The Tour de France is anything but a simple bike race and therefore, the rules for Tour de France are anything but easy. Well, some of them are but once you get into the time trials and points accumulation, the rules for Tour de France become complicated. I will therefore attempt to explain them in understandable terms.
The first one is easy. Rules of the Tour de France dictate that all riders must wear protective headgear. Sounds simple but there is a catch. The riders must wear headgear at all times except in the final climb to the summit if this climb is at least 5 kilometers in length. At this time and at their own discretion riders may remove their helmets. A marker on the course is used to designate when they have reached this section.
The second rule of the Tour de France is also simple. It states that all riders must wear the official uniform for their team. This means that the shirt all the way down to the shoes have to match. Again, there are exceptions to this rule. During different segments of the race, different riders will be in the lead, and someone will be considered the best climber or sprinter. These riders get to wear a jersey that reflects their standing on that day. Riders also must have a number on their jerseys and their bikes. The defending champion wears the number one and his teammates follow in order. Other teams then follow in numerical order with the team member most likely to win getting the lowest of the numbers. Also, every rider at every stage of the race must sign in at the registration area.
Another Tour de France rule states that riders must keep nourished and hydrated during the entire race. Along each stage of the race there are areas called food stations that provide the riders with bag lunches and fresh water bottles. The racers ride through this area like a pit stop on the NASCAR circuit only they don’t actually stop, they simply slow down. Additionally, racers can receive food and water from their team cars or race-sanctioned motorcycles following along the course. Riders are expending massive amounts of energy and they need to be watered and fed often.
Every rider is tested for illegal substances before the start of the race. Throughout the race though, Tour de France rules state that only the leader of the race and the winner of that particular stage has to be tested. However, in addition, there will be a random selection of about eight cyclists who will also be tested. Testing for illegal substances is done in accordance with the rules of the Union of Cycliste Internationale.
The tour is broken down into three stages: team time trials, individual time trials, and mountain stages. Tour de France rules states that the team time trials begin at intervals of several minutes apart and the team winner of this trial is the team that has the best time for the fifth rider who crosses the finish line. In the individual time trials the racers race against the clock. The mountain trials are also based upon individual times. The actual winner of the race is the cyclist who has the best overall time in all stages of the race. This is called the general classification. Since this is how the Tour de France rule is written, it is actually possible to win the whole race without ever coming in first place on any of the stages. Can you imagine that!
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