Three people have worn the Yellow Jersey through Stage 12 of this year’s Tour de France. David Zabriskie (CSC) was the first immediately out of the prologue, besting Lance Armstrong (DSC) by 2 seconds. He crashed in Stage 4 and abandoned the race in Stage 9. Armstrong took the jersey from Stage 4 to Stage 8, when he handed it over to Jens Voigt (CSC). Voigt’s reign was short-lived losing 31 minutes to Lance in Stage 10. Voigt was eliminated from the race in Stage 11 by time disqualification. Stage 12 also saw the exit of Tom Boonen (QST) who had captured first place in Stages 2 and 3 and second place in Stage 5. The carnage continues.
The winners during Week One finished looking like they had just bounded out for a short morning ride. The face on each of the riders is now looking gaunt and haggard. Yet every morning, they clip in and push each other down the road. The Pyrenees begin on Saturday with two of the toughest climbs, followed by six climbs on Sunday.
The breakaways and the attacks on the lead group continually test their reserve power. At the end, in Paris, it will be the team possessing reserve power, when all the rest are spent, who still can dig for more energy. How does this happen? It is a simple program of testing the body to failure, then resting.
In the organizations I visit, I constantly watch both, individual performers and teams, who possess different depths of reserve power. Those teams who can ratchet up performance to meet demand are those teams who have practiced and trained to failure, then rested. Then trained to failure at a higher point, then rested. They constantly push their maximum. At the other end of the spectrum are those teams whose minimums are practiced, and over time, their minimum becomes their maximum. Where is your team? How do you stretch your team to higher levels of performance? -TF
End of Stage 12
1 001 ARMSTRONG, Lance USA DSC 46:30:36.000 00:00:00.000
2 057 RASMUSSEN, Mickael DEN RAB 46:31:14.000 00:00:38.000
3 101 MOREAU, Christophe FRA C.A 46:33:10.000 00:02:34.000
4 021 BASSO, Ivan ITA CSC 46:33:16.000 00:02:40.000
5 038 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP IBA 46:33:52.000 00:03:16.000
6 061 BOTERO, Santiago COL PHO 46:34:24.000 00:03:48.000
7 164 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA GST 46:34:34.000 00:03:58.000
8 031 MANCEBO, Francisco ESP IBA 46:34:36.000 00:04:00.000
9 011 ULLRICH, Jan GER TMO 46:34:38.000 00:04:02.000
10 014 KLÖDEN, Andréas GER TMO 46:34:52.000 00:04:16.000