FRENCH CYCLING TERMS
Whilst all the coaching is done in English it is nice to be able to throw a few french words about when you are out riding so here goes.. something to practice before you head over
un autobus – group that rides together to finish within time limit
un commissaire – referee who makes decisions about race. E.g. allowing a bigger time limit to avoid eliminating whole autobus.
un coureur – rider, cyclist
un cycliste – cyclist
un directeur sportif – manager
un domestique – support rider, often carrying bottles for leader
un échappé – breakaway
une équipe – team
un grimpeur – climber
un grupeto – same as autobus
un peloton – main bunch of riders, near front of race
un poursuivant – chaser
un rouleur – smooth and steady rider
un soigneur – rider’s assistant
un sprinteur – sprinter
la tête de course – leader
Cycling Styles
à bloc – riding all out, as hard and fast as possible
la cadence – pedalling rhythm, often referring to high cadence
chasse patate – riding between two groups (literally, “potato hunt”)
la danseuse – standing up
Souplesse – riding with good style, pedalling a high cadence giving impression of making it look easy.
Equipment
un bidon – water bottle
un casque – helmet
une crevaison – flat, puncture
un dossard – number on rider’s uniform
un maillot -jersey
maillot jaune – yellow jersey.
une musette – feed bag
un pneu -tire
un pneu crevé – flat tire
une roue – wheel
un vélo de course – racing bike
une voiture balai – broom wagon
Tracks and Courses
une borne – kilométrique ~milestone (literally, a kilometre marker)
un col- mountain pass
une côte – hill, slope
une course – race
une course par étapes – stage race
une descente – descent
une étape – stage
la flamme rouge – red marker at 1 kilometre from finish
hors catégorie – beyond classification (extremely difficult mountain)
une montagne – mountain
une montée- upward slope
un parcours – route, course
une plaine – plains, flat land
une piste – track
une route- road
Standings and Scoring
la bonification – bonus points
une chute – fall, crash
le classement – standings
contre la montre – time trial
la lanterne rouge – last rider
le maillot à pois – polka dot jersey (worn by best climber)
le maillot blanc – white jersey (worn by best rider under 25)
le maillot jaune – yellow jersey (worn by overall leader)
le maillot vert – green jersey (worn by leader in points / best sprinter)
Verbs
accélérer to accelerate
s’accrocher à to cling, hang on to
attaquer to attack, spurt ahead
changer d’allure to change pace
changer de vitesse to shift gears
courir to ride
dépasser to overtake
déraper to slip, skid
s’échapper to break away
grimper to climb
prendre la tête to take the lead
ralentir to slow down
rouleur to ride at a steady / strong pace. A rouleur – is traditionally a strong rider, who is good on the flat, but tends to disappear in the mountains.
GREAT CYCLING QUOTES
“It was eleven more than necessary.”
–Jacques Anquetil, cyclist, 5-time winner of the Tour de France, after winning a race by twelve seconds.
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“As long as I breathe, I attack.”
–Bernard Hinault
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“I get paid to hurt other people… how good is that?”
–Jens Voigt
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“It never gets easier, you just go faster.”
–Greg LeMond
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“Shut up legs!”
–Jens Voigt
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“It’s a bollocks, this race! You’re working like an animal, you don’t have time to piss, you wet your pants. You’re riding in mud like this, you’re slipping… it’s a pile of shit.” (When then asked if he would start the race again, de Rooij replied:) “Sure, it’s the most beautiful race in the world!”
–Theo de Rooij, cyclist. After crashed out the Paris-Roubaix
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“Ride your bike, ride your bike, ride your bike”.
–Fausto Coppi, “il campionissimo”, after being asked what three pieces of advice he would give to an aspiring cycling champion.
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“Cycling isn’t a game, it’s a sport. Tough, hard and unpitying, and it requires great sacrifices. One plays football, or tennis, or hockey. One doesn’t play at cycling.”
–Jean de Gribaldy, cyclist. Sean Kelly’s directeur sportif.
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“Crashing is part of cycling, as crying is part of love.”
-Johan Museeuw
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“I’m still that eight-year-old kid who rode up the Stelvio. I’m still that kid in my legs, in my head and in my heart.”
–Ivan Basso,
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“There simply is nothing else like it. And, as a test of physical and mental endurance it has no equal. Other sports may be as intense, as pressurized, as hard for short periods: But the Tour does on day after day after day. It’s the only race in the world where you have to get a haircut halfway through.”
–Chris Boardman
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“The bicycle has a soul. If you succeed to love it, it will give you emotions that you will never forget.”
–Mario Cipollini
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“I know I’m pushing the boundaries. I know that one of these days I’m going to hit the dust and I’m going to be fucking history, but sod it.”
-Sean Yates
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“Cycling is such a stupid sport. Next time you are in a car travelling at 40mph think about jumping out – naked. That’s what it’s like when we crash.”
–David Millar
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“My biggest fear is not crashing on a bike… It’s sitting in a chair at 90 and saying, ‘I wish I had done more'”.
–Graeme Obree, “The Flying Scotsman”,
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“My brother persuaded me to try cycling and I realised it was the best thing in the world. People thought we were strange but I couldn’t have cared less.”
-Peter Sagan
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“As a kid I had a dream – I wanted to own my own bicycle. When I got the bike I must have been the happiest boy in Liverpool, maybe the world. I lived for that bike. Most kids left their bike in the backyard at night. Not me. I insisted on taking mine indoors and the first night I even kept it in my bed.”
–John Lennon, musician