TOUR DE FRANCE FAQs
Once seen, the Tour de France is never forgotten. Its size, beauty and the often outrageous nature of its route; the skill, speed and mastery of its competitors; the huge demands on the riders, and the heights of fitness they reach just to take part, let alone win – everything about the race is mind-boggling. Understandably, many spectators are left asking questions. And that’s the purpose of this feature: to answer some of the most common head-scratchers relating to the fitness demands of the world’s toughest bike race. The answers are grounded in first-hand knowledge – garnered from people who’ve either competed in the Tour or worked at the race in a support or leadership role.
Q Why and how do riders warm up before each stage?
A The ‘why’ is explained by double Tour stage winner Steve Cummings: “There are two races in every stage: the first is to get a breakaway established, and the second is to win the stage. If I saw a stage that suited me, one where a break might stay away and give me a chance to win, I’d focus on the first hour to 90 minutes, nothing else. Typically it was attack after attack right from the start, then a huge effort to get the break established. You had to be fully warmed up for that.”
As to the ‘how’, a Tour warm-up is usually done on a turbo trainer, allowing the whole team to warm-up in one compact space, everyone controlling their effort. Ineos-Grenadiers’s director of racing Rod Ellingworth says: “The idea is to prepare the rider’s energy systems for a fast
