After a week supporting some of the world’s best cyclists at the Tour de France Femmes, Dr. Allen Lim, Skratch Founder, coach, and exercise physiologist returned with six main takeaways.

Some were physiological. Others were about coaching, preparation, culture, leadership, and what it means to keep believing when the result doesn’t validate the work.

Here’s what Allen learned.

1. Professional women’s cycling is really, really intense

“It’s hard. It’s different from men’s racing in that it’s more ballistic,” Allen said. “I think it requires more strength, more power, and your classic high-aerobic-capacity athlete isn’t the athlete that’s going to survive.”

To thrive in this style of racing, athletes need more than a big aerobic engine. They also need the strength and power to repeatedly respond to explosive efforts.

For athletes who don’t naturally possess torque, Allen sees an opportunity to rethink preparation. That could mean more strength and conditioning, more time in the gym, and a closer examination of the race’s specific physiological demands.

“From the perspective of a coach, the perspective of a trainer or physiologist, what is the load? What is the demand here?” Allen asked.

The data offered a pretty clear answer.

“We’re talking about 45 minutes to an hour—or 25 to 30 percent of the race—at above Zone 5, Zone 6. So, anaerobic zones.”

Understanding those demands gives athletes and coaches a clearer picture of the work required to compete at this level.

“Now that we know where the bar is, there are so many things that I know we could do better and that we have to do better.”

2. It takes a lot to create a culture of care

“It takes a lot to create culture and to create a real positive environment,” he said. “You can’t do it alone.”

Creating that supportive atmosphere required a whole team. From the St. Michel Directeur Sportif and mechanics to Dr. Kim, the CU Applied Exercise Science Lab students, Chefs Bijou and Bailey, and countless others, everyone aligned around a shared dedication to hospitality and selfless care.

“You have to care,” Allen said. “And the work that it takes to care doesn’t change.”

Care doesn’t always mean making things easy. A director can be hard on the riders while still caring about them fundamentally. But creating an environment in which athletes feel supported requires everyone to share the vision and commit to the daily work behind it.

3. The result cannot validate the work

One of Allen’s biggest takeaways had little to do with physiology and everything to do with perspective.

“You cannot look for the outcome or the result to validate your work,” he said.

In elite sport, athletes and staff can do everything within their control and still not walk away with the result they wanted.

“If you can’t be the center of your own approval, and if you can’t be oriented around the process goal and around knowing that the work you did was the best of your ability—and that you pursued your own excellence—then you’re going to be miserable in this environment because the results rarely happen.”

The severity of the course, the heat, the late starts, and the intensity of the racing all took a toll. Judging the entire experience by the final results would take away everything that went into getting there.

“If we were to put any stock in the result, then holy cow, we would be really miserable people,” Allen said. “But we put stock in the inspiration. We put stock in the effort.”

The value was also in what that effort might communicate to someone else.

“We put stock in how this might signal to others that it’s okay to just try and try your hardest and to work your ass off and to continuously think about how you might make progress.”

4. It’s not hopeless. It’s hopeful.

Knowing the size of the gap between where you are and where you want to be can be humbling. Allen believes that makes hope even more important.

“Is it hopeless? No. It’s not hopeless. It’s hopeful.”

That belief was something he saw reflected in the riders throughout the week.

“Amongst the riders, there is that sentiment that you can’t not have hope,” Allen said. “How do I maintain the same passion and the same energy and the same optimism?”

That question matters beyond the individual. 

“If I’m losing faith or I’m losing belief, then it’s going to be hard on everyone else—or even harder.”

Instead of allowing disappointment to define each day, Allen tried to approach every challenge with curiosity.

“What is the silver lining? What have we learned?”

5. It’s all an experiment

For Allen, the answer came back to a principle at the center of both science and sport: every outcome gives us something to learn from.

“It’s all an experiment, guys,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if the hypothesis works out. We learn. A negative finding is just as good as a positive finding.”

It’s an idea Allen has always believed philosophically. This experience gave him the opportunity to put that belief into practice.

The outcome may not always match the hypothesis. The result may not reflect the amount of work, care, or preparation behind it. But there is still information to carry forward.

There is still progress to make.