The Separation is in the Preparation

And we are off! Stage 1 of the 2019 Tour de France did not disappoint despite the absence of some key players.

Mike Teunissen (team Jumbo-Visma) from Belgium won the stage in a photo finish. Who is Mike Teunissen you might ask? More than a few announcers were asking the exact same question as his name was not even bandied about when making predictions about this year's potential stage one winners. His job was to be the lead-out rider for one of the favorites , Dylan Groenewegen. The lead-out rider take the sprint favorite very close to the finish line, who then "sling shots" himself around the lead-out rider, hopefully to victory. 

Unfortunately Dylan fell hard in a large crash in the final kilometers of the race. The team had been working hard for months to bring Dylan to the stage victory and the coveted yellow jersey, so when he went down it could have been catastrophic for the team. That's not what happened.

Instead, Teunissen, who was completely prepared, maintained his cool, realized he had the legs, and went wheel-to-wheel with race greats, Sonny Colbrelli & Peter Sagan. Because he was prepared, he was able to seize the moment and beat Sagan in a photo finish for his first ever Tour stage win and yellow jersey. Not only that, he is the first Dutchman in 30 years to pull on the yellow jersey and will never be an afterthought in the race again.

Are you ready for that moment when preparation meets opportunity?