Does the leader of a cycling team need to have leadership skills?

Funny question ... A leader must have leadership, that goes without saying!

Except that...

  • The leader of a cycling team does not have a management role with respect to the other riders: the manager of a cycling team in a race is its Directeur Sportif, not one of the riders.
  • The leader of a cycling team is really the person who is most likely to win the race. How does this fundamentally require leadership skills?
  • Some runners, without being designated leaders, play the role of "road captain". They advise, supervise, reassure, and help the others to progress. They are expected to exercise a form of leadership. From them ... and not necessarily from the designated leaders.

The co-leader of the Jumbo Visma team won the 2022 Grande Boucle: does this mean he has special leadership skills? Not sure!

So,does the leader of a cycling team need to have leadership skills, and if so, what are they ?

For my part, I believe that the leader must possess certain leadership skills, including:

  • Exemplary investment. For team members to give their best, both in training and in the race, they must be convinced that the leader does the same.
  • Communication skills, at different levels. On the one hand, because the leader is invited to speak in front of the media. On the other hand, because the leader is required to communicate during the race, whether it is to inform his teammates of his feelings of the day, to ask them to speed up or slow down the pace.
  • An ability to show recognition to team members (thanking them, congratulating them) because this affects their motivation to work for you.

On the other hand, skills such as "Giving meaning" or " Leading others", which are often sought in the leaders of a team, do not seem to me to be essential to exercise the role of leader of a cycling team. As much as the mastery of these skills seems to me to be essential for the members of the staff (general manager of the team, team managers), it seems to me to be secondary for the riders designated as leaders of their team.

What do you think about it?