Cycling Domestiques - Part 1
In most of the races there is a team of nine cyclists including one leader and eight other cyclists who help the leader make his way to the podium, also known as domestiques.
Domestiques normally ride in front of the leader and make his job easier as they reduce the air friction and the race leader can save up his strengths till the end of the stage and can then finally launch the attack in the end. Race leaders can save up to
20 and 40 percent of his energies during this process also termed as ‘drafting’.
The word domestique is taken from French which has the meaning of “servant” and it was associated with professional cycling in 1911. A domestique is expected to help the leader more than finishing the race himself however; a domestique can also end up winning
the stage or race and make his name just like Lucien Aimar who helped Jacques Anquetil and also won Tour de France, 1966. Greg Le Mond was Bernard Hinault’s domestique in 1985 and managed to win the Tour de France, 1986.
The famous writer Roger St Pierre wrote about the cycling domestiques as he said,
“It is team tactics which so often win or lose races - and the lieutenants and the dog soldiers who expend their energy blocking chasing moves when they have riders up the road in a position to win. It is they who ride out into the wind so their aces can
get an easier ride tucked inside their wheel [close to the rider in front and in his shelter]. Rare indeed is the major victory that cannot be credited in large part to the groundwork laid by the domestiques.”
The more skilled domestiques are often termed as super-domestiques or lieutenants and they are called during the crucial times of the stage. The super-domestiques stays with the race leaders for as long as possible for example in Tour de France, 2009 George
Hincapie of Team BMC and Andreas Kloden of team Astana were amongst the super domestiques.
Domestiques let the sprinters draft behind them as they gather their energy as the domestiques drop off one by one and normally the best sprinter in the team is the last domestique along with the leader.
Domestiques can do an unlimited amount of tasks to facilitate the race leader for instance he can be seen bringing food or water for his team-mates from team cars or guarding his team-mates against the opponents or if they have any mechanical failure. A
domestique is often seen giving his bike or a tyre to the race leader.
The eight other cyclists do not have much chance of winning the race but it has been observed that domestiques can often win the stages. Teams ideally have 20 cyclists on their list out of which 9 cyclists are forwarded to represent the team while remaining
cyclists can participate at any other event taking place at the same time.
In some cases domestiques do get a chance to win the stage races but only if their win does not affect the leader and are hence progressed to a higher role depending upon the performances. Stuart O’ Grady served as a domestique for Carlos Sastre in Tour
de France, 2008 and in the Herald Sun Tour, 2008 O’ Grady was promoted as he lead the team and won two stages in the general classifications.
Continued in Part 2
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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