Le Tour de Life – Six lessons from Le Tour de France

I am a cycling fan! As such, I am, by default, a huge fan of Le Tour de France. In case you are not a cycling fan let me explain. There are three ‘Grand Tours’ (i.e. big races) in cycling. Of those three, the Tour de France (the tour) is the biggest. The tour takes place over a three-week period every year in July. In the three week, period riders travel an average of 2,200 miles (the actual distance varies from year to year). I was watching the tour this morning and realized just how much the tour is like life.

The tour consists of 180-198 riders each year broken up into teams of nine riders each. Each team member rides in support of the team member who is doing the best. Lesson one – no one wins alone.

There are many races within the race. There is the stage winner (the rider who was the fastest that day). There are competitions for sprinters, mountain climbers and the best young rider. Lesson two – not everyone has to be the same.

The final winner of the tour may not have even won one stage (day). The winner is the rider with the best over-all time. Lesson three – winning is about consistent daily performance.

It is not unusual for close competitors to slow down and wait when their competition has a mechanical problem or needs to take a ‘natural break’ (call of nature). It is considered bad form to take unfair advantage of circumstances.  Lesson Four – be considerate (even of your biggest rival).

Each year there are two rest days in the tour. On rest days the riders have a day off that they can do as they please. On these days, it is not unusual to hear that the riders have gone out on a leisurely bike ride. They ride because they do not want to get stiff and have their body not be able to perform the next day when the race resumes. Lesson five – time off is just preparation to start again.

This year of the 198 riders who began the tour 12% have already abandoned the race. These are world-class riders. Race teams are by invitation only (i.e. only the best in the world) and each team puts their best riders in the tour.  Yet, in the second week of a three-week race 12% have had to leave the race. Just being able to finish the Tour de France puts a rider in a very exclusive club (even for the rider who finishes last). Lesson six – Completing what you start is its own reward.