Observation One

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

2003 Tour de France stage 7

Commented [ZD1]: You seem very passionate about this

topic and about biking in general. From the way that you
describe the positions and the meanings of the race I think
you picked a great topic to do this assignment on. There are
great details in the observation. (Young Jung)

Note: This observation took place during a 30 minute archived footage of the end of the seventh
stage of the 2003 Tour de France.
Relevant Background information: The Tour de France is a bicycle race that happens every
year since 1903(other that breaks during the world wars) in France during the month of July. The
year I have chosen to observe is 2003. The race lasts for 3 weeks with an individual stage each
day. The person who wins the Tour de France is the rider with the least accumulated time through
all the stages combined.
Figured World: A figured world is a large network of people that has standards for
communication and conduct.
There are certain rules and conventions that change based on what point it is during the
stage, which stage it is, and where a rider is located in relation to the other riders. At the beginning
of a stage, it is a usual occurrence that a small group of riders, called a breakaway, leave the
main group of riders and go off ahead on their own. Then the team with the overall leader (rider
with the lowest overall time) is expected to lead the peloton (the large main group of riders) and
keep the breakaway reasonably close. Next, on a stage over flat terrain, the teams of the sprinters
(riders who are good finishers on the flat) will lead the peloton in attempting to catch the
breakaway (which they usually do), but on a stage that ends on a mountain different teams are
expected to chase the breakaway. Riding dangerously around other riders is obviously not a
welcomed act, as well as, being in a breakaway and not working with the other rider. There are
many other rules and conventions that are used in bicycle racing that would take too long to
mention, but the ones that I have named are the basic ones. There are many different communities
of practice within the Tour de France. Some of the communities are the individual team, the
climbers, the sprinters, the breakaway riders, the riders in the peloton, and even the team managers.
Actors: a person that plays a certain role that is part of the community of practice.

Richard Virenque: In stage 7, Richard Virenque was a very important person. He had in
previous editions of the Tour de France won the best mountain climber jersey five times
and would win it a total of seven times in his career. Throughout his cycling career, he
was a very aggressive rider and was known for being in breakaways over mountainous
stages, such as this stage.
Lance Armstrong: Lance Armstrong was the favorite to win the 2003 Tour de France.
He had won each of the previous 4 editions of the race, and everyone was thinking he
probably would again. Lance had survived cancer to make a return to the highest level of
cycling and the whole image of cycling in the United States was based on him. He greatly
affected the 2003 Tour, whether it was him individually or his team working for him.

Commented [ZD2]: I like how you included history in

your background information. I never knew when it started
or even how long it lasted. I think for someone who is not
that interested in the Tour De France your info gives a
pretty good idea of what its about. (Jared Yantosik)
Commented [ZD3]: Your definitions are very good. They
describe the vocab words in depth and even in
context. Including the context in the definitions really helps
the reader to understand how they relate to your figured
world. (Jared Yantosik)

Commented [ZD4]: In the background paragraph you

state that Next, on a stage over flat terrain if there is a
specification about one part you should add the same
specification to the first part as well. Was the ground on the
first part flat? Did it go uphill? When I first read the
paragraph that is want I asked myself after reading the
sentence. (Young Jung)

Commented [ZD5]: There are a couple of things listed as

communities of practice in the figured world paragraph I
would like to see those added to the communities of
practice sub heading. You can also emphasize on these
communities of practice. This means that you can break up
the team community of practice for the individual
communities. (Young Jung)
Commented [ZD6]: I would like to see more on the
climbers, sprinters, etc. Im not really sure if I understand
that and I would like to. I guess a good place to put it would
be under Actors. The positions just seem interesting enough
to expound more on. (Andrew Dahl)

The U.S. Postal Service Team: The U.S.P.S. team was the team of Lance Armstrong.
They worked many hours in this Tour de France at the front of the peloton (main group of
riders) all so that Lance could have a chance to win the Tour. They chased breakaways
and set a pace on mountains that would be hard for others to follow.
Iban Mayo: Iban Mayo was a young mountain climber that was very successful during the
beginning of the 2003 season. He was known for his attacking riding style and climbing
ability.
Alessandro Pettacchi: Alessandro Pettacchi was a very well-known sprinter who won
many different races during his cycling career.

Artifacts: Something that is important to a community of practice or the entire figured world.

The Yellow Jersey: The yellow jersey is given, after each stage and at the end of the race,
to the rider who has the least overall accumulated time in the race so far. It is the symbol
of the best rider in the race. Most professional cyclists dream of wearing the yellow jersey
even if only for one stage.
The Green Jersey: The green jersey is given to the rider who consistently finishes toward
the front and accumulates the most sprint points which are given at the finish of every
stage.

Communities of practice: A community of practice is a group that has a common interest or

hobby that brings them together.

The breakaway: The breakaway riders have a shared goal of making it to the finish in
front of the peloton and winning the stage. They must work together for most of the stage
if they want to achieve their goal. Then, only, if they have a large enough time gap can they
fight it out among themselves for the victory.
The peloton: The peloton consists of the majority of the riders in the race, and is generally
composed of all kinds of riders. It is composed of the team leaders, the sprinters, the team
helpers, and the others who usually hope to get in a breakaway but didnt that day. The
goal of all of the riders in the peloton is to make it to the finish in the quickest time possible.
There are many other goals of riders that differ from rider to rider.
The teams: Cycling is definitely a team sport. A team in the Tour de France has 9 riders
on it. The teams can consist of different types of riders which effects their goals as a team.
Some teams consist of a contender for the overall victory, some have a sprinter to win
stages from a group on the flatter stages, some have both a sprinter and a leader, and some
have neither. The teams with overall contenders try to control the stages from the peloton
and keep breakaways close enough for their leader to make up the time he needs to beat
them on the harder stages. The teams with sprinters want to try and catch the breakaways
on the flatter stages and lead their sprinter to the victory at the stage finish. The teams with
no leader or sprinter try to put riders in the breakaways to win stages.

Domain: A domain is a groups common goal. They have experience and knowledge of this
area.

Commented [ZD7]: Can you explain the Green and

Yellow Jacket. I understand that the yellow jacket is for the
winner of that stage of the race but Im confused about the
green jacket. What are sprinter points? How does the point
system work in a race like this and how do they compare
points to the times that they finish what is the exchange
rate on that? (Young Jung)
Commented [ZD8]: I would like to know about this green
jersey. Is it only given at the end of the whole tour?
Meaning there is only one given out. If so who got it in the
year you were covering? It is mentioned in the artifacts.
(Andrew Dahl)

Commented [ZD9]: I think you could add one or two

more examples from your figured world under domain and
Practices of the community. All the other vocab words have
2 or more examples and are very specific. Adding a couple
more examples will also help the reader to understand the
definition even better since theyll be able to relate it to the
Tour De France. (Jared Yantosik)

Racing bicycles: Racing bicycles is what all of these riders do for a living. They race
8-10 months a year basically nonstop. They have to succeed in order to keep their job
or to make more money.

Practices of the Community: The regular activities and the way activities are done by a
community of practice.

Chasing the breakaway: chasing the breakaway is a common practice of teams that have
a leader or a sprinter, so that their rider will be in the best condition to win.

Literacy practices: The way that people in a community of practice communicate with each other
in any way.

Lack of cooperation: A lack of cooperation in a breakaway could mean one of 2 things

that can tell you a lot and help the riders tactically. Lack of cooperation can mean either
that the rider is too tired to help lead the breakaway or that they dont want to help pull the
breakaway away from their leader in the pack.
Team Radios: Every rider on every team has a radio that is used by their manager to talk
to them during the race, tell them what is going on, and discuss tactics.

My Observation:
1 minute: There is a 4 rider breakaway consisting of Richard Virenque, Rolf Aldag, Paolo Bettini,
and a rider that I do not know from the Credit Agricole team. Richard Virenque and Paolo Bettini
are on the same team which gives them a large advantage. They are 7 minutes in front of the
peloton. (Which means it would take the peloton 7 minutes to get to where they are now.)
5 minutes: The breakaway riders are working together well there are 15 kilometers (9 miles)
remaining in the stage and they are starting to climb the last of 5 mountains on the stage. The
peloton is being led by the U.S Postal team for Lance Armstrong.
8 minutes: The gap between the breakaway and peloton is now 7 minutes and 10 seconds. The
Credit Agricole rider and Paolo Bettini cannot keep up with the front part of the breakaway and
have been left behind by Virenque and Aldag. The rider currently in the yellow jersey Victor
Hugo Pena is behind the peloton and losing ground.
12 minutes: Alexander Vinokurov attacks and rides away from the peloton. He is the leader of
Team Telekom. Richard Virenque rides away from Rolf Aldag, so now he is in the lead by himself.
17 minutes: Richard Virenque reaches the top of the mountain with a 3:55 lead over the peloton,
which is still being led by U.S Postal. He has a good lead with only a little over 4 miles to go.
The peloton caught back up to Vinokurov.
25 minutes: Virenque wins the stage all by himself. He salutes the crowd and they cheer for him.
He is a French rider and the French are very passionate when a Frenchmen wins.

Commented [ZD10]: Am an overall fan of your

observations. It is not too wordy at all but it had a great
smooth read and gives you a good look at the race. I feel
like I am listening to a broadcaster who is doing the race,
which is a great way to present this since it is a sport.
(Andrew Dahl)

29 minutes: The peloton finishes the stage 4 minutes and 5 seconds behind Virenque. U.S.P.S.
team leads them across the line.
30 minutes: The calculations are made and Richard Virenque has the lowest overall time and is
awarded the yellow jersey.

Observation Two
Friday September 12, 2014
2003 Tour de France Stages 1 and 10

Note: This observation took place during an archived video of the last 20 minutes of both stages
1 and 10.

My Observation:
Stage 1:
1 minute: 3 man breakaway is out in front of the field. They are working together, but the peloton
is catching up. These 3 men have been in the breakaway since almost the beginning of the stage
so they are beginning to become tired.
4 minutes: The peloton is chasing the breakaway, led by the Lotto and Fasso-Bortolo teams. The
stage is flat toward the end and these teams have two of the top sprinters in the Tour, Robbie
McEwan (Lotto) and Alessandro Pettachi (Fassa-Bortolo).
6 minutes: One of the breakaway riders attacks (rides away from) the other breakaway riders and
is off on his own.
10 minutes: Fassa-Bortolo is leading the main group most of the time now. The two breakaway
riders that were left behind are caught by the peloton. The lone rider out front has a 50 second lead.
14 minutes: Eric Zabel, a sprinter from Team Telekom, has a flat tire and is now behind the
peloton. He won the green jersey 6 years in a row from 1996-2001 and is one of the top sprinters
of the era.
17 minutes: The breakaway rider in caught by the peloton and teams are scrambling for control
of the front of the group. In a sprint, the team that can control the front of the peloton puts their
sprinter in the best position to win the stage.

Commented [ZD11]: Why did you chose stages 1 and 10

for the same observation? It seems kind of random, is a
there a correlation between the two stages? If there is
mention it, if there isnt maybe finding one that goes
together better. (Andrew Dahl)

19 minutes: Fassa- Bortolo is in control of the peloton with 1 kilometer to go to the finish. Their
sprinter, Alessandro Pettachi, is in fourth position and is in a great position to get a chance at the
victory.
20 minutes: There is a large crash at the front of the Peloton. Only about 20 riders made it around
the crash. There are about 25 riders on the ground and some look like they might be seriously
injured.
21 minutes: Alessandro Pettachi wins the stage in front of Robbie McEwan and Eric Zabel. He
showed his dominance in the sprint.

Stage 10:
1 minute: A breakaway consisting of 9 riders has a 24 minute lead on the peloton. All of the riders
in the breakaway and further behind than that in overall time so the peloton is going to let them
get away and win the stage. This group of riders has been in front of the main group for 150
kilometers.
5 minutes: Gutierrez from the Kelme team attacks the other breakaway riders. The cooperation has
ended since they have such a large lead over the peloton. Everyone is just strategizing about how
they will have the best chance to win.
9 minutes: The group of breakaway riders catch up to Gutierrez and then Jakob Piil counter attacks
and gets a large gap over the breakaway. Each rider is trying to get across the gap to Piil by
themselves instead of working together.

Commented [ZD12]: I like the terminology in this like

breaking, break away, and peloton. These words sounds
very technical and seems like that this is something that you
have been watching and learning about for a while. And the
people listed in the actors you seem to enjoy watching and
observing these cyclists. (Young Jung)

12 minutes: Fabio Sacchi gets away from the rest of the breakaway and catches Piil. They start
working together and increasing their lead over the rest of the group.
16 minutes: Fabio Sacchi rides up beside Piil and shakes his hand. This gesture was used to that
Piil for working together with him and, also, signaled the end of that cooperation in favor of the
tactics of the sprint.
20 minutes: Jakob Piil barely edges out Sacchi in the sprint, and wins the stage of the Tour. The
peloton comes across about 25 minutes later.

Observation Three
Friday September 12, 2014
2003 Tour de France Stage 8

Note: This observation took place during an archived video of the last 40 minutes of stage 8.

Commented [ZD13]: I think you could break observation

2 up into 2 observations. Since it has 2 stages in it I think
they would be better off separated since there is not really a
direct correlation between them from what I see. This
would also count as going above and beyond by having an
extra observation. (Jared Yantosik)

My Observation:
1 minute: Mikel Astarloza and Didier Rous are in a breakaway. The riders are on LAlpe DHuez
which is one of the most famous mountains in the Tour de France. Roberto Heras of U.S Postal
team is leading the peloton and setting a pace that is hard for most riders to follow to help Lance
Armstrong.
10 minutes: Joseba Beloki, who is a contender for the overall victory, attacks the Armstrong group.
Lance lets his teammate Heras try to chase down Beloki.
12 minutes: Beloki catches and passes the two leaders. Heras is still leading the group.
15 minutes: Armstrong now chases Beloki himself and begins to catch up to him.
18 minutes: Armstrong catches Beloki, but right when he does Iban Mayo of Euskatel-Euskadi
counter attacks and gets a quick gap on the group and starts to pull away.
20 minutes: Tyler Hamilton, An American that races for Team CSC, and Joseba Beloki, of team
ONCE, take turn attacking Armstrong to try and weaken him but they cannot get away.
22 minutes: Roberto Heras catches up to the group and begins to help Armstrong by setting the
pace again.
24 minutes: Mayo now has a 1 minute lead over Armstrong. It does not look like anyone is going
to catch him.
26 minutes: Hamilton, who broke his collarbone in the crash on stage 1, keeps attacking
Armstrong but cannot get away.
32 minutes: Beloki is leading the group that contains Lance, they are losing ground on Iban Mayo.
38 minutes: Mayo wins the stage; it is his first victory ever in the Tour de France. Armstrong
comes in 2 minutes and 12 seconds behind him, but Armstrong still earned the yellow jersey at the
end of the stage.

Interview
1.

Explain your interest in the Tour de France.

My interest in the Tour de France is rooted in my love of cycling. As an avid cyclist, I can
understand the extreme difficulty in participating in a race such as the Tour de France. The
endurance required to complete such a three-week race is almost unbelievable, much less to be

Commented [ZD14]: Whoever you interviewed did a

great job of answering those questions. The detail they
gave really adds to your paper and gives a complete
description of what the Tour De France is and how it is
viewed. The questions were worded very well to be able to
get such in depth responses and true feelings/facts about
the Tour De France. (Jared Yantosik)
Commented [ZD15]: The interview is good, it has good
depth and you can tell that the person being interviewed is
a fan. The questions are presented in a way that the person
being interviewed has to give you a well thought out and
present response. Only one thing I would do it mention the
person you interviewed to give them credit for their words.
(Andrew Dahl)

able to complete the stages at the speeds required to be competitive. I admire the abilities required
to compete in such a race and the tens of thousands of miles of training required to reach this level
of physical conditioning. While they may not be obvious to the casual viewer, the tactics, both on
a personal and team level, are very complex and watching them play out over the course of the
entire race is like no other sport.
2.

How difficult do you think the Tour de France is compared to other bike races?

The Tour de France is considered to be one of the Grand Tours along with the Giro di
Italia and the Vuelta a Espana, which all last for three weeks and cover well over 2000 miles. The
Tour de France is the most famous and prestigious of the three, and thus the competition is at the
highest level. Even if the actual course for the year is seemingly less difficult than one of the other
three-week races, this desire for teams to win cyclings most revered race assures that The Tour
will be the toughest race of the season for the participating teams.
3.

Tell

me

about

how

you

began

following

the

Tour

de

France.

I began casually following The Tour in the early 1980s when Greg Lemond was making
a name in the world of cycling. The only coverage then was a daily box score in the newspaper
(if it didnt get bumped by more popular sports) and a recap of the race in a cycling magazine. My
interest in The Tour grew as my personal cycling expanded. Now I enjoy hours of daily TV
coverage each July!
4.

Explain the level of teamwork required in the Tour de France.

This is a part of the race that is not obvious to new observers, but cycling is very much a
team sport. Each team in the Tour de France has chosen the rider they feel is the most capable of
winning to be the leader of the team, and most of the other riders are only serving in supporting
roles. They are willing to put aside their personal chances for success to support the team leader.
5.

How

does

teamwork

impact

the

race

as

whole?

Teamwork plays a major role in the outcome of the Tour de France. The teams are
structured around one leader, with most of the other members selected to be able to assist in various
aspects of the race. Some riders are selected to set the pace for the team on flat stages, chase down
breakaways, or set the pace for the leader during the mountain stages. The objective for the team
is to help the leader conserve energy for the decisive moments in the race by keeping him out of
the wind, providing him with food from the team car, or maybe even giving the leader his bike in
case of a mechanical issue. It would be very difficult for any rider to win The Tour without a
strong team.
The interview was conducted by myself on my father, Roy Darnell.