2023-07-09 06:52:15
Jul 09, 2023 at 05:01Update: an hour ago
As a team leader of a professional cycling team you run a company. When it comes to teams participating in the game of all games, you are soon talking regarding a multi-million dollar company.
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In What does a… we discuss a profession that was recently in the news – prominently or unobtrusively, but in any case as an indispensable part of that news.
“It helps if you have cycled yourself,” says Erik Breukink. He was a professional cyclist from 1985 to 1997, then made a trip to the NOS as a reporter and was asked by Rabobank in 2004 as a team leader. He did that until 2012.
“After that I was also a team leader at Roompot. That was a different level, but the work is basically the same.” There is quite a bit involved in that work. Much of this is hidden from the view of cycling enthusiasts. “You are busy with the organization of the team. You make a line-up of the riders that you take with you for a race,” Breukink explains.
That composition is always different. There are regarding 25 to 30 riders in a team. At a race like the Tour de France you can take eight. “Who can go to the Tour, that is one thing. The best riders know that they are sure of a place. The rest have to compete for a place in the team. They have to show how good they are.”
So most riders don’t go along. It is up to the team leader to ensure that this does not cause any hassle. “One can handle disappointment well, the other needs an arm around the shoulder. You have to approach them individually and, above all, create clarity in advance. That prevents disappointment,” says Breukink.
“If something breaks, you don’t have to fix it”
A team leader does not make decisions alone. “You always work together in a team of five to six team leaders. There are at least two per race. You follow the riders on the course. You are in the car with a mechanic on board. If something breaks, you don’t have to unable to resolve on their own.”
Breukink means that as a team leader you have to do a lot. “You determine the tactics every day, you are there to steer, to coach. You have to understand how cycling works, know your opponents, the other teams and your own riders of course.”
“A lot has already happened before the game starts”
According to Breukink, it is not a requirement that you have been a rider to become a sports director. “Most have been. It is not automatically the case that the best riders are also the best team leaders,” he notes diplomatically.
“It is also difficult to indicate whether someone is a good team leader. You have to coach well and make good decisions. We have had a lot of successes with Rabo.”
In a major race, the team leader’s day starts at breakfast, where the team – without the riders – already discusses the day ahead. When the riders have also had breakfast, it goes towards the course of that day. “That is sometimes an hour and a half drive and then the real preparations begin, which is very hectic”, Breukink recalls. “Before you start, a lot has already happened.”
Very good riders make millions
He summarizes team leadership as running a business. “A sports company with extreme performance. At the beginning of the year you have a budget with which you have to do everything.”
With a team like Jumbo-Visma you are talking regarding 25 million to 30 million euros. “The riders are also paid from that. The very good ones earn millions.” According to Breukink, that really only applies to the top players. “The differences are big within a team.”
The team leader certainly does not earn millions. “You better be a runner.” Still, it is certainly not bad, because at the highest level you are talking regarding a few tons per year. “Just like the person with final responsibility at a large company.”
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