Given the impending start of the Giro 2015, I had this bright idea to build a French->English->Italian Glossary of competitive cycling’s language. This proved to be much harder than I had anticipated. As far as I can tell no-one on the Internet seems to have a comprehensive list. So’s my first stab at it.
| French | English Word or Meaning | Italian |
| A bloc | Full gas | |
| Abandon | When a rider decides to quit the race. | Ritiro |
| Arc-en-ciel | Rainbow jersey – The reigning world champion in a particular cycling event gets to wear a white jersey with rainbow stripes. | Arcobaleno |
| Arrivée | Arrival, the finish line | Arrivo |
| Arrivée en altitude | Hilltop finish | Arrivo in salita |
| Autobus | Group of riders at the back in a mountain stage who collaborate to finish in time | Grupetto |
| Baroudeur | Courageous rider compensating moderate ability by combative riding | Attacante |
| Bidon | Water bottle | Borraccia |
| Bonification | Time bonus | Abbuono |
| Bordure | Formed when riders adopt an echelon formation in a crosswind | ventaglio |
| Bosse, Côte | “bump”, a short hill | Colle |
| Caduta | Crash | |
| Caravane | The procession of team cars and support vehicles following the race. These have all of the riders food, drink and technical support. | |
| Summit | Cima | |
| Prize awarded for the first to the top the highest mountain pass in the Tour of Italy | Cima Coppi | |
| Col | Mountain pass | Passo |
| Combativité | Literally, aggressiveness, but the award for combativité doesn’t go to the rider who threatens to punch out his rivals, but to the rider who shows the most sporting aggressiveness by being involved in attacks, chasing down escapes and so on | |
| Commissaire | Race judge | Giudice di Gara |
| Contre la montre | “against the watch”, a time trial race | |
| Contre-la-montre | Time Trial | Cronometro |
| Crevaison | Puncture | Foratura |
| Départ | Race start. | Partenza |
| Départ fictif | symbolic start point of race | |
| Départ réel | actual point when the racing begins after the neutralised procession ends | Partenza |
| Directeur sportif | Team manager | Direttore Sportivo |
| Domestique | “servant”, a rider tasked with helping a team leader | Gregario |
| Dorsales/ Dossard | Race numbers pinned to the jersey | |
| Echapée | Breakaway group | i fuggetivi |
| Echelon | When the riders are hit with a side wind they must ride slightly to the right or left of the rider in front in order to remain in that rider’s slipstream, instead of riding nose to tail in a straight line. | ventaglio |
| Équipe: | French for team | Squadra |
| Etape | stage | Tappa |
| Etape reine | Queen stage, the crucial mountain stage in a race | Il Tappone |
| Flamme rouge | “red flame”, the red kit symbol signalling 1km to the finish | Ultimo Kilometro |
| Grimpeur | a “climber”, a rider suited to riding in the mountains | Scalatore |
| Groupe de tête | lead group in a race | |
| Hors categorie | beyond categorisation – An incline so steep that its outside the standard categorisation scheme 4 to 1. | |
| Hors-délais | See time limit | |
| Lanterne rouge | “red light”, the name given to the last rider on the overall classification | |
| Maillot à pois | Polka dot jersey, worn by the winner of the king of mountains classification | |
| Maillot jaune | Yellow jersey, worn by the winner of Tour GC | |
| Maillot vert | Green jersey, winner of the points competition, in the Giro its purple | Cyclamen |
| n jour sans | : A day in which a racer has no strength or energy. French (a day without). | Giornata no |
| Pavé | see “Kasseien” | |
| Peloton | “platoon”, the main pack or bunch of riders | il gruppo/ Plotone |
| Pendenza | gradient or slope | |
| Pente | see “pendenza” | |
| Pistard | track rider | |
| Podium | The top three places, first, second and third. | Piazza |
| Point Chaud | French for Hot Spot, a now disused term for intermediate sprint | |
| Poursuivants | “chasers”, riders trying to reach another group ahead of them | attaccanti/contrattaccanti |
| Primavera | “spring”, the nickname of the Milan-Sanremo race | Its already Italian |
| Prime | bonus payment, often awarded at a set point in the race | |
| Prix | Prize | |
| Puncheur | rider capable of frequent attacks | Scattista |
| Revitaillement | taking on food and drink. | Rifornimento |
| Rouleur | rider capable of fast riding on the flat | Passista |
| Service course | a team’s headquarters and base | |
| Soigneur | a job with many duties involving the care of the riders: massage, preparing food, handing up musettes in the feed zone. | Massaggiatore |
| Strade bianche | “white roads”, unsealed dust roads in rural Italy | |
| Voiture balai | broom wagon, the last vehicle in a race, it “sweeps up” any dropped riders | |
| Voiture neutre | neutral service vehicle | |
| Volata | sprint | |
| General Classification – The ranking of the accumulated time or placings, whichever basis the race uses to determine its winner. | Classifiche Generali | |
| disqualification | Squalificato | |
| Individual time trial | Cronometro individuale | |
| Team time trial | Cronometro a squadre | |
| Italian for an individual timed hill climb | Cronoscatala: | |
| King of the Mountains | Gran Premio della Montagna | |
| A domestique of such high quality that he could might be the captain of his own team. | Gregario di lusso | |
| Flat Tyre | Foratura | |
| “compact group”, when the bunch absords any breakaways and all the main riders are back together | Gruppo compatto | |
| A northern region of Italy around Milan | Lombardia | |
| Pink jersey, worn by the winner of the Giro GC | Maglia rose | |
| switchbacks. | Tornante | |
| Sprinter | Velocista | |
| Helment | Caschetto | |
| arm warmers | Manicotti | |
| a team follow car | Amiraglia |