Pre-season Teams Analysis | Course Analysis | Riders & Teams | Prologue | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 | Stage 6 | Stage 7 | Stage 8 | Rest Day & Coach's Analysis | Stage 9 | Stage 10 | Stage 11 | Stage 12 | Stage 13 | Stage 14 | Rest Day & Coach's Analysis | Stage 15 | Stage 16 | Stage 17 | Stage 18 | Stage 19 | Stage 20 | Post Tour Analysis
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Prologue
The first thing you have to understand about the Prologue is that it
is a show case event designed for the spectators. It is very
difficult for the fans to pick their hero's out of a fast moving
peloton but very easy when they are seen individually. With the
prologue, the promoter is saying, ?Here are this year's racers, come
and see them before the race begins so you will know who all of the
competitors are.?
Prologues are so short that you can?t gain any significant time so
the two most important rules for racing a prologue are don't lose
any significant time and don't get hurt. With that in mind, then you
need to develop your race strategy to see if you even want to try to
win the prologue. Is winning it worth the risks required to win the
event? If not, then you want to do a good enough time so that you
wont lose much time and get to the finish safely.
If you decide that you do want to win the prologue, you have to
understand that, because of its extremely short distance, a prologue
is purely a test of sustained speed and bike handling skills. A good
definition is ?a short, high speed time trial?. You literally have
to charge the entire course to have a chance to win it so it is a
test of strength, speed, and riding skill.
You will notice that most of this year's Tour contenders did not
really try to place high. As a matter of fact, Lance was the only
Tour contender who finished in the top five. The rest wanted to get
through the event with all the right bones in all the right places
and not losing time. It was obvious that Lance wanted to start the
Tour in Yellow but failed by one spot. No big deal and no big loss.
The most important time to wear the Yellow Jersey is in Paris three
weeks from now.
You do have to understand that getting a really good time can be a
big mental boost for some riders but other riders would see starting
the race in the leader's jersey as being too much pressure, too
soon. So, you have to know yourself when you decide whether to try
to win a prologue. On the other hand, the prologue is a great way
for a rider on the rise to wear the leader's jersey for a few days
when they other wise would be relegated to riding the entire stage
race as a domestique and not have a chance at wearing the leader's
jersey at all. Besides, winning the prologue in a major stage race
like the Tour will greatly increase your future earnings and could
open doors for a better team position.
Tomorrow, the current race leader will try to hold onto his lead for
a few days, the riders trying to win stages with long breaks will
begin to battle the sprinters for a chance at stage wins, and riders
will try to take an early lead in one of the top jerseys for the
Tour. The cat-and-mouse games will begin and continue until the team
time trial which will be the first sorting of the top riders and
teams.
Welcome back to the daily tactical analysis of the Tour de France by
Coach Carl, AKA Carl Cantrell. It is that time of year to have fun
again. Enjoy. :)
