A tale of apathy

What the damp squib Tour launch can teach us about communicating

The 2027 Men’s and Women’s Tour de France routes were unveiled last week at their traditional launch event in Paris. The biggest surprise is how few of the top riders bothered to turn up.

Pogačar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Seixas, Vollering, Niewiadoma-Phinney, Longo Borghini – all notable by their absence. Which I find odd.

The biggest names there were the ex-stars: Cavendish, Froome, Thomas, Thévenet.

2027 will be a big year for me, cycling-wise. The Tour starts in Edinburgh next July, and I’ve been avidly waiting for info on the UK’s “Grand Départ”. I’ve also applied to volunteer at the men’s race, plus my wife and I have tickets for the team presentation at Edinburgh Castle.

So, the lack of attendance at the launch made me start to wonder if the fans care more than the riders. But that’s objectively not true. The riders are the ones on the road. They do months of prep and study every kilometre before each stage.

So why didn’t they come?

They aren’t apathetic about the Tour. It’s the biggest event on the calendar. What they’ve switched off from is the launch. A corporate mid-morning event, a stale format, telling them about stages they’ll study properly in their own time.

This response from the riders got me thinking about a leader I have been talking to recently.

Let’s call him Oscar (of course not his real name). Oscar has taken on a team that’s lost its way over the last few years. (I promise you his surname isn’t Onley).

What he’s found is more apathy than excitement. He’s bringing fresh ideas, a new strategy (aka “route”), and an open door. And the job at the top is becoming a lonely place to be.

Who does he talk to?

I suspect Oscar’s team are like the Tour riders. They may not be apathetic about the work, or even about the direction he wants to take them. But they may be apathetic about how it’s being delivered. Those are very different problems.

If you’re in a similar position to Oscar, relaunching or refreshing something, what are you doing to make sure it lands?

Before you rush to change the way the team gets to its destination, ask the people who don’t want to come with you: why?

Not in an employee survey, in a real conversation.

And then listen to the answer, even if it’s about the format, rather than the plan to get there.