see WSJ July 25 p W10
the"voiture balai" (in the TDF)
Fri, 07/25/2003 - 11:20am
Fri, 07/25/2003 - 11:32am
#1
broom wagon
"Sweeps up just behind ""the laughing group."""
Fri, 07/25/2003 - 11:38am
#2
Le groupe riant?
"Qui est-ce, que font-ils?
Perhaps: He who is last, laughs best.
--------
After reading the article, definitely not!
""...when a cyclist finally abandons his bike and cramps over in pain, race officials waste no time confiscating his bib sticker (this makes a rude ripping sound) and marching him over to the balai, where the only consolation prize is a sack of apricots.""
[Why apricots, of all things? And who is the ""laughing group""?]
Great photo w/article. I'll keep this in mind as motivation next time I'm straggling in the rear!
Thanks Jay."
Fri, 07/25/2003 - 12:52pm
#3
Not fighting for stage wins...
...the laughing group is fighting to ride just fast enough to make the time cut on the day's stage (usually involving seat-of-spandex calculations and state-of-the-art guesswork) after giving it up for their team leaders earlier in the day. The congenial atmosphere at the back of the pack, quite the opposite of what you see, say, during a sprint finish, gives rise to the name.
Fri, 07/25/2003 - 12:29pm
#4
"""voiture balai"""
"Broom Wagon
""Chainwheel"""
