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How to Watch the Tour de France

3,827 views · Published 28 May 2010 · 2:26 · Indexed 29 September 2026

Channel: Howcast · 2010 · Sports

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Watching the Tour de France isn’t as simple as it sounds—here are a few tips to help you appreciate cycling’s greatest race.

Step 1: Get up and watch
Find when the race is broadcast live and on what channel. Remember, it takes place in Europe, so you’ll be up at the crack of dawn or earlier in America.

Step 2: Cheer for a team
Pick a team or rider to cheer for; having even a small emotional stake in the outcome will make watching more fun.

Step 3: Learn the stages
Learn the different types of stages: flat, hill, time trial and team time trial.

Tip
Flat stages are long and favor sprinters, hill stages are mountainous and favor climbers. Time trials have individuals race the clock, while team time trials have entire teams facing off against time.

Step 4: Keep track of stages
Keep track of what stage the race is in. There are 20 total.

Step 5: Learn the jersey colors
Learn the special jersey colors and what they mean.

Tip
The yellow jersey is for the overall time leader, and the green jersey is for the specific points leader – a rider gets points for high finishes in stages. The polka dot jersey is for the rider with the most points in mountain stages, and the white jersey is for the best young rider. 

Step 6: Learn the team structures
Learn the team structures. Typically, a team has a captain or a leader, and other racers, or domestiques, who try to help him win the overall race.

Step 7: Observe the rider strengths
Observe which riders in a team are best suited to specific stages: some riders are sprint specialists, while others thrive on mountains and slopes. 

Tip
Usually the captain of a team is both proficient in time trails and mountain climbing. 

Step 8: Watch the domestiques
Watch the domestiques of a team for their tactics. They usually protect and shield their captain on sprint stages and break his wind on mountain stages.

Step 9: Watch and enjoy
Watch and enjoy the race. There are many changing tactics that racers use, from chasing down competing teams to conserving energy for demanding stages. 

Step 10: See who wins
See who wins. The champion is the person who completes the tour with the lowest overall time. 

Did You Know?
The first Tour de France was held in 1903.

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