When the Peloton Breaks
164 kilometers into this year’s Tour de France, with only 20 kilometers left to the finish, the end is in sight. A right-hand turn puts the peloton fully in the crosswind, and the team of Jonas Vingegaard puts in an extra effort on the pedals.
As a consequence, the peloton shatters. Riders are no longer bunched together like a swarm of ants but are struggling with all their might not to let gaps open. About forty riders at the front manage to hold on, but after that, it breaks apart. The peloton splits. Sprinters who have spent months preparing to be at their best for this stage—to fight for the first yellow jersey—miss the boat. Meanwhile, the pace at the front remains relentless.
A five-second gap grows to ten, then twenty, then forty seconds. A gap that, so close to the finish line, is impossible to make up. All that training, all the explosive power built up for those last few hundred meters... it's all for nothing. At the crucial moment, the sharpness was missing.
Knowing exactly where you need to be, and when. You can prepare for it, to some extent, but you're always dependent on circumstances. Sometimes you need a bit of luck to (literally, in this case) end up on the right side to change the course of your life. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. But just like in this Tour, there will always be more opportunities to prove yourself again. Giving up after one setback is not an option.
It was only after a thousand failed designs that Thomas Edison managed to create a version of the light bulb that actually worked. He, too, persevered. Imagine what we would’ve missed if he hadn’t. We need people who persist.
Never give up.