Yesterday morning my husband and I watched the final stage of Le Tour De France after watching the first stage of Le Tour De France avec Femmes. Chris has always been a fan of Le Tour as an ultra-endurance triathlete, and while swimming is his first love, cycling has become a close second in his love of athletics. We've tried for numerous years to find a way to watch the tour, but it's always been rather expensive, however I believe the evolution of streaming services helped with more access in the last few years. And not having a 9-5 just now, starting my day with my coffee, check-in, and Le Tour in the background with my husband interjecting information and excitement now and then.
One of the things that I really enjoyed learning a lot more about in watching Le Tour day in and day out this past month was not just the rules of the sport, but the sacrifice and team work it takes to be a Tour De France winner. For those unfamiliar with cycling and races like Le Tour De France, a team of eight cyclists takes on a multi-day stage race for a chance at several different stage and final podium wins. The Tour De France specifically, is 21 stages, so 21 days, of cycling which includes two rest days. So for 21 days there can be 21 different "winners", and there are not only 1st place winners, but specific jerseys that classify a top rider in the categories of General Classification (best overall time in the 21 days), Sprinter, King of the Mountain, Youngest Rider. Often times, these different categories can overlap in winners.
But the aspect that I find so intriguing and beautiful is the idea of the 'domestique'. The French to English translation basically means servant, and that is exactly what a majority of the cyclists on the team are to the main rider or captain who is strategized to be the man (or woman in the case of Le Tour De Femmes!) to win a stage and/or win an overall jersey during the race. In other words there can be as much as seven teammates working to make sure that one teammate is a winner. They all agree that they put their ego's and personal ambitions aside based on what the team has planned for the stage/race. They are their to protect, serve, and create the best possible situations and outcomes for this teammate.
Many lead domestiques can continue on in their careers to become the lead rider/captain, but many do not. Listening and watching Le Tour over the last twenty-four days, I've learned there have been many participants of this race that have never won a stage during their entire career - and are completely fine with that. They did their job, which they enjoy and were part of an amazing experience, sometimes just once, but often times over and over again.
That concept, of enjoying the work without necessarily needing a trophy or have your name constantly splashed across headlines, is one I've thought a lot about for many years. And when I chat with different people about careers, goals, personal and professional branding, and "making it big", I walk away more concerned and with questions than I originally had. We all can't be THE top expert in our fields, the top employee at work, the smartest person in the class, the highest paid whatever, or the most recognizable name/brand, etc.; and if we're all fighting each other to be at the top of such things, how are we actually helping each other? How are we making things better in general?
Why is being the domestique who makes it possible for one cyclist to win the largest cycling tour in the world any less important than the cyclist who won in the stage/category they were going for? If that cyclist couldn't win without the domestique(s), it's just as much as a team win as an individual win?
More on this tomorrow as it's another big topic I'm interested in digging into obviously!
I've been waking up in the middle of the night rather regularly this past week, and sometimes it's for a short amount of time but there have been several times I've been awake for a good several hours unfortunately. So this morning I split the dark roast Pour-Over carafe from Nespresso. Chris has always been a fan of pour-over coffee's, so this accessory was a present a while back for us to enjoy on the weekends as we enjoy coffee in bed together before getting our weekend started. It's a bit lighter than some of the other dark roasts by Nespresso, but it's the darkest pour-over style and we are dark coffee fans!
Comments