Here is a video from today's stage of the Tour de France. If you've never seen a team time trial, you're in for a treat. The rules are simple. Each team of nine riders tries to cover the course (in this case, 24.2 miles) the fastest. It's dangerous to ride on someone's wheel, meaning to ride very close to the wheel of the person in front of you. But you must stay on the wheel of the rider in front of you if you're to save energy, which is essential to going fast. The idea is for the nine riders to move as one. Today's course was hilly and winding, and some of the roads were rough and narrow. It was also hot and windy. Lance Armstrong's team, Astana, won the stage, averaging 31.28 miles per hour. (There have been bike rallies in which I never reached that speed.) Lance was 40 seconds behind overall leader Fabian Cancellara when the stage began. Had his team finished 41 seconds ahead of Cancellara's team, Lance would have become the overall leader and put on the yellow jersey for the first time in four years. Alas, his team finished only 40 seconds ahead. So Lance is in second place overall, just a fraction of a second behind. It's probably for the best, since the team of the leader has special responsibilities to chase down breakaways. Lance's team has no responsibility to do extra work for the next few days. Here is tomorrow's stage.
Addendum: Some riders thought the course was too dangerous. There weren't many crashes, so either the course wasn't dangerous or it was and the riders adjusted to it.
Addendum 2: The team that finished last (20th) in the team time trial, Skil-Shimano, averaged 28.03 miles per hour. That shows you how good Astana is.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 