Jargon Buster

El Patrón Cycling is not just aimed at hardcore pro cycling fans. I want to give as much help and encouragement as possible to those that maybe only catch a few races on TV every year and wonder what the commentators are going on about.

Some of the words and language used can often be confusing and alienating if you are new to the sport – it’s my job to make it as accessible as I can.

Like most things, the more you understand something, the more you get out of it, and I promise you that the strange world of pro cycling can be deciphered.

baroudeur – French to describe an attacking style of rider or breakaway specialist.

barrage – if riders drop back to a team car for a feed or due to a mechanical (see mechanical), they can return to the group in front aided by the draft from the convoy of race vehicles (assuming it’s not too excessive and obvious). However, if they’re genuinely dropped and a sufficient gap has developed, race officials can call a ‘barrage’ whereby team cars are told to park so as not to unfairly help the rider and potentially affect the outcome of the race.

bidon – French for drinks bottle. Not to be confused with bidet, under any circumstances.

bonus – time bonuses are often awarded at a certain point on a stage or at the finish line, usually for first, second and third at the designated point. Often referred to as a bonification by Sean Kelly on Eurosport, which is the French ... but in an Irish accent. 

breakaway – invariably, a number or riders will get clear of the main peloton some time after the start of the stage. These riders form the breakaway, or break, and once settled gives the race some order (riders in the peloton can get something to eat and have a relaxed wee knowing that nobody is going to attack). The composition of the breakaway can be complex, often compared to a cooking pot with various ingredients; if one of the ingredients is wrong or missing (ie the wrong rider is in the break or the right rider is not in the break) then the pot is ruined, it all comes back together, and they have to start all over again. On some stages, the formation of the breakaway is one of the most interesting parts of the race and can take an hour or more to establish itself. The breakaway is usually chased down successfully, but other times it isn’t. Indeed, sometimes it’s allowed to contest the stage win. Judging whether this is likely to happen or not is key to determining the contenders for a stage.

broom wagon – a support vehicle at the back of the convoy that collects riders who are unable to continue.

categorized climbs – mountains are categorized depending on their relative difficulty; fourth-category being the least difficult going up to first-category, and then a special category for the most difficult. In the Tour de France these most difficult mountains (eg Mont Ventoux, Alpe d’Huez etc.) are given hors-category status (HC) which means “outside of category”. 

Cima Coppi – the highest mountain peak in the Giro d’Italia, named after five-time winner Fausto Coppi. It carries more mountain classification points than other peaks and the prize for the first one over carries a prestige itself.

chapeau! – an exclamation of admiration and respect for someone. In a cycling context, it is shouted when a rider performs particularly well. It’s French for “hat” and is similar to the English phrase “hats off!” signifying someone tipping or removing their hat in appreciation. 

chapeau-meter - El Patrón’s self-marking on the accuracy of the stage analysis and bet selections. It is measured in caps - none for clueless chump, five for sage-like genius.

classics – selected one-day races as opposed to multi-day stage races like the Tour de France. The five most prestigious classics, known as monuments are – Milan-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia. The cobbled classics in spring attract a specialist type of rider themselves who excel on pavé (cobblestones) and are known for their particular toughness. This was most famously captured in the 1976 documentary film “A Sunday in Hell” which follows that year’s Paris-Roubaix.

directeur sportif – sports director, the manager of the team who will give instructions before the stage and on the radio in a car during it.

domestiques – the helpers in a team. They will support their leader (fetch drinks, protect them from the wind, chase down attacks etc.) to maximise their chances of winning. On occasions, riders who in other circumstances would be leaders in their own right, play a supporting role. These are known as super domestiques or domestique deluxe.

echelons – if the peloton encounters crosswinds, riders naturally move to the side of the rider in front for protection. This steplike formation or echelon works until you run out of road. The next rider then has to work doubly hard to stay on the wheel of the rider ahead without any protection from the wind as they are unable to form the next step in the echelon. Given sufficient pace at the front and strong enough crosswinds, the rider (and all those behind them) will be distanced from the group ahead, like the snapping of an elastic band. This can happen several times and you can end up with a number of diagonal lines of riders, all distanced from each other, fighting to get back to the front.

final – the end of a race, as in “the final is quite technical” which both native English speaking and non-native English speaking cyclists often say. It could be the last few kilometres or the last 30 depending on context. This appears to be an example of a word which has bounced from Romance language speakers into English giving us a definition which has subtly deviated from the original. Native English speakers only really use final as a noun when talking about the last match in a competition – eg Cup Final. We could say “the finish”, but I’d argue that means the very end of something, rather than a period between near the end, and the end. English speakers do use another word to describe something similar – finale, and indeed some commentators do use finale, but that’s French, and we’re in danger of going round in circles. And for me, finale is more emotive and figurative, whereas final is more literal. So, let’s all just say final, embrace the fact that English thrives on its flexibility, and start lobbying Susie Dent for an extra definition in the Oxford English Dictionary.

flamme rouge – a red flag that hangs above the road (usually) to indicate one kilometre to the finish line.

full gas – at or near maximum effort, as in “bloody hell, it was full gas all day!”.

general classification (GC) – the overall ranking by time in a stage race. The leading rider (who has covered the race in the least amount of time) will wear a distinctive jersey, such as the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. Only a certain number of riders will target the GC – those with a good enough overall ability to compete on mountain stages and time trials, whilst the other riders will either be riding in support of their GC man or targeting individual stage wins which are prestigious in their own right. This can be confusing for the mainstream media, often commenting on the GC position of a sprinter which has zero relevance. 

il Giro – the Giro d’Italia, often shortened to “the Giro” or “il Giro”. It’s Italian, obviously, so the plural is Giri, as in “Vincenzo Nibali has won two Giri”, but “two Giros” is acceptable and possibly safer if you don’t want to come over all pretentious. If however you’re the kind of person who is confident shouting the grammatically correct “bravi!” or “brava!” in an opera house, then fill your boots. I’ll probably stick to “Giros”.

la Grande Boucle – literally, “The Big Loop”, another name for the Tour de France.

Grand Tour – there are three: the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España. They are the principle, most prestigious multi-day stage races of the season, and the only ones that last three weeks.

green jersey/maillot vert – the jersey worn at the Tour de France by the leader of the points competition. Points are awarded based on finishing positions at the end of each stage and at an intermediate sprint placed at some point on the day’s route. It is usually won by a rider that can consistently finish high up on the flatter sprint stages, but can also compete in the intermediate sprints on hillier days. It was dominated for a number of years by Slovakian Peter Sagan.

gregario – Italian form of domestique but with perhaps less servile connotations.

grimpeur – French for climber, ie. a cyclist who excels in the mountains.

grupetto – a group that is formed behind the peloton on mountain stages comprised of sprinters and less adept climbers who band together to ensure everyone arrives within the time cut (see hors délai). The grupetto is also known as the autobus, which is why commentators often jokingly talk about riders collecting or stamping tickets to get everyone on board.

hors délai – time delay or time cut. If riders are struggling in a stage due to ability, exhaustion or sickness, they cannot roll to the finish in their own time. They must finish within a certain percentage of the winner’s time (calculated based on the difficulty of the stage) or they will be eliminated from the race. This is particularly concerning for sprinters in mountain stages. As Eurosport’s Dan Lloyd put it, it’s a bit like Usain Bolt having to run several marathons within a certain time of the winner just to secure the right to be on the start line for the 100m Olympic final.

leadout/sprint train – a rider or number of riders in front of their sprinter to allow them to conserve energy and position them near the front of the race before they unleash their sprint. More sprinter-oriented teams can deploy several of these to form a train, each peeling off after their job is done.

lumpy – as in “it’s a lumpy stage” meaning lots of gradient changes, or hilly.

maglia azzurra – blue jersey in the Giro, worn by the leader in the mountains competition.

maglia ciclamino – purple jersey in the Giro, worn by the leader in the points competition.

maglia rosa/pink jersey – worn by the leader in general classification in the Giro.

mechanical – as in “he’s suffered a mechanical”. An issue such as a puncture or gear problem where a rider has to stop and wait for their team car to come and fix, costing them valuable time.

monuments – see classics.

musette – a small bag with a shoulder strap containing food and drink given to riders during a bike race.

nuetral zone – the period between the ceremonial start of a race and ‘kilometre zero’ when the real race begins.

palmarès – French for list of prizes or wins.

parcours – the profile of the route, either for an individual stage or a whole race.

pavé – French for cobblestones, a major feature of the spring classics.

le patron/el patrón – the unofficial father or boss of the peloton, earned through respect and experience. The patron may make decisions on behalf of the whole peloton, for instance if they believe conditions are too dangerous or to instruct the peloton to slow down if a crash has held up a competitor. It may or may not be adhered to. El Patrón is simply the Spanish translation, and the name of this website.

peloton – one most people have heard of – basically the main group of riders.

polka dot jersey/maillot a pois – worn by the leader in the mountains competition in the Tour de France, often referred to as “the King of the Mountains”.

puncheur – a type of rider that specialises in hilly terrain, with short, punchy but not necessarily long ascents.

profile – a plan of the race route. There is a profile included in each El Patrón preview.

prologue - see time trial

protected rider – could be a team leader or sprinter who benefits from team members riding alongside them to offer protection from the wind, pass them food and drinks and be available should they experience a fall or a mechanical.

queen stage – often not officially declared, but the stage in a multi-day race that is deemed the most demanding, the most significant and/or the most prestigious.

rest day – the Grand Tours include two or three rest days where there is no racing to give cyclists time to recover. Usually on a Monday or Tuesday, they also allow teams to transfer long distances before the next stage in a different region of the country or indeed a different country entirely.

road/street furniture – bollards, traffic islands, lampposts etc. that can be lethal if not clearly marked, especially when having to be negotiated at speed in the final.

rouleur – a type of rider that is strong on rolling terrain that doesn’t include sharp hills or mountains.

soigneurs – or ‘swannies’ are support staff with multiple roles including food and drink preparation, kit washing and mending, rider massages and generally anything to keep the team running smoothly and motivated.

sprinter – all road cyclists are technically endurance riders rather than sprinters. Pure track sprinters travel at faster speeds than road sprinters, but they don’t ride the 150km plus beforehand. Their muscular, heavy body shape would also stop them competing over longer distances, especially if it included hillier terrain. So, a sprinter in the road racing sense is one that can handle the terrain, be in a good position at the finish, and still sprint at high speed to compete for the win.

stage race – a multi-day race as opposed to a one-day race. The Grand Tours (Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España) are the premier stage races and the only ones to last three weeks. Other prominent week-long stage races are Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Critérium de Dauphiné.

sterrati – Italian for dirt or gravel roads, most famously used in the one-day classic Strade Bianche (itself Italian for white roads, named after the distinctive colour of the gravel).

sticky bottle – the act of handing a bidon to a rider from the team car but then holding onto it and accelerating, thus propelling the rider forward at speed. It’s against the rules but, like many rules in cycling, a blind eye is turned if it’s not excessive and has no bearing on the race result.

team leader – the rider who will be supported by the other members of the team to fulfil their goal. Usually, but not always, the rider aiming for the highest possible GC position.

technical – as in “a technical final”, meaning that it will require good bike handling and positioning skills to negotiate, perhaps due to the number of tight bends and roundabouts.

time trial (TT) – a distinctive type of stage raced against the clock. There are individual time trials (ITT) raced alone, and team time trials (TTT) where the whole team rides in a line, taking it in turns on the front. A time trial of less than 8km that is before the official stage 1 is known as a prologue (although confusingly, nowadays it’s more common for stage 1 to be a short time trial and this is also often referred to as a prologue). Basically, time trials are those stages where the riders wear funny cone-shaped helmets. 

le Tour – the Tour de France, often shortened to “le Tour” or “the Tour”. The plural is Tours de France not Tour de Frances.

Trofeo Senza Fine – the “endless trophy”, awarded to the winner of the Giro d’Italia. 

la Vuelta – the Vuelta a España, often referred to as simply “la Vuelta” or “the Vuelta”.

white jersey/maillot blanc – worn by the leader in the young rider classification of the Tour de France. Interestingly, the current qualification for the Tour white jersey competition is to be under 26 prior to the race start, a legacy from when younger riders rarely competed in the longer three-week races. Given that recent winners of the Tour itself have been 21 and 22 years old, there are calls for this to be revised, perhaps to fall in with UCI competition rules and be for under 23s only.

yellow jersey/maillot jaune – worn by the leader in general classification of the Tour de France.