Last weekend, drama entered the Tour de France once again, this time with an incredibly disappointing perspective into a great athlete. If you don’t follow the three week race through France, George Hincapie, an American cyclist, missed wearing the leader’s yellow jersey by a mere five seconds.
I’ve watched every stage of the tour since Lance was a serious contender, ten years ago or so. For three years, we chased the tour live viewing 3-4 stages off our own bikes. I’m also well versed in the ‘game within the game’, the strategies to slow down some guys and partner up with rivals to the team’s benefit.
I had the opportunity to meet George several years back at a corporate event, you know the type, a lovely little soiree where the ‘suits’ get to drink some wine and mingle with a sports team, in this case, the Postal Service team. George was well mannered, soft spoken, handsome.
On Saturday, he broke away from the main pack and missed being in the yellow jersey– a once in a life opportunity to lead the race at least for a few days, given he’s in his late 30’s. He missed that opportunity by 5 seconds.
His reaction was to blame the other teams for basically not letting him win. It was both shocking and sad to watch his interview. As John Ryan said in the Merc, “Apparently, there’s a bylaw of cycling that says the object is something other than riding your bike the fastest.”
Owning your own destiny is a very powerful thing.
How many times have you heard a friend, a co-worker, a colleague list all the reasons why they aren’t performing?
I have a family that needs attention I live all alone and have added responsibilities the recession is keeping me from selling we have the wrong products, tools, people, environment, chairs, desks, food the kids are sick my boss is a bitch the competition has a leg up I don’t have enough time I don’t like to travel. Blah, blah, blah.
Ah, George, it was sad to see you lose by 5 seconds. But in the end, everyone would have loved to see you riding faster, a mere five seconds faster. And if you couldn’t perform, own it. Legs hurt? In pain? Suck it up and perform. Create your destiny!
