A Geek's Guide to the Tour de France

The 99th edition of the Tour de France starts Saturday in Liège, kicking off three weeks of bicycle racing. Twenty-one teams of nine riders each will have to endure 3,497 kilometers of racing and 25 high mountain passes to reach the finish line on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. It's an event full of incredible human achievement and endurance. Although it's one of the largest sporting events in the world, it's not widely watched in the US. It's worth your time to watch it. Here is a geek's guide to the Tour de France to help you get started:

The Races within the race. Most of the focus of the Tour de France is on the battle for the yellow jersey, the overall time winner of the race. But there are several different competitions happening during the Tour.

Every day is a separate race and the first across the finish line wins that day's stage.

The big prize is the best time in the general classification. The eventual race leader will typically win only a few stages or just one stage. It is possible end up winning the yellow jersey, but not win a single stage. What the rider really wants is to pull on the yellow jersey on the last podium. The current leader each day starts the stage wearing the yellow jersey.

There is a separate sprint competition and that leading rider wears a green jersey. Sprint points can be won at designated places in the day's route with the big points awarded at the finish line. Flat stages are days that the sprinters will come clambering across the finish line in a maelstrom of gears and steel.

For the mountain duelists there is the king of the mountains title and its polka dot jersey. Points get awarded for the cyclists getting to the top of the mountains first. The bigger the mountain, the more points there are to win.

The best young rider gets a white jersey, a consolation prize to the under-25 crowd.

Aerodynamics. During the three weeks of the Tour, the teams and their riders battle one another. But they also battle the wind. In a group of cyclists riding closely together, the rider in front is expending as much as 30% more energy than those behind him or her. That means that a rider doesn't want to be out in front for long. Bicycling tactics call for a rider to let someone else lead, then launch from behind to grab the win. The peloton forms as a way for the riders to share the work of cutting through the wind. A single cyclist out in front, riding ahead of the peleton, stands little chance of victory.

Time Trial. This year's Tour has three time trial stages (including Saturday's prologue). Each rider cycles the course alone, battling the wind without the benefits of wind-blocking teammates. These are critical stages because a contender for the yellow jersey can gain time on his opponents. Or lose critical time. Look for Bradley Wiggins to excel on these stages.

Breakaways. On most stages, the peleton will let a small group of riders form at the front and breakaway, putting a time gap between the breakaway group and the peleton. The breakaway group will be composed of weaker riders that are unlikely to be contenders for the yellow jersey. The sprinters' teams will let the breakaway scoop up the small amount of sprint points on the course so they can save energy for the final sprint to the finish line. Then the peleton will crank up the speed later in the race. When the peloton gets long and skinny, the sprinters' teams have put their power riders at the front to reel in the breakaway and will likely catch those riders just a few kilometers before the finish. Breakaways rarely survive. But sometimes they do. As long as there is a time gap, there is hope.

The Teams. The Tour de France is not just about individual achievement. The best cyclist is unlikely to win the race if he does not have a strong team to support him.

The domestiques help keep the leader safe, lead him in the wind so he can conserve his energy, ferry water bottles from the team car, and even sacrifice their bikes in the event of untimely mechanical failure. A Tour de France team is generally comprised of all-stars, so the domestiques are often world-class riders.

Each team also has a large group of mechanics who keep everything moving smoothly, including quick wheel changes for flat tires and bike changes after a crash. Team cars will follow the pack of riders, loaded with supplies and strategy.

Riders To Watch:

Cadel Evans - The defending champion.

George Hincapie - One of the most decorated American professionals in road cycling, having guided Lance Armstrong (1999-2005), Alberto Contador (2007) and Cadel Evans (2011) to a total of nine Tour de France overall wins. After 19 years as pro cyclist and record for most Tour starts at 17, he is retiring after this year's race.

Bradley Wiggins - A strong contender for the yellow jersey. Look for his sideburns.

Frank Schleck - The Luxembourg powerhouse. For the past few years, it's been Andy Schleck competing for the yellow jersey, with his brother Frank acting as the workhouse to help his brother win. With Andy out with an injury, Frank may be unleashed to go for the prize.

Chris Horner - Not getting any younger, but is still a strong rider.

Ryder Hesjedal - Just won the pink jersey as the overall winner of the Giro d'Italia, the Italian equivalent of the Tour De France.

Levi Leipheimer - A strong American rider, who is recovering from an early season accident that resulted in a broken leg.

Mark Cavendish - One of the fastest riders on the planet. Look for him in the big sprint finishes as he aims to be wearing the green jersey on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Jens Voigt - One of the most fearsome riders in the Tour. Look for him to be at the front of the Peloton leading Team RadioShack through the wind. "Jens Voigt eats spring steel for breakfast, fire for lunch, and a mixture of titanium and carbon fiber for dinner. For between-meal snacks he eats men's souls, and downs it with a tall cool glass of The Milk of Human Suffering."

"Spartacus" - Fabian Cancellara crashed hard earlier this year and suffered a four-part fracture of the right collarbone. Expect him to win the opening Prologue and start Stage 1 wearing the yellow jersey.

"Captain America" - Dave Zabriskie is the current American time trial champion. That means his everyday kit and especially his time trial skin suit will be emblazoned with the red, white, and blue.

Thor - Unfortunately, the god of thunder will not be at this year's race. Thor Hushovd, the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France, has been ill and is saving his energy for the London Olympics later this summer.

Doping. I don't think you can ignore the doping problems in professional cycling. Unfortunately, accusations of doping have been part of the Tour since its inception. Early cyclists used alcohol and other substances to dull the pain. Now, the drug use is more scientific and aimed squarely at enhancing performance.

Doping is not something to be taken lightly. British cyclist Tom Simpson died during the 1967 Tour de France on the legendary climb of Mont Ventoux. The post-mortem found that he had taken amphetamines and alcohol.

Several past winners have been accused of doping and returned positive results. Maybe they're getting caught because the checks are getting better. Maybe more professional cyclists are doping. Hopefully this year's race will not be tainted by alleged drug use.

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen. These two have been the voice of professional cycling for years. Expect each day to be full of wonderful quips like these:

• "He's really having to dig deeply into the suitcase of courage."
• "Carnage is the only way to describe this ascent."
• "The devil has joined in and that's never a good sign."
• "He's dancing on his pedals."

The Liggett-isms do tend to carry over from year to year. You might want to play Phil and Paul Bingo to help follow along with commentary.

Kidding aside, I think they are the best announcing team in all of professional sports. They offer an encyclopedic knowledge of the race, the riders, and the course.

The Equipment. The Tour de France bicycles are some of the most high-tech equipment used in any human powered sport. Titanium, carbon fiber, and high tensile steel alloys are routinely used for bicycle parts and frames.

The bikes are still very cool, being the product of intensive development. These bicycles are wind tunnel tested to maximize aerodynamics. (Remember that it's all about aerodynamics.)

The bikes for the time trial days of the race, when the cyclists rides against the clock, are especially odd looking. This bike bears little resemblance to the geeklets' boulevard cruisers. The Trek Speed Concept 9 being ridden by Team RadioShack is touted as the most aerodynamic and and fastest time trial bike.

Lance Armstrong proclaimed in the title of one his books that It's Not About the Bike. The roads of the Tour have been tackled by mighty riders for decades before today's high-tech bikes. Race organizers banned gears for years after the derailleurs had been common on consumer bikes. See the image below of a rider taking the fearsome ascent of the Galibier on a single speed bike.

Enjoy the Tour!