a bit more complicated than that.
When you turn on le Tour for the first time, the sight you will likely be greeted with is the peloton, which translates very literally to ‘the herd’.
This pack of riders will, for most of the stage, contain almost every man in the Tour, pedalling together in a tightly-knit group. In the thick of the peloton, riders might be no more than an inch apart from their teammates – or adversaries.
But if the goal of the race is to win – to cross the finish line before your opponents – then why the peloton? The answer is quite a simple one: because of the wind.
Le Tour, after all, is not an individual sport. While glory is heaped upon the individual winner, that individual is still part of a team. Without his team he has no chance of victory.
Each team contains nine riders, but is always headed by a lead rider. First and foremost, the goal of a nine-man team is to propel their lead rider to victory.
Different members of the team take different roles, and may have more to do than to assist the lead rider, especially if they are heavily specialised towards one of the different stage formats.
Still, the team will always contain a number of domestiques, literally translating to ‘servants’, whose sole focus is to get their leader across the finish line in as high a position as possible.
One of the most vital roles that the domestiques provide is to protect their leader from wind and air resistance by riding just ahead of them for the bulk of a race, allowing the leader to follow in their wake.
The peloton tends to move at close to 50km an hour, a speed which is all the more tiring when riding directly into the wind.
It’s for this reason that the peloton forms. To conserve energy over what will be an enormous stretch of distance, riders fall behind their teammates and competitors, saving themselves the work of pushing against the wind.
It’s commonly known as slipstreaming, or drafting. While racing in this way still requires an incredible output of energy, it is far less taxing than riding directly into the wind.
Depending on circumstances, a rider following in another’s wake can wind up using as much as 40 per cent less energy than the man he’s following.
Then, when the finish line is in sight, the lead rider makes his move, using his conserved energy to pull ahead of the peloton and make a push towards victory.
Whether it’s up a mountain or on a flat stage sprint, the strongest man on the day is often the one with the most energy.
Teamwork also comes into play here. Whenever a lead rider decides to go on the offensive and pushes out for a win, it’s the job of the domestiques to put in the extra effort and bring them back to the pack.
For this reason, so much of each stage of the Tour is spent in the peloton, as riders jostle for position, seeking to stay with the pack and put themselves in the right place for an attack, but not in a way that will burn their energy.
Contrary as it might seem to logic, the goal of many teams will be to avoid the very front of the peloton, simply so that they have more energy with which to get their man across the line later on.
Strangely enough, if you see a member of a team break away from the peloton early, you can tell they’re not really trying to win it – the extra effort of riding against the wind all day will likely tire them out before they can get across the line, but not before they get their sponsor’s logo some valuable air time.
But teamwork doesn’t stop with slipstreaming and defensive riding. Domestiques will literally do anything for their leader – whether that’s falling back to the supply truck to fetch them food and drink, or giving up their bike should the leader need it.
It might seem a bit mad at first, that an individual should take the glory in what really is a team effort.
There are two great examples of domestiques riding in this year’s Tour de France.
One is Team Sky’s Richie Porte, who primarily serves as team leader Chris Froome’s right hand man in the mountains. On big climbs Porte’s entire duties extend to keeping Froome in great shape to attack on later climbs. His leader will never have to push into the wind by himself – Porte’s job is to be there to prevent that.
As soon as Porte is spent, hopefully on the final climb for his and Froome’s sake, he will let Froome charge past him.
Similarly, Mark Renshaw and Mark Cavendish have long been considered the best one-two punch on the flat stages.
Aussie Renshaw’s job is the pave the way for the explosive Cavendish to take stage victories in group sprints. He does so by getting the Manx missile into prime position to launch a sprint close to the line.
Timing, positioning, and an awareness of all the other riders play a part in Renshaw’s job – he needs to make sure he doesn’t go too early, too late, or leave his teammate boxed in by other riders in the group.
This requires communication and an acute awareness of every other rider in the pack. It makes for thrilling viewing when they get it right.
Sacrificing your body and energy for your leader is all part of being in a team at le Tour.
As time goes and team tactics evolve, bit part players are starting to get the recognition they deserve.
We’ve already mentioned Australian Porte, whose work as a domestique for Team Sky’s Chris Froome was arguably the most important factor in Froome’s victory in the 2013 Tour.
And a domestique need not be a domestique forever. While Porte is riding in aid of Froome again this year, he’s already announced the he will leave the team at the end of Le Tour, seeking to become a leader elsewhere.
It’s time for Porte to step up, and have domestiques help him for once.
When Le Tour comes to an end, only one man dons the yellow jersey – but it’s the team effort that gets him there.
Australia's Jai Hindley has said he is "lost for words" after a shock stage victory at the Tour de France earned him the leader's…
Australia's Jai Hindley has said he is "lost for words" after a shock stage victory at the Tour de France earned him the leader's…
Tadej Pogacar has won a drama-packed Tour of Flanders, winning in a breakaway with Matieu van der Poel second, Mads Pedersen third and Wout…
Women are not allowed to compete in the Tour de France. However you choose to re-read that sentence, the fact remains: the most famous…
The jam-packed month-by-month quiz full of 2022 sports trivia!
Australian Grace Brown has won silver in the women's time trial, the first event at the world road cycling championships.
