Grit in the Tour de France 2021 (#142)

Yesterday, in Paris, the 108th edition of the Tour de France concluded. Over 21 days of bicycle racing, 184 cyclists battled across 2,124 miles of French countryside so that one could don the yellow jersey as the winner of the 2021 Tour de France.

Tadej Pogacar, a Slovenian cyclist, rides for UAE Team Emirites won the Tour by over 5 minutes over his closest rival. He won three stages (individual days of racing) along the way — Stage 5, the individual time trial; Stage 17, a mountain stage; and Stage 18, a mountain stage. This is his second tour victory — he won the 2020 Tour de France as well.

Teams win the Tour de France (see post #49, post #56, and post #74). Although we celebrate the individual on the podium in Paris, the team is paramount in bike racing. The peloton, or pack of riders, is always faster than an individual rider due to the aerodynamics involved in drafting. Although the lead riders in a peloton are working hard, those in the middle or back of the peloton may be using as little as 10 percent of the energy as those in front. Pelotons achieve their faster pace by having the lead rider “pull” for 30 seconds and then peel off to the back of the line. During the 2021 Tour de France the peloton averaged approximately 25 miles per hour for the whole race! I can barely hold 20 miles per hour for an hour. Does your organization operate as a peloton or as individuals? Could you organize the individuals into a peloton and achieve better results?

Pogacar had a great team surrounding him — climber Davide Formolo, Rui Costa, super-domestique Rafal Majka, Marc Hirschi, Mikkel Bjerg, all-rounder Brandon McNulty (another American rider), and domestique Vegard Stake Laengen. Together they helped manage the peloton, prevented break aways, and put Pogacar in position to win on the climbs. It was a great performance by UAE Team Emirites.

Grittiest Rider

I define grit as the will to persevere to achieve long term goals. A person’s grit is built upon six components: a purpose, a goal, perseverance, resilience, courage to deal with the fear of failure, and motivation. I selected two athletes as this year’s Tour de France’s grittiest rider.

Inside the peloton, the grittiest rider was Sepp Kuss, from Durango, Colorado, who is part of Team Jumbo-Visma, Kuss is a climber and a domestique, or a rider who works for the benefit of their team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. After Primos Roglic (the team leader for Jumbo-Visma) withdrew from the race, Sepp was given the green light to go for a stage victory. He won Stage 15, a 118 mile mountain stage with 14,500 feet of climbing. He finished in 5:12:06, 23 seconds ahead of his closest rival. Sepp Kuss is the first American to win a stage in the Tour de France since 2011.

Sepp Kuss exhibited an extreme amount of perseverance, or persistence in doing something difficult, to win the mountain stage. During the stage he burnt approximately 5,487 calories in order to beat the best bicycle climbers in the world. Way to demonstrate some incredible grit, Sepp!

Outside the peloton, Lachlan Morton, an Australian pro rider from the team Education First, rode the entire Tour de France route unsupported ahead of the racers. He finished 5 days ahead of the peloton, covering the 3,424 miles in 18 days. Most days he spent 12 hours in the saddle, as he rode his bike 200 miles, including climbs up some of France's biggest mountains.

Lachlan’s resilience, or the capacity to quickly recover from difficulties, was tested during his 18 days. At one point he was suffering from knee pain. So he switched from bike shoes and clipless pedals to sandals and flat pedals. The switch required him to use more energy and power to pedal the bike, but he was able to bounce back and overcome the pain.

Grow Your Grit

If you’d like to learn more about grit and how to develop it in yourself, check out Grow Your Grit: Overcome Obstacles, Thrive, and Accomplish Your Goals. The book is available to order via Amazon here. If you read it and like it, I’d appreciate a review on Amazon as well. If you want a signed copy send me an email.

In the meantime, use the examples of Pogacar, Kuss, and Morton to inspire you, go on the offensive in 2021, and grow your grit.