First, before getting into the main story, yes, Lance did crash and is out of the Amgen Tour de California. He needed some stitches and had a sore arm but is otherwise ok and expects to be back on the bike in a matter of days.

Hey, in cycling, “Crash Happens”!

And when you think of Lance Armstrong, you think of the Tour de France. The race Lance owned for 7 years after his comeback from cancer.

Unless you’ve been living in a bunker underground, you know that Lance Armstrong made a comeback last year by racing in the Tour de France. What an amazing feat considering he wasn’t on the bike much in the 3 years since he retired and was far from logging the intense mileage as his competitors did during those years. Plus factor in that he was 37 and racing against guys much younger and hungry to take down a “has been” champ and you have a great comeback story. Lance finished on the podium in 3rd place. “Amazing!”

Now Lance is getting serious about this year’s Tour. He put together his own riders for Team RadioShack.

You would figure to get the unfair advantage, they would focus on riding lots, logging crazy mileage, nutrition, rest and therapy. Yes they do all this.

Lance also has a Secret Plan.

He hired a Ph.D. scientist named Allen Lim.

The job rumored to pay about a half a mil per year, has one objective… to develop data for a Tour de France specific set of physiological laws that applied to one entity (Lance) attempting to achieve one result. Win.

Guess you could say Lance “went out on a Lim” eh?! :)

You gotta know Lance is serious about his business.

• He has clarity – he knows what he wants.
• He has focus – his race IS the Tour de France
• He has a plan
• Plus he is finding small, incremental adjustments that can make all the difference

After 3 grueling weeks and hundreds and hundreds of miles, the Tour is a race determined by minutes and sometimes seconds. And every advantage matters.

What is Lim doing?

I’ll share some secrets…he is focused on human performance in 4 main areas:

1. Aerodynamics – he is videotaping Lance riding with pieces of yarn taped to his body to determine the optimum body position to minimize air drag allowing Lance to slice through the wind like a hot knife through butter.
2. Nutrition – optimizing his diet by focusing on a gluten-free diet and real foods, simply prepared. Example: Banana and Rice Pancakes – 1 cup cooked rice, 2 eggs, 1 ripe banana, 1/2 cup milk, 1 tablespoon flour, optional seasoning – cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg, cayenne, vanilla. Blend everything together and add milk or rice to get desired consistency. Cook slowly on medium heat.
3. Thermoregulation – bottom line of this is to keep his core body temperature down to maximize power in his muscles
4. Yoga – to boost Lance’s strength and flexibility.

You may say this sounds like a lot. And to the average person not clear about what they want, not focused on a goal, and lacking the drive to get there, it is.

But when you are clear about what you want, are laser focused on a goal, develop a plan – then look for all the little things that can make a HUGE difference.

That’s what people in the game “to win” do. That’s what the “greats” in every sport, profession and industry do. They look for any small gain they can make.

Look for more resources along this lines coming in the near future.

I’m putting together plans for a group to do something that has never been done before.

Blessings!
Chris.