Tour de France: How riders use the ‘sticky bottle’ to gain an advantage

Even some of the world’s best athletes need a helping hand every now and again.

Or in the case of the Tour de France, a helping bottle.

Like most sports, cycling has its own unwritten laws. Informal gamesmanship means rules are bent – to gain an advantage over opponents — but not broken.

Which brings us to the “sticky bottle” – or as they say in French: “la bouteille collante.”

Should a cyclist need a drink of water, they approach their team’s car and receive one from the director. Upon handing the bottle back, they retain their grip for just a little longer so as to receive a quick boost of speed.

A toot of the horn from one of the race organizer’s cars is issued as a warning if the rider is deemed to be holding on for too long.

Judges will often not punish the rider, although a time limit of one or two second seconds is usually enforced.

However, earlier this season Romain Bardet was expelled from the Paris-Nice race after the Frenchman was caught on camera holding onto his team car.

Most famously, Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali, who won the Tour of France in 2014, was disqualified from La Vuelta – the Tour of Spain – in 2015 following a “sticky bottle” moment.

As well as the “sticky bottle,” cycling also occasionally makes use of the “magic spanner,” which involves the mechanic in a team car “making repairs” to a rider’s bike, in effect pulling him along with the vehicle.

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Against the backdrop of the Arc de Triomphe, Britain's Chris Froome rides to his fourth Tour de France win.

Froome toasts a member of his team during the last stage of the Tour de France race.

"Each time I've won the Tour it's been so unique, so different, such a different battle to get to this moment," said Froome.

"This year I think will be remembered for certainly being the closest and most hard-fought battle," added Froome. The Briton controlled much of the Tour but on stage 12 Italy's Fabio Aru did take hold of the yellow jersey.

Marcel Kittel of Germany and the Quick-Step Floors team celebrates his victory in stage two of the 2017 Tour de France, a 203.5 kilometer ride from Dusseldorf to Liege. With five stage wins already this year, the 29-year-old is just two away from breaking into the top 10 riders with most stage wins in history.

France's Thomas Boudat rides in the rain in a breakaway during the second stage of the 104th edition of the Tour de France.

Great Britain's Geraint Thomas (C) wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey rides in the pack past supporters during the 212,5 km third stage. The Welshman won the leader's jersey after victory in the first stage and held onto it until the fifth, when teammate Chris Froome surged into the overall lead. However, Thomas had to withdraw from the race after breaking his collarbone on the tough Col de la Biche descent on stage nine.

Peter Sagan (2-L) of Slovakia flicks his elbow towards Team Dimension Data rider Mark Cavendish (L) during the final sprint of the fourth stage. Sagan was subsequently disqualified from the Tour, before making an unsuccessful appeal to CAS. Cavendish suffered an injured shoulder which ended his hopes of overtaking Eddy Merckx as the Tour's most prolific stage winner.

Cavendish is interviewed by the media following treatment to his shoulder. The Briton was ruled out after scans showed a broken shoulder blade.

The pack rides past a sunflower field during the 207.5 km fourth stage of the Tour between Mondorf-les-Bains and Vittel.

The pack, including Thomas (C) wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, rides during the 160.5 km fifth stage between Vittel and La Planche des Belles Filles.

The fifth stage the Tour was the last time Thomas wore the yellow jersey. The 31-year-old, one of Froome's key helpers in the mountains, was forced out of this year's race after breaking his collarbone on stage nine, calling it "a bitter pill to swallow."

Kittel celebrates winning stage six of the Tour de France between Vesoul and Troyes (216km), his second victory of 2017.

The riders take in the picturesque eighth stage of the Tour betweenDole and Station des Rousses. Lilian Calmejane delighted the home fans by recording a second French victory of this year's Tour.

A horse rider is pictured in front of the pack as a media helicopter flies overhead during the seventh stage between Troyes and Nuits-Saint-Georges.

The peloton jostles during the 213.5 km seventh stage.

Calmejane remarkably still won the eighth stage despite coming off his bike with a bout of cramp.

Richie Porte receives medical assistance after his horror crash during stage nine. The Aussie sustained a fractured right collarbone and pelvis on the descent of the Mont du Chat.

The pack rides in the rain during the ninth stage between Nantua and Chambery.

The peloton rides past an emergency helicopter during stage nine.

Team Astana's Alexey Lutsenko is helped from the bushes after crashing during stage nine from Nantua to Chambéry. The same corner claimed Lutsenko's teammate Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev as another victim, with Thomas suffering the same fate as the chasing pack arrived minutes later.

The pack of riders in action during the nine stage of the Tour de France.

Tour de France 2017: Best photos

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History of the Tour de France

There have been four cyclists who have won the tour five times:

- Jacques Anquetil of France (1957 and 1961-1964)
- Eddy Merckx of Belgium (1969-1972 and 1974)
- Bernard Hinault of France (1978-1979, 1981-1982, and 1985)
- Miguel Indurain of Spain (1991-1995), the first competitor to win five consecutive races.

Lance Armstrong held the record for most Tour de France wins (seven) but he was stripped of those wins in 2012.

France has won more times than any other country. (36)

Three Americans have won: Greg LeMond (1986, 1989, 1990), Lance Armstrong (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005) and Floyd Landis (2006). Both Armstrong and Landis have had their titles stripped due to allegations of doping.

Tour de France: La Grand Boucle

Tour de France: La Caravane du Tour

Tour de France: Maillot à Pois Rouge

Timeline

1903 - Henri Desgrange, a reporter and cyclist, creates the Tour de France.

1903 - Maurice Garin of France is the first cyclist to win the race.

1910 - First time the race goes through the Pyrenees.

1989 - Greg Lemond defeats Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds, the smallest margin of victory so far.

1999-2005 - Lance Armstrong wins seven times in a row.

2003 - The 100th Anniversary, but not the 100th race (the race was canceled 11 times during WWI and WWII).

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September 20, 2007 - Floyd Landis, winner of the 2006 Tour de France, is stripped of his title when an arbitration panel rules in favor of the USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency). Landis, the first Tour de France winner stripped of the title, initially maintained his innocence but later admitted to doping and accused others, including Armstrong, of doing the same.

October 22, 2012 - The International Cycling Union announces that Armstrong is being stripped of his Tour de France titles and is being banned from professional cycling for life.

October 26, 2012 - The International Cycling Union announces that no one will be declared the winner of the Tour de France from 1999-2005, after Armstrong is stripped of his titles.