Not really a cycling expression, but I did hear JaJa say it on France TV the other day, so it is applicable. If you are dans les cordes, you are ‘on the ropes’, which in cycling terminology usually means that you are hanging off the back of whatever group you are trying to hang on to, but not for long.

If a person is dans les cordes, this is nearly always a bad thing, unless you are Muhammed Ali in Zaire.