Language lesson - back to school!

   As the cycling season winds down with the final Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España (or Tour of Spain or, quite simply, La Vuelta) is showing indeed how hard the Tour de France is on the body. All three finishers on the podium in Paris about a month ago are participating in this year’s Vuelta, and each appears to be suffering greatly, most likely from a buildup of fatigue, but probably also from not having a lot of time to relax when you are in public demand as a celebrity in the sport!

   Another observation from Spain is that support cars and media motorcycles are going to be more closely managed by race officials, judging by the number of accidents caused by reckless driving in this event, and really, all year long. In the last few days two riders from the same team were knocked out of La Vuelta with injuries, as Tinkoff-Saxo star Peter Sagan (photo right) and teammate Sergio Paulinho were hit by motorcycles.

   There have been a handful of occasions during race coverage when I (and the commentators, for that matter) have gasped after seeing the aggressive maneuvering of camera bikes to gain position within the peloton. Rider safety has to come first, and race organizers must get involved to give their stars room to pedal comfortably and confidently without outside interference – they are already dealing with tight spaces amongst each other at very high speeds!

   An article in Cycle Sport Magazine this month discusses how, even though English is becoming the common language of the peloton, French vocabulary is still dominant in cycling jargon. Included was an interesting graphic of cycling phrases that were interwoven to roughly form a map of France. I have to admit that I didn’t have complete familiarity with all of the terms, and I was a bit disappointed that there weren’t definitions for all of the phrases within the article.

   So I am going to take on the job, and the next time you watch some Tour coverage (or any bike race) and one of these terms pops up into the commentary, you will feel like an expert!

Palmarès – think of this as a cyclist’s resume, a listing of his career results. Taking a look at Sean Kelly’s lengthy palmarès makes one wonder if there were races he didn’t win!

Directeur sportif – the team’s race coach or manager. Since one-day races and stage races have different strategies, and also because of the demands of the pro calendar and the need to split the squad in order to participate in coinciding events, many teams have several directeurs sportif. For example, Team Sky’s Nicolas Portal (photo left) handles the Tour de France squad, while Servais Knaven is in charge of the spring Classics campaign.

Soigneur (swan-YUR) – an assistant responsible for feeding, clothing, massaging, and escorting riders during races. The American 7-Eleven cycling team was the first to gain acceptance with a female soigneur as part of their organization.

Domestique – the ultimate teammate, the guy who rides back to the team car to load up with water bottles and distribute them among his colleagues or waits for the team leader when he has a problem, then helps to tow him back up to the front while the leader saves energy by drafting behind. A common role of the domestique is giving up a wheel when his team leader gets a flat, or his complete bicycle during an extreme equipment failure!

Puncheur – a cyclist good over undulating terrain, with an ability to excel on short, steep climbs. Because these riders generally do not have the spritely build of the pure climbers, their more powerful frame becomes a hindrance over the long haul. Therefore, you will seldom see elite puncheurs like Philippe Gilbert or Michal Kwiatkowski (photo right) hanging around near the front over the Alps or Pyrenees.

Rouleur – a rider who is considered a good all-arounder and can often serve as a valuable domestique, riding at the front of the pack, keeping the tempo high. A few of the most talented cyclist of this type achieve success from small breakaways near the end of races. One of the most popular rouleurs of recent years was Trek’s Jens Voigt, who could always be counted on to stir things up with an audacious attack!

Grimpeur – a pure climber of skinny and/or small stature that has a high power to weight ratio, enabling him to dance up the mountains (seemingly) effortlessly. While the strategy of putting your team on the front and keeping a high tempo has done much to negate the talents of the true “mountain goats”, when a top-level grimpeur the likes of Movistar’s Nairo Quintana is on form, there are few pro cyclists who can hang with him.

Flamme rouge – translated as “red flame”, it refers to the pennant that flies over the course at one kilometer left in the race (photo left). The situation is often heating up under the flamme rouge, as the teams jostle for the best position to unleash their sprinter towards the finish line.

Bidon (BEE-don) – the word more accurately describes the old metal water bottles, but now includes today’s plastic containers. In fact, the modern pro bidon is biodegradable, just in case fans or the post-race cleanup crew miss picking up all that have been discarded by the peloton.

                    

Musette (mew-ZET) – a lightweight cotton shoulder bag, containing food and drink given to riders in a feed zone. The bag is designed so that it can be easily taken by a moving rider, but there is a definite technique for handing off and grabbing it, so that the bag does not swing into the bicycle or pull the rider off balance. Unfortunately fatigue can work against a cyclist's attempts to make a successful musette snag, as Lotto-Soudal’s Tim Wellens found out during stage 19 of this year’s Tour (click here).

Gilet (GEE-lay) – actually translates to a waistcoat, but because of its similar appearance, it describes the sleeveless jacket or vest riders don as protection from chilly temperatures. You will often see pros zipping up such a garment at the top of mountains, just before taking on the breezy decent. A thin rain jacket is often incorrectly called a gilet by television commentators.

Chapeau – of course this is the French word for hat or cap, but this phrase is used in the manner of tipping your hat in salute of a cyclist’s achievement. “Fabian Cancellara's brutal attack with 15 km to go has resulted in another Tour of Flanders victory – chapeau!"

Lantern rouge – the competitor who finishes in last place. The term derives from railroading as a light placed on the caboose to mark the end of the train and used by the conductor to make sure none of the cars have become uncoupled. The lantern rouge at this year’s Tour de France was FDJ’s Sebastian Chavanel (photo right).