How the Tour de France Is Teaching Me about Selflessness

Over the past few years, I’ve become a cycling enthusiast. This year, I’ve taken my enjoyment from going out for a ride to learning about the sport, its history, and the key players of today. As a result, I’ve been following the 2016 Le Tour de France closely. I’ve watched almost every stage (their name for the route they ride each day; there are 21 stages in the race). I’ve read articles, watched videos and even began tracking some riders’ progress via the Tour’s website. I’m all in! It’s fun and intriguing and incredibly interesting to me. I could go on and on about all that I am learning—it’s a lot! But it isn’t just that I’m learning about the sport. I’m also learning about perseverance, endurance, long-suffering, camaraderie, competition, discipline and dedication. Perhaps one day I’ll write about each of these things but today, after what I saw in the race, I wanted to highlight one key area: selfless teamwork.

In Stage 19 (yes, the nineteenth day of racing through valleys and up mountains throughout and around France) the leader, Chris Froome, went down on a slippery and steep decent off the top of a mountain in the Alps. I’d imagine for the average rider, that fall would have been the end of the day (and then some!). But not only did Froome get up, he finished that day’s race—but not without the help of a teammate. As Froome is maneuvering himself out of the way of the other riders, his teammate, Geraint Thomas, jumps off his bike and hands it to Froome. I was shocked. I’d never seen anything quite like that. Had Thomas not been so selfless and focused on the team rather than himself, Froome would likely have lost precious time (maybe even his lead) in the overall standings. Thomas wasn’t the only one to help him that day, but his assistance was for me the most striking and probably the most significant.

I realize that in the Tour de France, whoever wins the general classification’s prized maillot jaune (yellow jersey), wins for the whole team—at least that’s how it’s supposed to be. The winnings are split among the team members. But Thomas is no average rider (none of these guys are, actually), he’s currently in 15th overall. Although I don’t know much about cycling, I do imagine that if he wanted to push on for his own gain, he could have and might have finished the overall race further up in the standings.

In our world where individualism and self-proclamation are rampant, it was uniquely refreshing to see this total lack of self-awareness and regard. Thomas was how I hope to be as a Christian woman. I desire to be selfless, focused more on the good of my husband, my children, my church members and my co-workers than on me. I’m not. I’m often quite self-aware. More than I’d like to admit, I’m aware of my time and my security. I want to be willing to lay down my life for another. What I know and what gives me hope is that I have the power of the Spirit to grow.

Jesus told us, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:12-14). My laying down isn’t like Christ’s. I won’t likely have to die for someone—though there is a great death of self that must happen if I am to truly love my neighbor. Still, Jesus commands us to die. To lay down our lives for our brothers. To, if you will, give our position, our chance for gold, and our bodies to another. For me that may look like being attentive to the immediate needs of my family or meeting deadlines at work, but whatever it is, it takes effort and a willingness to think about someone other than myself. And Jesus told us that if we love, if we do as he commands, then we are his friends. Jesus is a great motivator for living sacrificially. He sacrificed himself for me and His grace is enough to help me do the same.

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