The Tour de France and Christian Living

What does the Tour de France have to do with the life of faith? Kate Taliaferro was inspired by what Catholics can learn from this annual cycling event.

Even though the Tour de France for this year is over, this didn’t stop my pastor from bringing up cycling and the concept of drafting into a recent homily. My husband and father-in-law are cycling fans, so I’ve heard a bit about how this 21-day contest goes. When the pastor brought up drafting, it got me thinking about how we can use this to inspire our spiritual lives. 

A Few Basics 

The Tour de France happens over 21 days or stages, usually in July, across a wide variety of trails and tracks throughout France. Bikers average around 100 miles a day and only get 2 rest days (crazy!). They compete as teams of eight, but only one racer will actually “win” the whole tour. There are individual winners each stage and then the racer with the overall fastest time when looking at all 21 stages wins the tour. But, it’s still considered a team sport. 

Teams and fans usually have a rider from a team in mind who would be their overall winner before the Tour even begins. So if only one rider will win, and that’s the actual plan, what’s the point of the other seven riders on the team?  

Having Good Teammates 

Here are just a few of the jobs the other team members who aren’t looking to be the overall winner do: 

Drafting

This is one of the biggest roles teammates play for one another. Taking turns, teammates will take the lead position of their team and serve as a wind break. By taking the wind head on (remember, they can be going upwards of 50 miles per hour. 70+ in some descents!), the other teammates will slide into the slipstream created and be able to conserve energy.  

Pacing

Helping the team leader get back into the main group (the peloton for those interested in the official terms), especially after a crash or unfortunate positioning. The teammate serves to be the one in front and provides the windbreak in a crucial moment to get the leader back into a favorable position. Without the rest of the team around, this is a huge sacrifice of energy on the part of the teammate. 

Fetching food and water

A teammate will spend extra energy grabbing water bottles and food resupplies to bring to their teammates rather than the whole group stopping and starting 

Giving the leader their wheel or whole bike

Yes, literally. It is often more efficient in the event of an incident to sacrifice their own bike or parts to get the leader going again than wait for the crew cars. 

The Race of Faith  

What on earth does this all have to do with faith? Each of us is running a race, Saint Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 9:24. Each of us is on a path to heaven. But we aren’t on a team alone. We are a community of faith, and we all participate in the universal call to holiness. When we partake of the Eucharist, we become the Mystical Body of Christ, we are transformed into one. We are so blessed to be part of a team, and we fulfill different roles for one another in different seasons.   

If you are a parent, you are in charge of the drafting in your family. You head out first, breaking the challenging winds so that your children can tuck in behind you to find a smoother path because you are there.   

If you are a caregiver, you are helping someone who is in need of extra assistance, just like a pacer. You are accompanying someone on their own particular journey and they cannot do it alone.   

Are you an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion? You are literally participating in sharing the food for eternity with your parish family. Do you bring the Eucharist to the homebound and those in the hospital, then even more so.  

Again as a parent, do you bring your children to Mass so that they can receive this spiritual nourishment?  

Do you serve others in any way? Are you choosing to sacrifice your time, your resources, and your abilities to be of service to your family, friends, community, even the world? You are participating in the sacrificial love of Jesus when you, out of love, sacrifice for the sake of another.  

In some seasons, you might feel like you are the one out in front, helping those behind you get through their race. But here’s a secret of our race: there is Someone still further in front of us, breaking the challenges and facing what we will face before we do. Jesus has run this race, and when we tuck into his slipstream, we find our race easier to run. 

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Copyright 2025 Kate Taliaferro
Images: Canva